ARLINGTON, Va. — While being a professional athlete is a grueling, day in and day out business, one aspect of the sports each player competes in is often forgotten: fun.
Playing the sport you love for a living is a blessing that no athlete takes for granted. However, Washington Capitals forward Anthony Mantha was not enjoying himself when he was on the ice.
Ever since he was traded to the Capitals back in 2021, when Washington traded Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik and a 2021 first-round pick and a 2022 second-round selection, he hasn’t quite been the offensive player that he was known to be. After only racking up 11 goals in the 2022-23 season, Mantha had to change something both physically and mentally. The 29-year-old hired a mental coach over the summer and would meet with him over the phone three times a month, typically during the first three weeks of the month.
“The healthy scratch I think is a byproduct of last year. It didn’t go well so I knew I was going to need to work hard this year to prove new things and prove that I’m the player I need to be,” Mantha told NoVaCaps. “We just learn everything. Just getting my head back in the game. For me, the biggest part is to enjoy playing it; to have fun [even] when I’m not necessarily having fun or when I’m not playing as good.”
However, Mantha was in the same spot he was in last April. He was a healthy scratch in the second game of the season against the Calgary Flames and struggled to find his game. Combined with sitting out for that game, being a scratch last year and not producing, it looked like it was going to be the same story for No. 39.
Though he started to get some scoring chances in his next few games, he could not finish his opportunities. But he finally got the monkey off his back when he had a two-point night against the New Jersey Devils. He continued to get better and had a two-goal game against the Florida Panthers.
However, Mantha would suffer a ruptured eardrum after taking a puck to the face with seven minutes left in the third period. But after missing the next three games, Mantha was flying right from the get-go in his first game back against the Columbus Blue Jackets, leading the team with six shots on goal.
“I thought he picked up right where he left off from coming out of the lineup… Sometimes he had some momentum in a season going and then he gets hit with the puck in the ear and thankfully it was only just a handful of games that he missed,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said after the game against the Blue Jackets. “That for me is just so emblematic of what he’s putting in right now and to be rewarded for that, that’s what I love to see. He’s working defensively, working in good spots, tracks there and then gets rewarded offensively for it. He doesn’t score but it’s a great opportunity for him to score and he did a ton of other good things.”
Now, Mantha has been playing top-6 minutes and has earned his role in the Capitals lineup. While he is pointless in his last three games, the important thing for the Quebec native is he is present mentally and loving the game again.
“I had a good mentality coming into this year and I think it’s still here. I’m having fun playing the game and I just need to keep going that way,” Mantha said. “I think good things have been happening and they’re gonna keep coming if the work ethic is still there.”
By Jacob Cheris