“Our players grew up in a video games era, and we believe this method of teaching and sharing of data points will better illustrate what occurs on the court and the ice. We also have a strong core of young fans who gravitate to video and gaming, and we believe this technology will resonate with them and increase their engagement with our teams.” - Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis, per Team Statement.

Leave it to ole Ted to introduce yet another technological marvel to the Washington Capitals training regimen.

STRIVR Labs Inc., is a company that specializes in VR (virtual reality) technology. Essentially what they do is help players re-create scenarios using VR that uses 3-D replays of a game. Using a VR headset and headphones, the players will be able to pause any given moment and literally take a look around at their options and better gauge what they could have done better, or worse, during that play.

I'll have to give them credit, it certainly is different and it certainly will be interesting to see how players react to such an off-ice approach to the game. Washington defenseman, John Carlson seems to be on board with it as he said in a press release:

“The potential competitive advantage that virtual reality training can give us is huge. STRIVR’s experience with football and quarterbacks is exciting for me, because I feel hockey defensemen and quarterbacks go through a similar decision-making process. The virtual reality technology is going to help me fine tune my decision making in games and allow me to train as if I’m at practice without having to be on the ice.”

Whether or not he was told to say something sweet about STRIVR is up for debate, but Carlson, like many of the Caps, might just be on board with this kind of training. It's a lot like being in a video game, and this generation, myself included, could have a better grasp on the technology and help their on-ice decision making evolve.

However, because I'm on the tail-end of this generation, I have my doubts. Cluttering the mind of an athlete with too many decisions in any given play could end up confusing a player. "What if I do this?" "What if I do that?" might be going through their head over-and-over again each time they touch the puck.

The VR could possibly coach a players reaction time and make it better, but in a hockey game ANYTHING can happen, and the same play doesn't reveal itself over-and-over again.

Hockey is about reacting to your environment and making a play happen. These are professional athletes that get paid A LOT of money - if they don't already know what to do in a given situation, they maybe they need to go back to Hershey.

The Coach needs to be hands on with his team, like Barry Trotz already is. If something is off, or not going well, he and his staff should be the ones to right the wrong and teach the professional athlete based on the system they are running.

To me, the VR is something that should be taught to players at an elite hockey camp somewhere in Lake Placid or East Lansing.

But I'm old fashioned.

I'll wait and see like the rest of us how STRIVR works out for our boys, and if it's a positive result, then I'll plug in my PS2, fire up NHL2K10, have a Natty Boh and tell myself to stop being crotchety.

More to come...

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