GDT: 2015-16 Training Camp and Preseason Thread

[maxim84]

Rendulic explains what happened:

http://www.tout.com/m/h4zrn0?ref=twm1xtnj

 

[Avsboy]

Martinsen is being given big boy minutes on the top line in the B & W game. Roy the Size Queen.

 

[Landeslog]

I thought Rendulic had a good scrimmage, too.

Hishon is just too easily knocked off the puck. Got throw. Around a lot.

Zadarov is a freaking beast!

Also remind me to wear socks next year. My toes are still cold

 

[tigervixxxen]

Avs first three pre-season games are at home, then two away and the last in Las Vegas.

Normally you would expect to see a lot of the youngsters play early before being cut and veterans play the later games but you also usually see the big names play at home and the lambs to the slaughter for away games. That's not possible this year, obviously.

What I expect is maybe a longer mix of prospects and stars for the home games. Probably all the prospects will be sent back for their games next weekend. The game in Calgary I'd expect an all AHL lineup. Then to go to Anaheim and Vegas they will take the real team plus a couple extras. They will probably go straight to Vegas from Anaheim.

 

[ashnathan]

Any updates on the Yeti? Keen to know if hes enjoying his new home

 

[Landeslog]

Any updates on the Yeti? Keen to know if hes enjoying his new home

Looks good to me! Has good chemistry with Mandeskog

Edit: I mean Landeskog! But I'll leave it because that is an awesome typo

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Might as well call them Soderskog because they'll be attached at the hip all year.

And yes, it's freezing in Family Sports. It was ridiculous this week.

 

[ashnathan]

Looks good to me! Has good chemistry with Mandeskog

Edit: I mean Landeskog! But I'll leave it because that is an awesome typo

Sounds good, he had good chemistry with Loui and glad he has another Swede to be friends with, Carl is an interesting guy, rather quiet and I was scared he may find himself somewhere he doesn't enjoy and go back to Sweden. Here's hoping he can elevate his career with you guys Just hopefully he doesn't play too well against the Bs

 

[Landeslog]

Might as well call them Soderskog because they'll be attached at the hip all year.

And yes, it's freezing in Family Sports. It was ridiculous this week.

Yeah it seemed much worse than years past. By the end of practice I was so cold and hungry I was barely paying attention haha

 

[AW8]

And yes, it's freezing in Family Sports. It was ridiculous this week.[/QUOTE]

Must get warmer at night. I've been there all week and it's been fine. Long T and cargo shorts will do.

Try old foothills! Or khs in Anaheim!

Wish I had days free to watch the boys, sounds like a blast so far. Thanks for updates

 

[Avs_19]

Brandon Gormley

Colorado’s newest acquisition, Gormley looked like a man determined to show the coaching staff why he belongs in the NHL when the season opens. He played great defense at every turn, frequently being the only player who could put up any real resistance to the Grigorenko line’s reign of terror. His offense was mostly limited to quick decisions and sharp passes but his strong two-way game and high hockey IQ were on full display this morning. If he keeps it up, he’s going to make it tough for the Avs to cut him.

http://bsndenver.com/avalanche-training-camp-day-2-recap/

Sounds like the opposite of Holden to me, especially with the high hockey IQ part.

 

[S E P H]

I wasn't planning on making a review, but since RL asked nicely I will do it.


First was the goalers, which was just Varlamov and Berra. Berra keeps getting beat high glove. The players came on, and were doing breakout drills without any shooting. Then there was more "counter attacking" and break out drills that involved shooting. They switched rinks and it got mega boring. Between each drill, Farrish (who was explaining the drills) talked about the drill for at least 6 minutes every time. Did some more breakout for the system, but then went to defensive zone faceoffs. It got boring again as certain players kept doing it wrong, which Roy had to stop and teach. Army was very vocal as well, the guy is a really tough dude.

In terms of the practice, all the skilled guys looked good. Skille has been a pleasant surprise. I believe Mars was the one who said that he was an upgrade on Cliche and he absolutely has been thus far. MacKinnon was probably the best player out there today and just wrecked anybody 1v1. He also seemed angry as I tweeted earlier. Stuart and Redmond were the most notable ones to me that struggled all practice long. I understand everyone hates Mezsaros, but his hate is completely overblown here. The guy isn't amazing, but he isn't this trainwreck that could rival Zanon's quality. Honestly I thought he looked better than Stuart today, but MacKinnon pretty much embarrassed Andrej whenever they battled each other.

