Hathaway, the Capitals forward, joined co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke on the NHL @TheRink podcast Wednesday. He talked about coach Peter Laviolette, who is entering his first season with Washington, which has lost in the Eastern Conference First Round in back-to-back seasons after winning the Stanley Cup in 2018.
"You look at his track record, how he goes into teams and he gets the most out of the guys who are in the room," Hathaway said of Laviolette, who was hired on Sept. 15 to replace Todd Reirden. "He doesn't waste time and that's obvious from the conversations I've had with him. … He brings guys together and he really gets the most out of guys, and that's what I'm looking forward to."
Hathaway, who will be featured on the new episode of "Skates and Plates," a cooking show debuting Monday (7 p.m. ET, SN and NHL Social channels), also talked about the would-be chance to play with goalie Henrik Lundqvist. However, Lundqvist will not be joining the Capitals this season because of a heart condition, an announcement he made Thursday.
Lundqvist signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Capitals after the New York Rangers bought out the remaining year on his contract, making him an unrestricted free agent.
"Unbelievable guy," Hathaway said before Lundqvist announced he wouldn't be playing. "He's a legend."
Ryan Minkoff also joined Rosen and Roarke to talk about his new autobiography, "Thin Ice: A Hockey Journey from Unknown to Elite - and the Gift of a Lifetime."
In the book, Minkoff, who operates his own player agency, (83, LLC), tells his story of going from a kid who bounced from program to program growing up in Minnesota to playing collegiate club hockey at the University of Washington to playing one season of professional hockey in Finland, where he also was a Zamboni driver, rink manager, volunteer at the local school and Santa Claus.
The podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.
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Listen: New episode of NHL @TheRink
