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 Standing around the benches as the media swarmed prospects for interviews was the short, stout mastermind behind the Washington Capitals -- Bruce Boudreau.
He had finished making the media rounds with The Post and Times and stood around shaking the hands of exiting players, wishing them luck and looking somewhat relieved he wasn't being mobbed for questions.
I never really intended to talk to Boudreau, but there I was a few feet away from him with a recorder and absolutely no predetermined questioning pattern.
Despite being unprepared, I decided why not? After all, part of being a journalist is working on the fly and this was a chance to have my own little "Journalism Development Camp."
Joined by Alex of The Capital Letter, we took a few steps toward our target and prepared to launch our questioning assault. Before I could say anything he blurts out, "I can't talk for very long, so I'll answer just a few."
Bruce had an "all-business" look in his eye that told me I was only going to get to ask one or two questions. I figured I should start with something out of the ordinary; after all, I needed some way to distinguish myself from the usual "how was camp?" questions.
So I opened up with a question about his upcoming book and I soon learned why his nickname is "Gabby." Even when he says he doesn't know anything about the topic you've asked about, he finds something to say.
CK: So how long did it take to complete the interview sessions for the book?
BB: We went about seven or eight three-to-four-hour-at-a-time sessions. We're still doing it a little bit.
CK: It sounded like the book was near publication though.
BB: It's pretty near, but I mean like anything else it's never done. There's always little things here and there that need to be done.
CK: So are you much of a reader?
BB: No. [laughs] I'm looking forward to it coming out though; it's pretty entertaining. People that we have sold the transcripts to thought it was very entertaining. That's the whole point of it and it's a lot of funny things that have happened to me in my life as a hockey guy and I'll be interested to see how it's received.
CK: For some fans, this is their first time following a development camp. For those who are just learning about what's going on, what exactly are you trying to teach the prospects?
BB: We want every one of these guys here, from the invitees to the draft picks -- they're all hand-picked to come here. We don't just throw out invites and say "we need a player." Some of these free agents are guys that might have slipped through the cracks, and we want them to come here and understand what it's like to be a Washington Capital and show them what it's like in the NHL. We want to show them what you have to do to become an NHL player. They come here and say "we want to be a Washington Capital," the drafts especially and the young signed guys. Then they come back to camp with what we've taught them and they're ready to decide if this is where they want to be and try to join the roster.
CK + TCL: Where does Anton Gustafsson stand with the team right now?
BB: He's an unknown right now. We'll wait until September and watch him in camp. He's a signed first-round guy who everyone says is a good player so we'll go with that.
CK: Of the unsigned invitees, did you have any standouts that you personally enjoyed watching?
BB: You know, I'd have to look over the charts, there were some guys that were pretty good. I don't know if they were draftees or invites but when we [review camp] we'll go over them.
TCL: I heard you say back there you were impressed with Matthieu Perreault.
BB: Yeah, I like watching him, he's a small player, he's got a lot of speed and determination.
CK: I noticed earlier in the week that Braden Holtby had talked about nutrition on Twitter. I was wondering what you teach them about dieting and weight control.
BB: [laughs] You're really asking the wrong guy for that one. I mean these days young players know all of that. We have nutritionists on staff for them and I quite frankly don't know much about it and I wish I did, especially when I was younger. I know that they take care of their bodies so well these days and it's been an amazing turnaround in the last 25 years.
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