Braden Holtby is a goalie for the Hershey Bears and a top prospect for the Washington Capitals. He's also an enthusiastic fellow, as you'll no doubt notice in this shootout celebration following a 3-2 win over the rival Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins on Friday night. Via Sweetest Hockey On Earth:
For the video impaired: Holtby made a save on Nick Petersen, whose goal with 1:16 remaining forced overtime. He skated out of his crease with arms spread in "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?" formation, pumping his arm eight times like he was jamming on a guitar. The celebration ended up on the Penguins' center ice logo, and the Baby Pens finally had enough, confronting the Bears and dancing perilously close to a postgame brawl.
From Tim Leone of The Patriot News:
"They were just mad at the celebration, I think," said Holtby, who was given a misconduct penalty for the celebration.
"It's just the heat of the battle and obviously our biggest rival."
Both teams faced off and jawed before eventually exiting for their locker rooms without further incident. "We were just upset, just the showboating," WBS forward Zach Sill said. "We showed we weren't happy with it. In our own barn, you don't want that happening."
It was an emotionally tense night between the teams, with Bears forward Andrew Carroll getting an interference call on a Lucic/Miller-like play involving WBS's Brad Thiessen. The game also featured two first-period fights and a major for elbowing on Bears captain Boyd Kane, for a hit on WBS captain Ryan Craig. (Penalties are here.)
In that context, Holtby's exuberance is understandable. Although ending up at center ice was a bit much. Next time, keep it to seven glove-pumps, sir.