Rookie Camp

I had no plans on attending any of camp, rookie or training, this year. My work and class schedules didn't mesh. Honestly, I was fine with that. For some reason, I woke up this morning and did not want to go in to work. I was laying in bed thinking about getting ready and hockey thoughts jumped into my head. I looked up the schedule, and on a whim, decided to skip scholarship work and make the trek to Nashville. I can always make up those scholarship hours. After all, I have until December to get them all done.
This was a new way to watch camp. I didn't have a roster, so the only way I knew guys was by the names on their backs, half of which I hadn't heard of. I had my planner with me, so I took some scattered notes. Some hockey related, and some not.
Best names:
Vandall
Latta: looks like a mini Sidney Crosby, but certainly does not have anywhere near the same skills
Sheahan: Pretty much just funny because it's almost "Shea hand" which for some reason, I found very funny. He stretched in front of me, which was also fun, just given my training camp and practice experiences with Shea. He played pretty rough, but I wasn't too impressed.
Some things I noticed:
Blum: Plays a physical game. He's pretty big, but I'm not sure he can beat out Franson for one of the D spots. Guess we'll see how training camp plays out next week.
Smith: When I first got there, he was having trouble with his 5-hole. It looked better as practice went on, so I don't know if one of the trainers said something to him. If it's a constant issue, it's something he needs to work on. Mason had the same problem a couple years ago, and we don't need a repeat of that. On the plus side, he had a pretty good glove save.
Ellis: The new draftee, not the goalie He is TINY. I knew he was small, but I wasn't expecting that. Yay for undersized defensemen! /sarcasm He had a staring problem. Looked like he was checking out the stands during some of the trainer talks. Maybe he was just trying to take it all in, or maybe he's training to be the next Tootoo. Who knows.
Pickard: One word- Baller This guy is awesome. If something happens, and we trade Ellis (Danny) for a forward, I think Chet would be a good back-up. If not, he should do pretty well in Milwaukee. He's also pretty darn adorable.
Brannon: Noticed him standing around a lot. At one point, one of the trainers yelled at him to move it. He reminded me of Arnott, minus the size.
Spaling: This kid is amazing. He plays hard, skates fast, and has a great shot. He seemed to be having a lot of fun, and I really like to see that. He might just be a call-up this year. If not, I can see him in Nashville in a year or two.
And because I'm a girl and it's natural, some non-hockey musings:
Beck is good looking. Reminds me of a mini-Josh Hartnett. Makes some weird faces though, but killer smile.
McKenzie is pretty big and pretty hot. He didn't skate too incredibly slow, despite his size.
Mark Santorelli: Not sure if I've blogged about it before, but I love both of the Santorelli brothers. I expect Mike will be in training camp next week since he's not really a rookie. Both brothers are pretty. :) I was really excited when Mike was called up last year, but he didn't do too great. But it was his first NHL experience, so you can't hold it against him too much. Anyway, back to Mark, besides looking adorable, he had a pretty good day. He's a good skater, and was going around today like he had something to prove. Maybe it's got some brotherly rivalry to it, so he wants to look good next week. Regardless, I think he and Spaling did pretty well today, and I was impressed.
Colin Wilson does not look like Colin Wilson with his helmet on. I barely recognized him. But he had a pretty good day. Needs some work on his one-timers, but again, would love to see the kid in Nashville if we don't bring in another second line forward.
Martin Gelinas was on the ice today. He was helping with the training and on ice stuff. He's a good guy, but his hair was killing me. It looked like he had rolled out of bed. Either that or he gelled it up trying to look younger. haha
Saw Trotz and Company for a little while. They looked to be in good spirits, laughing and carrying on.
Anyway, it was good to be back in the rink watching "professionals." Watching Mike's game with Mutiny don't even compare to watching even the rookies. I missed the whooshing and freezing my ass off for a taste of hockey. It was totally worth it. Work sucks anyway, so I'm glad I skipped.
Maybe I'll skip again next week for some actual NHL skaters.