Sunday Practice

I had the chance to watch 4 hours of practice on Sunday at the job. We saw two scrimmages and two of the three teams run drills.

At the end of practice McGrattan came out and worked on his skating (thank god) along with Hanzal. By the end Hanzal looked like he was in a lot of pain. Hanzal was giving out pucks and I got one! Most of the writing is off but you can still see part of the NHL symbol and the word “practice”. It’s my first practice puck. I usually let the little kids run and get them. McGrattan is fun to watch work on his skating. He is a very large guy (like 6’5, 235 lbs) and he definitely is not as smooth as Hanzal. His crossovers vastly improved when the skate coach told him (and showed him) that leaning wasn’t helping him.

During one of the scrimmages, Lessard (brought in for SA, not Phx) hit Jovo a little too hard and Doan said something to him (being he is the Captain and he probably told him to take it easy or something). Lessard then proceeded to say something to Doan and we got a flash of angry Doan (my favorite). Gloves were flying and Lessard and Doan were being held back. Jovo then realized what was going on and threw his gloves off and went after Lessard. Jovo and Lessard then spent some time in the box. I don’t think that was good on Lessard’s part. He is trying to make a good impression and he insults the captain and an alternate captain.

Another interesting altercation was when Chickenoff tripped Carcillo. Carcillo (while on his knees) hit Chickenoff’s shins with his stick. Both of those boys went to the box. Once they were out, Carcillo was a moth to Chickenoff’s flame. He was totally watching Chickenoff. He reminds me of a cat stalking a mouse.

None of the goalies really stood out as really good or really bad. There are six goalies at camp and all but one are under contract with us. I thought we had another goalie that was with the Sundogs last season, but maybe his contract was up with us. It doesn’t seem to be a goalie fight like it was last season when we started with three goalies on the Coyotes.

I can’t think of anything else. There wasn’t a lot that stood out to me today. I am still trying to get all the new guys straight.

Weekly Playoff Update, Coyotes News, Rampage Info

I didn’t have much time to update this week. There were too many games on and I was trying to fit in some exercise and other errands.

Two teams have now moved on to the second round: Penguins and Rangers. As of this morning all the teams in the West are 3-2 in their series.

Caps are on the verge of elimination. I am watching the game as I type. Ovechkin just scored so they are leading 1-0.

Montreal is up 3-2 over Boston. I want Montreal to win. I’d like to see them advance to the finals and maybe even win the cup. I have like a man-crush on their goalie. Plus I think overall they are a good, solid team. Versus is actually going to show their game tonight!

Nashville had an amazing comeback and won both of their games at home to tie the series 2-2. Last night they lost in OT. They tied it with 45 seconds left in the third. Holy Shit. And let me just tell you, yes Ellis made 53 saves (or something ridiculous like that) but his dmen bailed his ass out countless times. Very early on in the first, Ellis got himself so far out of position that Detroit had pretty much a whole open net. Ryan Suter stepped in and got the puck out of there. It was amazing it that the puck didn’t go in. The series goes back to Nashville tomorrow. I hope Nashville can win again at home and then find some way to beat Detroit at home.

Current Leaders in West:
Colorado (C’mon beat those dirty Wild!)
San Jose (I want to see Cujo advance!!)
Dallas (Beat those quackers!!!)

Also, as far as I know, the Senators used Gerber in net for all their games. Now I know Emery is a diva and they were probably trying to punish him and send him a message, but if Gerber sucks PULL HIS ASS. He let like 4 goals in each game. Emery got you to the Finals last year. He’s a good goalie. By not playing him, you punished the rest of the guys. You didn’t give them the chance to win!

And I am cheering for whoever is playing the Pens next round. I don’t care who they are, I don’t want the Pens in the finals and I don’t want them to win the cup.

Ok, so random Coyotes news (thanks to the new video on the website):
Congrats to Keith Ballard. He will be getting married this August.
Also, congrats to Steven Reinprecht; he and his wife are expecting their first child this July.

And in Rampage news, they are now even with Toronto 1-1. Last night they won 6-3. Porter and Kolarik have joined the team. It seems they have found some chemistry and been welcomed to the team. I didn’t see game 1 but there might have been some adjustments with the new guys joining the team. Game 2 Kolarik had the hat trick with 2 assists from Porter. I believe the series moves to San Antonio for game 3 on Monday.

Wow. I can’t wait for rookie and training camp. It should be quite interesting this year! Rookie Camp: July. So, only about two and half months. I can wait that long. I think. I will break it up a little bit with a vacation in early June. I read somewhere that training camp will start September 19, so only 5 months. I. Can. Handle. That. I think. Haha

Well, I am going to watch the Caps beat the Flyers and then hit the gym. Until next time!