Open practice on Sunday

[Reed Solomon]

Seemed a lot busier than last year. The first few rows appeared to be sectioned off for some people which I found distasteful, as the open practice seating is supposed to be first come first served, and they didn't appear to be wait list members. I don't mind if True North opens up the wait list open practice to others, youth hockey players and whatnot, but blocking off rows for "VIP's" at something thats supposed to be open seating really annoyed me.

 

[gbill2004*]

Seemed a lot busier than last year. The first few rows appeared to be sectioned off for some people which I found distasteful, as the open practice seating is supposed to be first come first served, and they didn't appear to be wait list members. I don't mind if True North opens up the wait list open practice to others, youth hockey players and whatnot, but blocking off rows for "VIP's" at something thats supposed to be open seating really annoyed me.

Was Sam Katz sitting in the VIP section?

 

[YWGinYYZ]

So it appears that even though they weren't skating, they were at the open practice in street clothes. Good on 'em - best of both worlds. Rest the bumps and bruises, and yet be available for the fans.

 

[cheswick]

So it appears that even though they weren't skating, they were at the open practice in street clothes. Good on 'em - best of both worlds. Rest the bumps and bruises, and yet be available for the fans.

The way Maurice explained it is there were certain players not skating for "maintenance days" but they would be the "coaches" for the different groupings of players on the ice. He said there was a bet on the line as to which side won but didn't say what the bet was. Also as the practice went on it didn't really seem to be able to tell who the winner would have been cause of the different drills they did.

The practice differed a bit from when Noel ran it. Noel pretty much kept it like a regular practice but was miked the whole time. Maurice wasn't miked but he seemed to make it a bit more fun for the fans watching then a straight up practice. Splitting the group into two teams for example. Had a 3 on 3 scrimmage and the tennis ball hockey stuff.


The "VIP" section was an Esso promotion. Looked like a contest they had run or something.