Just got back from Scottsdale, nice four hour round trip to take in the second day of camp. Got to chat with Nash for a bit while the third group practiced, he's pretty excited about Pojo. Then Biz showed up so we got to welcome him back and talk about home town proximity and the documentary he was plugging on the Yandle episode of that chiclets show.
Is anybody else watching camp? There was a good crowd for the scrimmage but it was pretty empty for the second and third groups' practices. I dunno, maybe i'm in the wrong thread, nobody talking about Martinook still playing at center? Where's the torches?
Group B lumped C in the scrimmage. Dvorak and Duclair looked solid together, skating with Kempe who had some trouble making plays at their pace. Crouse/Martinook/McGinn did the most damage, they could pretty much dictate play when Goligoski/Schenn weren't out against them. Nice to see those two working as a pair, they were handling the Perlini/Richardson/Keller line well, Keller really didn't show up until it went down to 4 on 4, then 3 on 3. Space and time adjustment still a work in progress. OEL took shifts with Clendening on his right then Campbell on his left. C's goaltending looked pretty bad giving up 4, Louie looked like he hadn't stopped a puck all summer but he came in cold. In the following practice, Houser looked like he'd never skated in goalie pads before. Hill and Miska looked sharp for B, the only goal against was Hill being overly aggressive and taking himself out of position, again, like every game he got pulled from last year.
Tough to say on Cousins, Martinook looked better at center but he wasn't stuck with Rinaldo and Garland for wingers. I liked Rinaldo's puck hounding, looking forward to seeing him in Tucson with Latta, MacInnis and Pederson hitting things, while Merkley, Etem, Bunting and Looke fly the wings. I suppose Garland and Gaudet will be there too, meh.
Only got to see group A practice, but Domi was out to teach Raanta/Langhamer a lesson about going down early, just ringing everything top shelf past their ears. Domi/Stepan looked good, but i can't even remember who was trying to keep up on their wing, probably Merkley. Etem/Strome/Fischer looked good, but Fischer really stood out. Strome looked flat footed on several plays, still struggling to match the pace. Oh, and KEL and Wood were both easily beaten below their own goal line, not looking forward to the Roadrunner defense beyond Capobianco.
