Klippers Camp Day 1 Recap

Training camp is one of my favorite times of the year. It means the start of the hockey season is nearing, and you get a good look at what the organization has in the now and in the future. The effort level at camp is always high tempo and it makes for some entertaining hockey.

Yesterdays action was delayed a bit after the morning opened up with fitness testing. A few setbacks at the WCEC forced the practice session to run a bit late, which would then push the intersquad game to 9 PM. It was a long and tough day for all the players looking to impress the Klippers coaching brass.

For the lack of ice time alot of the kids have had this offseason, I was very impressed with what I saw yesterday. I will hit on a few notes from day one of camp, but by no means am I going to get into an in depth critique just yet. With day one more so being a feel out process for most of the players, It wouldn't be fair to get to in depth right now, and to be honest yesterday was the first time I actually got to see a few of the guys at camp so I don't want to make judgements just yet.

I spent the night jotting down random notes and here they are...

- Klipper forwards Jordon Hoffman, and D Jay McGrath were the referees for last nights game. I must say they should definatly stick to playing the game as I am not sure they know the exact rules of hockey. A number of offsides were missed and their penalty calling was suspect, haha just bugging the guys, they did a good job reffing the game.

- Team green would take the game by a score of 5-4. Green goals were scored by Justin Lund (2), Austin McDonald, Austin Duzan, and Mitchell Schwark. For team blue the goal scorers were, Tanner Kissick, Jesse Mysiorek, and Jeremy Leclerc. I missed who scored team greens 3rd goal as I was tweeting.

- If your wondering what last nights rosters looked like, I was told not to post the entire camp rosters on the blog as of yet.

- It was a small roster to start out camp. In and around 30 kids took the ice last night. A few more are expected to show up today, with more players arriving from Western League camps in the next couple of days.

- One notable player who was absent from camp is forward Dayton Reinboldt. This one was a big surprise to me and it sounds like for the organization. At the moment his status is uncertain.

- In terms of the fitness testing aspect the coaching staff was raving about a few players results. David Haaf, Justin McDonald and his younger brother Austin McDonald all had impressive fitness showings.

- There were five goalies at camp yesterday but one notable who was absent was Patrick Johnson. He is currently with the Saskatoon Blades. He played in last nights exhibition game for the Blades allowing 3 goals. He came in on relief duty for Adam Todd late in the second period. From all reports it sounds like Johnson has been having a very solid camp, so we will see what happens over the next couple days.

- In terms of the goalies that were here last night, I didn't get the best look at all of them as they weren't in the pipes for that long. It was a short game last night and with 5 goalies to alternate with, they didn't see that much rubber.

- In terms of Justin McDonald I did notice that he looked confident handling the puck which was something he mentioned to me that he worked on this offseason.

- The battle on defense is going to be very interesting. Their were ten dmen out their yesterday and three spots are already locked up by David Haaf, Zane Morin and Casey Rogers.

- An interesting note was that Taylor Wasden was skating last night as a defenseman. It sounds like the Klippers want to play Wasden on the back end to start the season. Wasden played defense in his younger hockey career but since playing Junior he has been a forward. I personally would like to see Wasden up front because of his strong forchecking ability but by no menas did he look out of place on the back end. I will break this down a bit further once we see Wazy a few more times playing D.

- If Wasden ends up staying on the back end that really makes things more difficult for some of the younger dmen. Guys like Morgan Eaton, Jermey Leclerc, Jordan Weist, Kadin Schmaltz, Brett Bohlken and Nick Howell are all in the mix at the moment. A few more guys are expected so show up over the next few skates from Western league camps. Brett Blatz and Cody Thiel will only make the d competition tougher if they don't stick in the WHL

- Up front for the Klippers they have alot of skill. If Reinboldt doesn't report that will likely free up a spot which is good news for alot of the youngsters. I don't want to break down the fwds to deep until I get a better look at some of the guys. A few rookies I will be keeping my eyes on over the next few skates are Austin McDonald, Colby Daniels, Jeff Olsen, Ladon Robin, Mitchell Schwark, Justin Lund, Ryan McConnell, and Cody McKinnon.
- A few notables up front who are still at WHL camps are Wheaton King, Chris Thorimbert, and Brennan Bosovich.

- It sounds like Chase Nelson will be one of the new guys to arrive for day two of camp.

- We got out first look at newly acquired Bradley Buckingham last night. This guy is big and strong and has good hands for his size. I hope to get an interview with him over the next few days.

- Kindersley local Ryan McBride is currently nursing a lower body injury. He likely wont be able to skate until sometime next week. McBride has worked very hard this offseason and is very anxious to hit the ice. He does have a good shot at cracking the squad so its unfortunate that his injury will keep him out for the early going of camp. I'm excited to see what hes got.

- That's all I got for now, I hope to focus in on a few of the rookies in more detail at tonight's game. It was good to see alot of the fans out last night and I am sure we will see more as camp progresses. The camp is back on schedule and tonight's game is expected to be played around 7:30 PM. I still have an interview with Ryan Elliott to put up and I hope to meet with a few more of the vets today to continue with my offseason returnee interviews.

- I will also try and post an updated depth chart sometime tonight, we will see if any newbies arrive for day 2 of camp.

Cheers,

Ullsy