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A big new contract won’t hurt Brooks Laich’s world-class work ethic

Brooks Laich, Chris Drury

Washington Capitals center Brooks Laich (21) scuffles with New York Rangers left wing Chris Drury for control of the puck in the first period of Game 3 of a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday, April 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

AP

Aside from Matt Hendricks’ astounding battle wound, it seemed like the Pittsburgh Penguins came across as the stars during the early parts of HBO’s 24/7 special, which only makes sense since the Washington Capitals were in the middle of one of their worst slumps in years during the beginning. Yet if there was one Washington player who pretty much always came across as a class act, it was hard working center Brooks Laich. (Then again, he already earned great press for helping a troubled motorist, so he’s probably just one of those people who radiate goodness.)

Perhaps the most critical remark you can utter about Laich is that the Capitals probably overpaid him this off-season by signing him to a six-year, $27 million deal. Laich brings plenty of likeable qualities to the table, but a $4.5 million annual cap hit is simply too much for a player at his level.

That being said, if you think that he’s going to rest on his laurels/get fat and happy from his big payday, On Frozen Blog features a story that dispels that notion with aplomb. Elisabeth Meinecke reports that while the Capitals’ off-season workout regime calls for roughly nine hours per week of effort, Laich averages about 24. Laich said that the turning point happened during the versatile center’s second season in the NHL.

Laich wasn’t always this way about his offseason training. In fact, he can pinpoint his obsession with conditioning—he phrases it as “messed up mentally that way”—back to the end of his second year in the NHL. He’d scored 7 and 8 goals in his first and second seasons, respectively. After that second year, he was walking into an ice arena back home when, Laich said, he realized, “I have to do something to separate myself from being a bubble player and try and realize the potential that I believe I have.”

From then on, instead of going into the gym at 9 am, he’d start at 7 am and stay till about 11 am. He’d make sure to be in bed by 9 pm, to the chagrin of friends. The season following that summer, however, Laich scored over 20 goals, and a conditioning junkie was born.

And, in quintessential Brooks Laich fashion, he enjoys it.

“I can’t wait to get to bed at night ‘cause I’m excited to get up … I’m out of bed at 5:30 in the morning, ready to get to the gym, because I want to push it – I’m 28 years old, I should be entering the prime of my career. I want to push it and see how good I can get,” Laich says. “Roddie and I sort of developed a saying over the years, ‘It hurts you so long, you’ll be addicted to pain.’”

Really, the only downside I can see to this regime is that Laich might risk injuries by working too hard. That’s a great problem to have, though, and it’s honestly quite refreshing amid the series
of entitlement-soaked stories we’ve been following this week. Maybe the Capitals are overpaying Laich a bit considering his skill level, but if his determination rubs off on teammates, it might be worth the investment.