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Spencer Carbery Looks to Bring Winning Ways Back to Washington

Spencer Carbery was introduced as the 20th head coach in Capitals history. (Photo by Brandon Alter / Caps Outsider)

New Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery met with the media on Thursday for the first time, where General Manager Brian MacLellan cited Carbery’s familiarity with the organization as a key reason why he was the right fit at coach.

“Spencer came out on top from day one,” MacLellan said about the hiring process for head coach, which opened up after the organization parted ways with Peter Laviolette. “The history, the comfort level.”

Carbery, 41, previously coached the Caps’ ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays, and later the team’s AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

“I’ve always had a connection to this organization and this team.” he said. “Back then, you just try to do the best job you can for the South Carolina Stingrays. And then the other part is you’re trying to get better as a coach.”

To get the Capitals back on track after missing the playoffs for the first time in eight years, Carbery said that he looks for his team to play with “pace” and be “connected”.

“For me, pace is a little different than just players that can skate fast, and playing quick. Pace to me, you can show that with the puck and without it. Our puck pressure, our neutral zone, our d-zone puck pressure, our forecheck. Then with the puck,  what we will talk about constantly is our pace. Playing at a higher pace. Getting up the ice quicker with and without the puck. Putting pressure when we don’t have it and lets get it back and get on the attack.”

Carbery added that he has been able to take things from other coaches in the organization, including Bruce Boudreau and Barry Trotz, which helped him become a better coach himself.

Carbery also mentioned his responsibility in overseeing Alex Ovechkin chasing down Wayne Gretzky‘s NHL goals record.

“I’ve watched and saw [Ovechkin]’s greatness up close, and indirectly and I take a lot of responsibility in that. Now it’s my job as head coach to put him in situations where he can be successful.

After winning the Kelly Cup as a player with the Stingrays, Carbery became coach in 2011 and led the Stingrays to a pair of division titles and the Kelly Cup Finals in 2015, where the team fell in seven games. At the time of his hiring, he was the youngest coach in the league, and he was named ECHL coach of the year in 2013-14 after leading the Stingrays to a 43-23-6 record. He said that when he was hired in South Carolina, he never envisioned himself as the coach in Washington.

Carbery later became the head coach of the Bears, leading them back to the post season in his first year. The team was on track for another postseason berth before COVID-19 shutdown the rest of the AHL season. In 2020-21, while dealing with the pandemic, Carbery led the Bears to the top of the AHL. It was the first division title for Hershey since 2015-16 and the first time Hershey led the league since 2009-10. Carbery then left the organization once more to become an assistant coach in Toronto.

“We feel we signed one of the best young coaches in the game,” MacLellan said.

Brandon Alter

Brandon Alter covers all three teams in the Washington Capitals Organization. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in May of 2021.

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