There was some more 3v3 games, but I left early to get a better vantage point for the game. Now to get to the more interesting subject, the scrimmage. The scrimmage was an actual game with stop time, penalties, but only one ref.

It was nice to see the intensity level and actually full blown hitting. In the first, I would say the MVP would go to either Rendulic or Bourke. Bourke, even though on the smaller side has definitely beefed up this past offseason. Rendulic was really good and it showed with his two primary assists. The goalers were changing on the fly which was fun to see at times. Geertsen was also noticeable hitting everything.

In the second, Bigras took over and in terms of just overall defensive ability, he was outstanding. Ability to make plays under pressure, but also to make crisp tape on tape passes made the breakout for blue team very easy. Rantanen was sort of invisible in the 1st, but broke out for the second. He was making plays, finding the open ice, but undervalued in his game is his elusiveness for a big man. Joey Hishon turned in his game in the second as well.

For the third, I would say that Bigras was again very good. The game started off slow, but closer to the end, it picked up. This is where Grigorenko showed his offensive flair, I thought he was pretty invisible for the first two periods IMO. Schumacher and Everberg also showed more as well compared to the first two. Rendulic came back, had some nice plays, but some bad turnovers as well. Though he should be satisfied in how camp went.

Now in terms of who were the most consistent, it had to be...Olhaver, Zadorov, Noreau, Pepin, and Gormley. All of them had superb games. Zadorov basic hit everyone he wanted to, but the amount of open ice hits he wanted to lay out was eye opening. BUT as I said on twitter, he at times is prone for defensive brain farts leading him out of position. Grey had at least 3-4 two-on-ones because of him not reading the play well. For Noreau, he just does everything good. He has great defensive stick, superb skating, and reading the play offensively. His passes lead to a breakaway and a couple of near misses due to the forward's fault. Only if he was just 3 inches taller. Pepin was throwing his body around all game long, but was just hungry to succeed (insert burger joke here). Losing those 12 pounds have done wonders for him, he's faster, more agile, and without losing his physical mass and heavy shot. I saw a lot of confidence in Gormley's game, he might not be an amazing north to south skater, but his west to east game gets over exaggerated on here, he is fluid-less in this department. Furthermore, as it has been well documented on here, his hockey IQ is superb. He knows what play to make and when, which lead to him jumping into the play and getting a primary assist. Olhaver is not developed physically, but he like Pepin was hitting everything. The bonus is that he is a very good skater for his size, not even close to a weakness for him. One of those does every good, but nothing well player. Looking forward to seeing him in Seattle.

Boikov was also impressive for his age, really calm and smart defensively. Siemens had a good showing, but sort of regressed as the game went along. Went for the hits and kept getting out of position because of it. Meloche was consistently good as well, but still years away. Hamilton and Agozzino both put on solid performances as well.

The players that were beyond pointless for me were Henley, Hamonic, Maheux, Bleackley, Magyar, Martinsen, and Meurs. Not that they were bad, but were absolutely invisible. All Bleackley did the whole game was one shot, which was pretty much stoppable. Martinsen was invisible, did nothing except his goal. But both players had a better showing overall at camp than Henley. I know that Tigre loves Henley, but that was a pretty damn disappointing camp from him. Likewise comments to Magyar as well.

Going to the B/W game tomorrow, but don't know if I will tweet at all.

 

[Avs_19]

Always interesting to see the differing opinions on some of these players. A different take on Martinsen and Bleackley:

Martinsen continued his strong play by making smart, crisp passes and was robbed of a glorious assist to Chris Bigras by goaltender Roman Will. While his skating definitely looked a notch below what it has in recent days, the rest of his all-around game remained solid. He was physical when he had to be and his shot continues to be a consistent threat. He scored a goal on a beautiful feed from Grigorenko.

I’ve said this in the past but I want to re-iterate that live viewings of players can radically alter how you view a guy. In the case of Bleackley, watching him in person gives you so much of an appreciation for all the little things he does well. He’s nowhere near a guy like Rantanen in raw skill but his all-around game, work ethic, and intensity are top-notch. Bleackley kicked it up several levels in the second period of the scrimmage and demanded he receive some of the attention.

http://bsndenver.com/avalanche-training-camp-day-2-recap/

 

[S E P H]

Always interesting to see the differing opinions on some of these players. A different take on Martinsen and Bleackley:





http://bsndenver.com/avalanche-training-camp-day-2-recap/

Just talking about today FYI. Bleackley and Martinsen, like Rendulic should all be happy in how they preformed overall at camp. Today though, I definitely disagree with BSN. But this is the same BSN which thinks Geertsen is the second coming of Rob Blake as Terminator.

