Washington Capitals goaltending prospect, Braden Holtby, probably feels like he just disembarked Hersheypark’s Sidewinder after the roller coaster ride he’s experienced in the early portion of the 2009-10 season.

The 20-year-old native of  Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, who after the end of his junior career last season, rode along, but did not play during Hershey’s run to the Calder Cup, had an impressive start to his pro career this season by winning his first two starts and allowing only one goal against in the process.

Even though he did not register any post-season playing time during the Cup run, Holtby credits the experience he received as a major reason he was able to get off to such an impressive start.

“It was great to be able to see the level of competition it takes to win at that level.  It was fun to watch Neuvy play as well as he did because you find out how much it takes to be successful in the AHL and win the championship, which is the ultimate goal.  Coming into the year, I believed I could play at this level and I wanted to show everyone that I could.”

Then the organization’s crowded crease situation took it toll on Holtby last Tuesday when he was assigned to the East Coast Hockey League’s South Carolina Stingrays. However, Holtby’s stay in the Low Country was brief, when he was summoned to Washington after Jose Theodore suffered a back injury in Thursday’s game against the San Jose Sharks.

Although Holtby was expecting the call from Washington, his ultimate destination was a total surprise.

“I heard that Theo came out of the game the night before, so I actually thought I’d be getting called up to Hershey, but I got the call the next morning and was absolutely thrilled.” 

While not seeing any action in the Caps shootout win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday evening, Holtby still was able to take another step towards his ultimate goal of becoming an NHL regular while also realizing there is still work to be done to attain that goal.

“It’s great whenever you can get a taste of the NHL action; it gives you that much more motivation that you want to be here. The speed of the shots, the speed of play--You can definitely tell there’s a difference between the AHL and this league.  Everyone here is just so skilled; these guys are top notch in the world.”

Even learning experiences among the heroes of hockey have their comedic moments, and Saturday night’s game was a perfect example of such a moment when Holtby was heading out of the tunnel for warm-ups.

“One of the trainers gave me a fist pound and he hit my stick and it fell.  It’s kind of funny and we laughed it off in the end.  Its kind of fun to have those little memories you will remember 10 years down the road.”

While it’s back to reality for him this week, Holtby has decided to take the things he has learned from this call-up and use them to the advantage in his career.

“That’s what I’m going to go back to South Carolina with—the attitude that I want to get better and stronger, and I want to be playing in this league.”