by Charles Tweed
Wawota’s Brooks Laich is going to be a Capital for a long time. The 28-year-old centreman inked a six-year deal worth $27 million to remain in Washington.
“I was really excited initially and that was followed closely with a sigh of relief,” said Laich. “I’ve never been through unrestricted free agency and I didn’t want to leave Washington. The closer it got to the draft and to July 1, I was starting to get worried that maybe I wasn’t going to be returning to Washington.”
The business of hockey often means contract talks can get quite nasty as organizations point out player’s weaknesses in an attempt to devalue their monetary worth to the club.
“I am really fortunate to have an agent (Rollie Melanson) that I have been with since I was 17-years-old and he’s a guy that I trust and a guy that I believe in,” explained Laich. “That makes it very easy because I know he is working as hard as he can for me and going to get the best deal possibly.”
But what does a small town boy from southeastern Saskatchewan do when he runs into $27 million.
“I’m already very fortunate and live a very good life as it is and this money isn’t going to change anything,” said Laich. “I haven’t bought anything or made any plans for it. Playing hockey I believe I earn what I get and I don’t want to make a dollar more than I am worth but I also don’t want to make a dollar less…but I don’t know what you do (with the money)—maybe buy some farmland around Wawota.”
Laich said he typically takes three weeks off after the season is over and then begins the “work” of preparing for the upcoming season.
“I actually think the summers are harder than the season. During the season you get to play hockey and practice and that’s the enjoyable part. What you do in the summer is the underbelly and stuff that people don’t usually see. It’s the preparation and work in the gym, not only to be in shape but to be durable so you don’t get hurt and miss games. When the season does come around, it’s a reward,” he said.
He spends about four hours a day, six days a week in the gym preparing for training camp and wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m up at 5:30 in the morning excited to get to the gym. I don’t roll in there late. I can’t wait to get to bed at night so I can get up in the morning and start my workout because this is what I love to do,” he said. “I bought my own weight set when I was 13 years old to start training because I knew I wanted to be a hockey player.”
That blue-collared approach resonates across Saskatchewan and organizations have picked up on it.
“Around the NHL, Saskatchewan guys have a very solid reputation as people you want on the team because at the end of the day they are going to compete and they are somebody you are going to want to go to battle with,” said Laich. “You look at how we grow up, you drive 70 miles from Wawota to Esterhazy for a practice three times a week then 70 miles home in minus-30 degree weather. You are hardened at a younger age because of the elements.”
But the biggest influence in his career has always been family.
“I learned a lot from mom and dad. Dad never missed work and mom was the most consistent person in the world whether it was with the kids or at work and all those attributes I’ve picked up from my parents,” explained Laich. “Anytime you ever needed something 100 per cent of the time they were there.”
There were a lot of incentives for Laich to resign in Washington—a two-time Hart MVP trophy winner in Alexander Ovechkin, a premiere defenseman in Mike Green and a team that has finished first in its division four consecutive years—but the biggest reason for remaining a Cap might have been the coaching staff. Bruce Boudreau has shown unwavering faith in Laich’s abilities and it was something that wasn’t lost on the Wawota product.
“I spoke to Bruce multiple times about the direction, and the positives and negatives of our team. He made a very good point, he said ‘where are you going to go in the NHL where life is going to be any better for you than in Washington? You play 20 minutes a night, you play powerplay and penalty kill, you’re on (the ice) in the first minute and the last minute of a game, you’re a guy that is trusted and relied upon. What more in hockey are you looking for?’” said Laich. “That kind of sunk in when he made that comment. Everything I have every dreamt and worked for in hockey, I am doing it right now.”
Laich felt some pressure from his family to stay in Washington as well, in particular his brother who has developed his own relationships in the United States capital.
“I’ve been there six years and you have neighbors and you’re part of the community. Jordan has been coming down twice a year for six years and there are people that know him. He’s got friends down there too, and I get asked, ‘When’s your brother Jordo coming down?’ So when I resigned he was pretty happy because he’s comfortable there too,” said Laich.
The relationship with Boudreau is something that was cultivated during their time together in the minors, when the two won a Calder Cup together in Hershey. At the NHL level, the Capitals have experienced terrific regular seasons, highlighted with a Presidents Trophy in 2009-10, but that success hasn’t translated into postseason glory. In the last four years, Washington has failed to make it to a Stanley Cup final, and twice, they were bounced out before the conference final. The playoff failures mean Laich doesn’t have everything he’s every dreamt about as a hockey player growing up.
“The only thing missing is having a Stanley Cup,” he said.
Drinking from Lord Stanley’s mug is something Laich intends to remedy in the near future.
