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Some Rookie Camp Day 2 notes

I only stayed for the camp itself, and didn't get to witness the scrimmage, but it was still a fun day to see some progression. I don't have many more thoughts to add to yesterday, but Ill throw some out there.

- Doth mine eyes deceive me? Goaltending coaching? Here? Now? Quinn worked with Attiokillio, with a supporting cast of Malone and Brennen, while Assistant worked at the other end with Pickard, with help from Siemens and Rutkowski. They were on the ice 15-20 minutes earlier than everyone else, and I got the feeling that Quinn was talking about how he wanted to see Attio move when he came up to face the puck. Very good to see, even tho it was limited.

- Most of the guys seemed much less on edge on day 2, but some of the choppier skaters did stand out to me: Rutkowski, Beaupre, and Silas. They worked hard, but you could tell they aren't really very close. Dillon Donnelly watches the puck whenever its on his stick; he will definitely get blown up if he tries that on NHL ice. He does have a decent stride, tho. Rutkowski is having a better day, altho its still choppy. Some of the guys just look smooth when it comes to skating... they make it look effortless. Rutkow still looks like he's fighting it with every stride.

- The second drill of the day were more of what I like to see: cycling and transition. Three guys acted the part of the team; one skates backwards and picks up the puck near his own goalline, acting the D, and chips it forward to someone lurking on the blueline, who then passes it up to someone for a simulated breakout on the goalie. The secondary guy burns his speed to catch up and be barely onsides, giving another option for a pass across, while the guy playing D comes up and skirts the blueline to try and pot a slapper. They worked this drill quite a bit, with different goalies, from different angles, and with different guys in each position; watching Siemens acting the part of Landy while Landy haunted the blueline was kinda fun.

- I noticed that during this drill Elliott potted an easy goal on Pickard from a 2-on-0, and Landeskog started cheering. He was the only one, and went so far as to bang his stick on the glass. No one else had any sort of outburst. I get the feeling that he is going to want to be the center of attention, and he's going to thrive in it.

- Speaking of Landeskog, he had a really good turn on that drill where he scored on an initial rush toward Pickard, picked up a puck behind the net like he was supposed to, passed it up ice, and tipped in a slapshot from the point like he was supposed to. He is far better than any of the other rookies on the ice. My opinion of him being NHL ready is reaffirmed.

- There aren't any defenders on these drills, but they have a ton more 'real world' application than skating in circles. They ran a basic version of drill 2 for a good 20 minutes, pausing to talk about how to enter the neutral zone, or how to know where your backup is as you press the zone, or whatever. I was very happy to watch. That being said, I didn't really evaluate anyone doing this besides Landy; I was too busy enjoying myself.

- The third drill of the day, and the one that took them to the end of practice, was a similar transition and neutral zone drill where two guys started from their own blue-line and attacked the goal, practicing crossing mid ice and staying onsides while providing backup. I get the feeling this was as much about seeing who was quick on their feet and aware of the ice than actually training for anything.

And that's all my notes from today. I heard that Mueller was around (missed him, dammit!), and there were some rumors that there won't be many / any veterans scrimmaging tomorrow, but I don't know for sure. I have to head down to DTC for something else anyway, so I'll head by and just see how everyone's doing. I plan on hitting up Training Camp on Saturday and Sunday too.

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