Brooks Laich defends his team

Pic of the Day
Some of the Capitals at practice playing a game called "Juice Boy", which they almost always conclude practice doing (see end of entry for details).

Because of the recent injuries to mainly defense men, the coach of the Capitals, Bruce Boudreau, decided to put Brooks Laich on defense for the game against the Los Angeles Kings on November 20th. Brooks played extremely well for it not being his usual role on the team. He blocked not only one shot, but two, which aided the goalie Brent Johnson. The first was a wrist shot from Jarrett Stoll, which he blocked with his shin while sliding, and the other from Drew Doughty, which he was forced to block with his left hand because he was without a stick.
When he got back to the bench, a few of his teammates, including Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin and Donald Brashear, took turns praising Laich on a job well done defending the net. Here is what Captain Chris Clark had to say about Laich: "We need that type of player. To sacrifice your body to block the puck is the hardest thing you can do. I think in any sport to sacrifice your body like that is the hardest thing you can do. It's great."


Continued information on the Pic of the Day- "Juice Boy" is a skills competition the capitals play at practice. The last player to hit the corners of the net inside the sticks must serve Gatorade to the rest of the team, and face some not-serious teasing.