from Chuck Gormley of CSN Washington, About an hour before every game, Braden Holtby will find a spot in the arena and transform it into his personal reflection garden.
At the Verizon Center, it is often behind the Capitals bench. At Madison Square Garden, it is in the front row of seating directly behind the goal he will defend.
Holtby will stand there, leaning on his goalie stick, and begin a lengthy routine of rapid eye movements, hip rotations and quirky body movements. At some point before the game, he will close his eyes and visualize himself in a calm and quiet place.
On a beach chair, facing rolling turquoise waves, toes in the sand … gliding across a frozen lake in snow-covered northern Saskatchewan …
He will begin deep breathing exercises – taking slow and deliberate breaths, six per minute – that lower his heart rate.
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May 05, 2012
