Bruce Boudreau: Ovechkin should be mean as a bear right from the start

The Washington Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau said he had a serious conversation with Alexander Ovechkin about his role as the team’s captain and stated the team should gain momentum right from the start of the season in order to achieve success.

«The whole leadership role is taking on a different [meaning] to him now. We’re not all 22-year-old guys anymore. He’s the captain. I think he’s a great captain on the ice because no one works as hard as him, and no one wants to win more than him. He’s going to take it a step further. That’s maturity. It’s not anything more than that.»

«It’s hard sometimes to go up there and criticize your teammates. His English is getting better. His knowledge of North America is getting better. That’s going to have an effect. They’ll follow his lead.»

«I fully expect Alex Ovechkin to come back into [training] camp mean as a bear. I’m sure — and it’s well documented — that individually for him, he took more criticism at the end of last year for his totals in goals and points, and not being up for the Hart, and not being up for other awards.»

«He’s so proud, he’s probably like, ‘I’m going to show you.’ That’s his M.O. It’s not bravado. It’s a quiet, ‘I am one of the best, I want to be one of the best and I’m going to show ‘em I’m one of the best.’»

«I’ll be phoning everybody to make sure that they know the importance of getting off to a fast start. This is a very serious year for us. Even though every year has been serious, we want to take it that step further, and that’s going to take a real commitment from everybody. We’re not those [young] guys anymore. Guys have been in the NHL five, six, seven years now,» Boudreau said as quoted by The Washington Post.