The Capitals spent last September shuttling between ice rinks in the far-flung suburbs of Maryland and Virginia. Equipment was stored haphazardly. There were no official locker rooms or even team meeting rooms.
So the optimism present on the eve of any training camp was only heightened Thursday at the new $42 million Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington.
After two years of on-ice struggles, a batch of incoming free agents and the first training camp at the sparkling ice rink on top of Ballston Common Mall have the Capitals dreaming of brighter days this season.
“There is an area here that is yours,” said Capitals coach Glen Hanlon, whose team conducts its first practice this morning. “It’s our home. We’re not in a transient sort of dressing room. We’re not leaving our bags in a storage space upstairs anymore.”
The new practice facility, which also serves as the organization’s front office headquarters, officially opened in November but wasn’t fully operational until later in the season. Combined with the infusion of free-agent acquisitions Michael Nylander (forward), Tom Poti (defenseman) and Victor Kozlov (forward) and the continued development of its young players, the Capitals expect to make the jump from back-to-back 70-point seasons to the playoffs.
“We have the resources with this place and everything else we need to get there,” said forward Chris Clark, the team captain who signed a three-year contract extension over the summer. “On paper, right now, we should be a playoff team.”
Hanlon and his coaching staff will spend the next three weeks paring down the 64-man training camp roster and experimenting with different line combinations. Hanlon said he expects this to be by far the most competitive camp of his four-year tenure.
“We have some very difficult decisions to make,” said Capitals General Manager George McPhee. “When we started out [rebuilding] a couple of years ago we were looking to fill boots. Now, we have a lot of good players for fewer positions. It’s going to be a lot more competitive. It must mean we’re a better club.”
