WASHINGTON -- Goalies are weird. This isn't breaking news. In a sport whose athletes are creatures of routine, all the way down to the manner in which they apply tape to their sticks, goalies are even more habitual in their preparation.
Braden Holtby is one such creature of habit, to the point that one Washington Capitals blog actually chronicled "Holtbyisms," or the quirks inherent to the team's 28-year-old netminder. For example, his pregame visualizations, which are the stuff of viral videos, as Holtby stands with his hands atop his goalie stick, jerking his body side to side as he envisions the techniques he has honed for that game.