“I’m excited for our chances to win a Cup and I think for the next ten years, our team in Washington will compete for a Stanley Cup and that was very important to me,” explained Laich.
The Capitals came under heavy criticism this year after the team switched from a run-and-gun offensive team to a club that put more emphasis on the defensive aspects of the game. Some sports pundits believed Washington was built to play the 1980s Edmonton Oilers brand of hockey and felt the change in philosophy was detrimental to the team. In team sports the only belief that matters comes from the 20 guys in the dressing room and Laich said they never wavered.
“The style change, flipping from a super offence team to an aggressive two-way team made us a better hockey team. I believe we have a chance and the ability to finish first in the league in goals against. Last year we finished fourth and we didn’t start the real solid two-way play until the middle of the season. We were a better team after we made that switch and there is no using that as an excuse or a crutch for why we lost out in the playoffs,” he said.
The team does possess quite possibly the best collection of pure goal scorers in the game, a list that includes Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom and Green.
“We have natural gifted offensive abilities that very few teams have but if we can add in being a solid defensive team, I think those two things are going to help us win a Stanley Cup,” said Laich. “My dad has always preached about being a two-way player and when I got to Washington it was a little lop-sided towards the offensive side and now it looks like our defensive side is starting to come around.”
It would have been easy for Laich to shift some of the blame of disappointing playoff runs on the team’s good but young defense core. Instead he shouldered the load himself, one of the many reasons he was selected to wear the alternate captain’s “A” on his jersey when needed throughout the season. His hockey IQ is off the charts and Laich recognizes it’s better to have to work the defensive side of the game rather than trying to force players into offensive roles they’re not comfortable in.
“The good thing is most times you can teach the defensive side of the game but you can’t teach a natural ability or offensive instincts. I’m happy we have that natural ability that I don’t think many teams have but if we can couple that with defensive ability…then I think we are very dangerous,” he said.
It’s never easy answering questions about personal and team failures but Laich said the fact the questions are being asked means there is an expectation in Washington that wasn’t there during his first two years as a professional.
“The expectation in Washington now is to win a Stanley Cup,” said Laich. “I think in the league there are six or seven teams that have the ability to win a Stanley Cup and I think our team is one of those teams.”
The team endured its fair share of adversity throughout the 2010-11 season. At one point the team went through an eight game losing streak that was captured on HBO’s series 24/7, a show that highlighted the journey of the Pittsburgh Penquins and Washington Capitals to the outdoor Winter Classic.
“The reaction from fans is that everybody says they absolutely loved it and I understand that. From a players’ perspective I didn’t like it one bit. It might have been because during the filming we were on a losing streak so I wasn’t happy in the first place but then you have a guy with a camera right in your face, in the weight room, the training room, the video room, the locker-room on the bench, it was at times overbearing,” said Laich.
He said he hasn’t watched the series yet but understood how the league was trying to show the inner workings of the game in an attempt to reach out to new fans and show old ones something new.
“To be honest if I could I’d like to just go to the rink, play the game, and go home. I’m not in the game for fame or notoriety. I grew up playing in the forum in Wawota where all you could do was play hockey and I think that is still inside of me. Doing the media aspect of it, the TV and the interviews, that’s what I consider work, the rest of the day I get to play,” he said.
Laich didn’t just go the rink, play and go home after a game 7 loss to Montreal two years ago. Instead he stopped to help a woman and her daughter change a tire on the side of the road hours after being eliminated from the post season.
“I feel bad because I bet my brother has fixed a thousand more tires than I have and I fix one and it gets blown way out of proportion,” he said with a chuckle.
You get a sense talking to Laich how important his family is. Hockey players miss weddings, births of nieces and nephews and birthday parties, one of the reasons he tries to soak up being an uncle as much as he can in the offseason.
“Being an uncle flips your world upside down,” said Laich. “Me and my sister (Jodi) Skype a couple times a week during the season because I was terrified of being the uncle that my niece and nephews didn’t know or didn’t recognize. I can’t wait for the boys (twins Rhett and Alex) to grow up and be huge hockey fans and Kalli is already a fan. She has a jersey and they’re teaching her how to throw her hands in the air and say, ‘Score.’”
That sense of family and community is evident when he speaks about what he’s going to do when he accomplishes his ultimate goal.
“It is so much fun to go home and the people are so supportive,” said Laich. “One day the dream is to bring the Stanley Cup back to the rink in Wawota. It runs through my head when I’m doing the 20 bike sprint at the gym. One day I’m going to reward all of the people that have supported me with a Stanley Cup. I’d love to see everyone have a big party at the rink and see everyone from all around raise the Stanley Cup over their head.”
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