The Mag's Jeff Bradley went to a hockey practice -- at Piney Orchard Ice Forum in suburban D.C. -- and a philosophy class broke out.

I've been to all kinds of practices during my sports writing days. From Toms River Little League to Virginia Tech football to, well, three years of Yankees spring training.

But today, I saw something I haven't seen before. Actually, I heard something I've never heard before. At the end of the Washington Capitals' hour and 15-minute workout, the dozen or so people in attendance listened as coach Ron Wilson gave his team a homework assignment, an essay no less.

"Why do you play the game?" Wilson asked his team, "in 50 words or less. I don't care if it's five words, as long as it's from the heart."

Now the Caps, who at the end of the last regular season were one of the hottest teams in the NHL, have been struggling early in the current campaign. Wilson has been disappointed in the commitment his team is showing in practice, but, as he so eloquently put it, "The body-bag days approach is counter-productive. We have to try different things all the time. It's a cynical world and I want these guys to remember the days when they couldn't wait to grab their equipment bag and get to the rink."

What did the players think of the assignment?

"Piece of cake," said Chris Simon, the Caps leading scorer from a year ago who's struggled since ending a long holdout in late October. "There are still coaches who believe, when a team is struggling, you have two practices a day, skate guys to death. Ron knows how tough the schedule is in this league, but he wants us to think."

As the Caps stripped off their sweaty practice gear, Wilson dutifully placed a piece of Washington Capitals letterhead in front of each locker. A few players joked about it, asking whose paper they should cheat off. But each left the room and carried his sheet of paper off to the player lounge, a few whispering to themselves, "Why do I play the game?"

Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at jeff.bradley@espnmag.com.