Minor Leaguer Makes a Major Impact

Television ratings also have gone up, though the NHL continues to attract a paltry viewership compared with other major sports. Comcast SportsNet reported a 1.6 rating for Tuesday's Carolina game, representing about 37,000 households, and a 2.7 rating -- or about 62,000 homes -- for Thursday's victory over Tampa Bay. It was the highest-rated Capitals game since the network launched in 2001.

The maestro of such an about-face may be one of unlikeliest leaders in the history of Washington sports. Stubby, often unshaven, a walking fashion faux pas, Boudreau was born and reared in Toronto.

He grew up fantasizing about playing for his beloved Maple Leafs, who made the kid's dream come true -- sort of. Boudreau was called up from the minor leagues and sent back down 26 times and never was with the team for a full season. He played against NHL immortals Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe at the end of their careers, but Boudreau himself ended up as a career minor leaguer, plying his trade for the Johnstown Jets and others for 17 seasons.

After his playing career ended, he coached for 16 years in six minor league cities.

"I don't know if I was quite Crash Davis," he said of the character Kevin Costner played in "Bull Durham," "but it took me a few years to understand, 'If I did this, this and this, I'd be up there.' I didn't pay that price."

Boudreau caroused. He was allergic to the weight room. He didn't practice as well as he should have. "It was a combination of everything," he said. "Back then, everybody went out. I don't think that was as big a problem. It was more an on-ice situation why I never made it.

"I never believed it until I became a coach and said: 'You know what? I wouldn't have liked the player I was until I got older.' "

It's no coincidence nine players on the Capitals' roster played for Boudreau in Hershey, where he led the Bears to the 2006 Calder Cup. Much of his success is built through trust over time.

"One of the big things he is for is being fair," said Brooks Laich, a 24-year-old forward who played for Boudreau in Hershey and, like many of his former teammates in the American Hockey League, is having a career year. "He was overlooked for so long. I'm sure he sat there thinking: 'Are these guys that much better than me? Why am I not getting my shot?' "

Before being hired to coach the Capitals, Boudreau was destined to become a caricature of an extra in the 1977 cult comedy "Slap Shot," which in fact he was. He made $1,300 for two weeks of work.

"Next to what I was making in the minors, it was almost like a month's pay when you include the expenses," Boudreau said. "Best two weeks of my life at the time."

As the Capitals were almost finished mauling the Hurricanes on Tuesday night and tying Carolina for the Southeast Division lead, players tried in vain to shove their coach into the view of a video cameraman assigned to capture Boudreau's likeness on the overhead scoreboard. He kept moving away, uncomfortable with the attention.

"I waited 33 years to get this chance and I hope I don't have to go back to the American Hockey League," he said. "I hope I stay here. But if I had to go back to the American League to make a living, I wouldn't have a problem with it. It's still hockey."