A Lot to Laich

On a squad full of team-first players, perhaps nobody is more selfless than Brooks Laich. The six-foot-two, 200-pound forward from Wawota, Saskatchewan, came to Washington on Feb. 18, 2004, when the Caps sent Peter Bondra to Ottawa, where Laich only played one game (Feb. 3, 2004 at New Jersey). Since then, he's racked up 49 goals, 60 assists and lots of respect.

"Brooks is a warrior. It's not all about goals and assists with him; I think he's still going to get his 15 or 20 goals," Coach Bruce Boudreau said recently. "But he can play in all situations, I use him in all situations. He blocks shots, he cares so much. He comes to every game to play. He can play all three forward positions, he's a very valuable member of our team."

Laich (13 goals, 19 assists), who is signed through the 2010-11 season, has earned about 3:30 more ice time this season -- averaging about 17:30 per game -- and has blocked 36 shots while winning about half of his nearly 400 face-offs. And for a team suffering from penalty woes, Laich only has 21 PIMs.

"I don't think I've really done anything different [this season]. Each year, I just come in and try to improve my role on the hockey team," Laich told STC. "I try to be more dependable in my own zone, bring some more offense to the table. I'm a guy that plays both specialty teams, five-on-five, penalty kill and power play. So I try to bear down when I'm on the ice and do my job and try to grow my role a little bit."

Laich has played on many lines this season, even spending a few shifts with Alex Ovechkin on the top threesome. He averages 2:37 per game on the power play and 3:05 per game on the penalty kill. Laich and Nicklas Backstrom are the only Caps to play all 58 games this season. Laich also played in every game last season, when he registered 21 goals and 16 assists.

"Versatility, being able to be put on the ice in any situation. I think that's something I take a lot of pride in," he said. "Whether it's the power play or penalty kill, whether it's five-on-five or five-on-three, late in the hockey game, early in the hockey game, getting a good start. I try to be a guy that coach can always look down the bench and say 'yeah, I want to put him on the ice in this situation.'"