Defenseman Brooks Orpik had conducted his research before signing with the Washington Capitals last July, calling friends around the league for the scuttlebutt about playing in the District, but a certain degree of nervousness still hovered over the veteran. He would join a new team for the first time in his career, parachuting into a relatively untouched locker room and expected to become an instant leader. He wondered how he would fit onto a roster with a reputation for containing me-first attitudes. He wondered if noise would match reality.
“That was something I think from an outsider’s perspective, a lot of people tried to speculate on some of the guys here as not being team guys or having individual agendas,” Orpik said.