STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF GUIDE - Washington Capitals - NHL.com

Blaine Forsythe
Assistant Coach/Video
Blaine Forsythe is in his fifth season with
Washington and his second as an assistant
coach.
Forsythe joined the Capitals as a video coach
prior to the 2006-07 season and was an integral member of Bruce Boudreau’s
staff that helped lead the Capitals to the 2007-08 Southeast Division
championship.
Forsythe was promoted to a position as an amateur scout in 2008-09 before
returning to D.C. In his first season back as an assistant coach and leading the
team’s video coaching operations, the Capitals won the Presidents’ Trophy and
the Southeast Division championship.
Arturs Irbe
Goaltending Coach
Arturs Irbe is in his second season as the goalie
coach for the Capitals. This season, he helped
Washington become the first team in NHL history
with three goaltenders aged 22 or younger (age
prior to Feb. 1 of season in question) each with
10 or more wins in a season.
Irbe, 44, is a native of Riga, Latvia, and served as the goaltending coach for
his hometown Dinamo Riga last season in the Kontinental Hockey League. He
has also worked with the Latvian national team, which he represented in the
2002 and 2006 Olympics and multiple World Championships. In 2010 he was
inducted in the IIHF Hall of Fame.
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WASHINGTON CAPITALS 2011 PLAYOFF GUIDE
Prior to joining the Washington organization, the Calgary, Alberta, native
worked for the Calgary Hitmen from 1998-2006, where he served as both an
assistant general manager (1998-2006) and an assistant coach (2002-06).
While with the Hitmen, Forsythe worked with fellow Capitals’ assistant coach
Dean Evason, who was both an assistant coach and co-coach of the Hitmen
during Forsythe’s tenure. Forsythe and Evason helped lead Calgary to a WHL
championship in 1999.
Forsythe received a business degree from the University of Minnesota and
played Division II hockey at the University of Minnesota, Crookston. He played
junior hockey with the CJHL’s Pembroke Lumber Kings in Pembroke, Ontario.
Irbe, a 13-year NHL veteran, played for San Jose, Dallas, Vancouver and
Carolina, where he led the team to the Stanley Cup finals in 2001-02. He played
in 568 games and compiled a career record of 218-236-79 while appearing in
two NHL All-Star Games (1994, 1999). His last NHL season was 2003-04,
and he finished his NHL career with a 2.83 goals-against average and an .899
save percentage. Irbe is a former teammate of Capitals’ assistant coach Dean
Evason, as both players were with the San Jose Sharks from 1991-93.
Irbe played professionally in Europe after he left the NHL and retired completely
after appearing in six games with Slovakia’s HK Nitra in 2006-07.
Irbe is fluent in English, Latvian, Russian and also speaks some German.