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For the second time in his tenure with the Washington Capitals, Brett Leonhardt, the team’s video coach was asked to pull double duty.
After would-be starting goalie Michal Neuvirth went down in warmups with a lower-body injury, he had to be scratched from the lineup. That meant Braden Holtby had to fill in as the starter on what was supposed to be his night off. It also pressed Leonhardt into duty as the team’s emergency backup goalie, since there was no time to call anyone up from the minors.
Leonhardt, a former goaltender at NCAA Division III Neumann College, joined the team on the bench in the second period for its game against the Montreal Canadiens Friday.
Leonhardt last suited up for the Capitals in 2008, when he was the team’s web producer. He warmed up with the team and stayed on the bench until the first period until Semyon Varlamov arrived to the arena as an emergency call up from the Hershey Bears.
The 31-year-old video coach occasionally fills in during practices when the team needs an extra goalie as well.
If you think suiting up as the team’s emergency goalie meant Leonhardt’s duties as a video coach would relieve him of his video duties for the game, think again. As Sergey Kocharov of the Capitals PR staff tweeted, Leonhardt was back to his duties breaking down video in the second intermission all while in full goalie gear.
2nd intermission for Stretch. pic.twitter.com/Yj14X2UJ7u
— Sergey Kocharov (@SergeyKocharov) November 30, 2013
That's a true team player right there.