Craig Berube, To
Berube: Yeah, it was good to see him on the ice. Well, he has been on the ice for the last couple of days, so he is making real good progress, which is great. He is feeling a lot better.
: No, it is too early yet.
Is there a target date for Jani Hakanpaa at all?
Berube: No. He has been skating, but he is a ways away yet.
How did you like doing the coach’s clinic today?
Berube: It was great because Auston was out there, so they weren’t paying attention. I was just talking to myself the whole time, which was perfect. I don’t blame them. I would be watching Matthews, too.
No, it was good. It was great that there were a lot of coaches there. I enjoy that stuff — talking to coaches and young coaches — and taking questions. I enjoy that.
Everybody has to start somewhere, whether you are a youth coach or a junior coach. You are always looking to get new ideas. It is the same as me. I am always talking to coaches and reading about coaches, getting new ideas, and trying to learn and get better.
What stands out about the Capitals’ success this year?
Berube: They are a very good team. If you look down the center ice, it is a deep center group. It is big, and their team has great size. I thought they added some defensemen who really drove their team up. Their goalies have been good.
They play a good brand of hockey. It is very direct. I always say, “How do you want your team to look?” The Capitals get on a nightly basis how they want their team to look.
When you look at the Capitals’ physical buy-in, what do you think about your own own team’s level of buy-in?
Berube: They are buying in. It is a constant message and a constant teaching — being physical, having good sticks, blocking shots. It is the ugly part of the game, but it is important. It is how you win. We have to keep working on it and keep teaching it.
Alex Ovechkin is expected to come back tonight. What comes to mind when you look at the totality of his career?
Berube: It’s sensational; it’s just his size and strength and his mindset game in and game out.
It seems like he is always in a good mood out there and is enjoying the game. Watching him from afar, whether I am coaching or just watching, he really loves the game. He loves to score goals, and he scores them in a lot of different ways. You can be right on him, and if he gets his stick on the puck, it can go in.
He is obviously one of the best goal-scorers of all time. We all know that. If he plays tonight, we have to be on him and we have to be tight to him. You can be only this far way, and he can shoot it in the net.
The team laid out for some big shot blocks in the win over Detroit on Friday.
Berube: I thought our team was committed coming off of the break. We played a hard game. Detroit played a hard game. I thought they were a handful. I thought they came out and worked, really driving the pace of the game. But we managed it, and we did a good job.