 

[Landeslog]

The only time I noticed Bleakly today was when he was getti off the ice and I was like "wait, who's 49"

 

[Avs_19]

Just talking about today FYI. Bleackley and Martinsen, like Rendulic should all be happy in how they preformed overall at camp. Today though, I definitely disagree with BSN. But this is the same BSN which thinks Geertsen is the second coming of Rob Blake as Terminator.

They do love Geertsen. Haha.

Wasn't saying one of you are wrong. It's just always interesting to see the different opinions this time of year. Nothing wrong with that either.

Gormley is making them notice him.....

"Today we liked Gormley a lot," Roy said. "He played with Mat Clark and they played very well. Our guys thought they were the best pairing on the ice."

Good. Good.

 

[Landeslog]

Seems unnecessary to say but I though Stuart looked pretty bad.

And which guy was it that Mackinnon deked and made drop his stick? Meszaros?

 

[BoxOfChocolates]

There's no way the Avs can send Gormley down, and unfortunately I'm about 90% sure Redmond is going to be the casualty going on waivers instead of Guenin

 

[tigervixxxen]

I know everyone knows I'm a Bleackley fan and will tend to see the good in him but come on, that's not true all he did was one shot. He played his game, particularly in the second period where he was on pucks, creating plays he's a cycle machine, he's pretty much the only prospect that can do it consistently. He had the cycle going in the 3 on 3 OT even. He had a few great feeds that were stopped by great saves. He was on a line with Nantel and Petryk, who are both somewhat similar players and are shoot first guys, Petryk didn't make one pass all day and I'm not sure many more even gave Bleackley a pass to shoot on. So yeah he didn't have his dynamic shot going but he played his style of defensive possession based physical hockey instead. He was even one of the first forwards on the PK and did well there. Henley is in the same boat, the guy doesn't create much offense but he plays smart physical defensive hockey and thought he was pretty decent today. I'm happy Bleackley showed his game, that's all you can ask him to do and I really believe he's had a good camp. Nothing mindblowing but he showed the player he is. I truly beLieve he's a difference maker and he will be at the next level, it's not sexy hockey but it's effective.

Also, funny nobody noticed Zadrorov missed half a period.

 

[returnofthemack29]

I know everyone knows I'm a Bleackley fan and will tend to see the good in him but come on, that's not true all he did was one shot. He played his game, particularly in the second period where he was on pucks, creating plays he's a cycle machine, he's pretty much the only prospect that can do it consistently. He had the cycle going in the 3 on 3 OT even. He had a few great feeds that were stopped by great saves. He was on a line with Nantel and Petryk, who are both somewhat similar players and are shoot first guys, Petryk didn't make one pass all day and I'm not sure many more even gave Bleackley a pass to shoot on. So yeah he didn't have his dynamic shot going but he played his style of defensive possession based physical hockey instead. He was even one of the first forwards on the PK and did well there. Henley is in the same boat, the guy doesn't create much offense but he plays smart physical defensive hockey and thought he was pretty decent today. I'm happy Bleackley showed his game, that's all you can ask him to do and I really believe he's had a good camp. Nothing mindblowing but he showed the player he is. I truly beLieve he's a difference maker and he will be at the next level, it's not sexy hockey but it's effective.

Also, funny nobody noticed Zadrorov missed half a period.

Did he oversleep?

 

[BoxOfChocolates]

Roy press conference

[nhl]835001[/nhl]

 

[cgf]

Did he oversleep?

I'm guessing lunch break is more likely than nap-time.

 

[tigervixxxen]

More like tweaked something. But he ended the day on the ice so that's all that's important I guess.

 

[Ararana]

Roy mentioned Varly won't be on the Calgary trip, wonder if he'll be on the ANA, LA trip. I'm getting optimistically excited that, given the circumstances, we might actually get some vets for the game in ANA. Last year's showing was awful, I think Holden was the biggest name there...against Geztlaf and Perry... it was painful.

 

[Freudian]

I hope it's ok to get a little big hopeful about Gromley. It would be fantastic even if he turns out to be a solid #5 since he's basically free. None of us figured Elliott had any real value.