ARLINGTON, V.A. — Ethen Frank's no stranger to competition.
The Washington Capitals forward has spent most of his career fighting tooth and nail for every opportunity, from signing an AHL deal out of college to finally earning a full-time promotion to the NHL last season.
"In any organization, there's not going to be any easy spots given or anything. I'm not the only guy going through this around the league... you're always going to end up battling for stuff," Frank said. "It's the best league in the world, so nothing's going to come easy... I'll do whatever I can to help the team win.
As he battles again for a roster spot this year, going toe to toe with the likes of Ivan Miroshnichenko and Jonny Brodzinski, Frank is putting a lot of emphasis on not how he plays the game, but how he sees it.
"I did a lot of training, a different approach this summer," Frank said. "I did some cognitive stuff, more reaction time, decision making... it's been good and a lot of fun."
Coming off a 12-goal, 24-point year with the Capitals, Frank sat down with the coaching staff going into the summer. One of the takeaways was that sharpening his hockey IQ and working on his positioning and use of open space, especially given how fast of a player he is.
As he got to thinking about it, Frank found that cognitive training could do a lot for him at this point in his career.
"That could really help my game at this level, just with how smart everybody is and positionally sound. They're always in the right spot," Frank said. "I think (it's about) not panicking and just whacking pucks up the wall and just kind of hoping that it gets by him, realizing that you can make that play and taking that extra half second to settle the puck down, get your head up and then hit a tape-to-tape pass."
So, the 28-year-old got to work this summer, and connected with cognitive performance expert and coach Satoshi Takano. Takano had given a demo of his program back when Frank was at Michigan Tech, and Frank was eager to get back in touch and add to his game.
A lot of time was spent in the gym and on the ice working with Takano on thought processes, decisions, vision and more, through different drills and interactive sessions. He also used and continues to use apps on his phone and iPad that uses visual cues and prompts to help Frank focus on cognitive decision making.
"It's a lot with technology... there's arrows and different colors. If it's red, you go the opposite way of the arrow, and different things like that," Frank explained. "You try to do active memory and things like that. It's a lot of fun. It kind of makes you feel like a kid, where you're playing games on a TV and touching everything.
"(It) helps you take that deep breath," he added. "You get a puck, you know there's a guy coming, but you also look to see where your support is and take advantage."
For Frank, it not only translated to the ice, but also helped slow the game down.
Now, as he navigates a pivotal training camp, he feels he's in the best spot possible to win a spot, and knows that at the end of the day, he'll have to earn it from scratch all over again.
"It keeps you on your toes, and it always makes sure that you're not taking any days off or any time off. You're always working for everything you get," Frank explained. "It's just kind of how my whole life has been, and I've enjoyed it. It's hard work, but it's a lot of fun."
