In answering a series of questions for The Players’ Tribune, Washington Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner wrote that he wanted 75 more hits this season, unabashedly publicizing this goal. He’s already said he wants to be more physical, but that doesn’t always translate to tallying more hits.
This all started with Washington’s Eastern Conference quarterfinals series with the Islanders last year, when Alzner thought that playing physical “really opened up more options for you on the ice.” Last year was his career high in hits with 120, and he has 17 through 12 games played, a pace that would give him fewer hits, though the sample size is pretty small.