Washington Capitals hockey is back.
The Washington Capitals took the ice today at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. On Sunday they reported to their facility for photoshoots and to check out their lockers and do other testing.
At 9:30 a.m. Group A practiced and at 11:30 media availability followed via Zoom with Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson. From 12:45-1, head coach Peter Laviolette spoke to reporters. Group B will practice at 3. You can view the roster here.
The Caps made a ton of moves and a lot of stories happened over the offseason. Here’s three reasons to get excited for the season ahead.
#3 Zdeno Chara
The latest and likely final splash the Captials made in the offseason was when they signed Zdeno Chara. This makes one of the biggest question marks of the season even bigger. No roster spot is guaranteed on the defense for Chara so he’ll have to work for it. But he could be great on the third pair.
Some new defenseman in the room...
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 3, 2021
2️⃣ - @6Schultz6
3️⃣3️⃣ - Zdeno Chara#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/Z275Aa5Kfn
Chara told Samantha Pell of The Washington Post (subscription required):
"“I still have gas, lots of gas left, and I still want to go out there and do my thing. That’s my motivation to still proving that I can play.”"
Chara on the team means an intense battle on the blueline once he hits the ice straight out of quarantine. It’ll be interesting to see him on the squad and his impact on the team.