Style changes eroded Holtby's confidence

One of the more fascinating storylines to watch since the regular season ended has been the goaltending style shift implement by Adam Oates last summer.

Related: Backstory of philosophy shift for Capitals' goaltenders

CSNWashington.com follows up with Braden Holtby.

“It’s obviously been well documented the changes that we tried,” Holtby said. “Nothing against what the philosophy was, it just didn’t coincide with my personality and my natural instincts.

“The changes led to a lot of second guessing myself and over-thinking things. The moment you start doing that you start to struggle, and when you struggle your confidence goes down a bit.”

Oates' reasoning for wanting his goaltenders to play deeper in their crease, like Henrik Lundqvist, is examined, with Holtby noting how well he and goaltending coach Olie Kolzig have been communicating all season. Holtby says he eventually went back to playing more aggressively in the crease, where he found more success.

Oates doesn't entirely agree, saying he thinks some of the changes are still present in Holtby's game.

“I would argue with him on that,” Oates said. “But that’s his feeling, right? And a coach’s job is to get young guys to fight through change. Tiger Woods makes changes. Cal Ripken went through three batting stances in his career. You have to improve, nobody is good enough. I like a lot of things about Holts; he’s a young guy and he has to fix some elements of his game and that’s it."

Many more quotes in the article from Holtby and Oates that flesh the entire scenario out better than can these brief blurbs. Worth checking out, especially as we wait to see how the inevitable summer of change unfolds in Washington.

Source: Chuck Gormley, CSNWashington.com