Today was the second on ice day for the rookies at Rookie Orientation camp. They skated longer than yesterday and ran through various drills during their time on the ice. Once again @DarioinDenver was at the camp and posted many videos to his Twitter account to give people, like me, who can’t attend camp a glimpse of exactly what is taking place.

As the rookies began to make their way out o nto the ice they began by warming up the goaltenders. A few guys had a group of pucks in the slot and would take five or six shots in specific places to warm up each goalie. This is standard procedure for warming up goalies. Typically, the shooter starts working the stick/five-hole area followed by shots along the ice to the glove and blocker side. After that shots are usually directed towards the glove and then the blocker until the goalie is warmed up and ready to go.


Courtesy of @DarioinDenver

The coaches then put the rookies through a few drills including one that involved passing, skating end to end, and shooting. I’m not sure who was running today’s practice, but yesterday it was Lake Erie head coach David Quinn so I assume it was him and his cohorts once again.


Courtesy of @DarioinDenver

I like this drill for a few reasons. The players got to work on passing from different distances while stationary and moving as well as shooting from further out and following up on the play for and rebounds that might there. They are simple things that these players have all mastered during their youth hockey days, but it’s important to run through it and get it engrained in their minds and body. The drill also helped the goaltenders work on angles and rebound control.

The coaches also put the prospects through breakout and cycling drills before the second session wrapped up. The cycling drill combined the breakout with cycling the puck along the boards which we all know is extremely important in the higher levels of professional hockey. The drill also gave the defensemen a chance to fire the puck from the point in hopes of getting a deflection from one of the forwards who are parked right in front of the net.


Courtesy of @DarioinDenver

Veterans Take to the Ice

The veterans also got a chance to skate today, which has been the case for the past few years. At the conclusion of the rookie session many veterans began funneling on to the ice to take part in some drills of their own. A lot of the rookies also stuck around for these drills which is great to see. Semyon Varlamov was one player to make his debut this morning on the ice in Colorado. He had flown from Denver back to Russia earlier this week to attend funerals for those who lost their lives in the tragic plane crash involving Yaroslavl of the KHL.

The Avs took advantage of both ice surfaces in the building and held pick-up games on both. The videos are far away and it is difficult to make out who is who, but the commentary in them should help.



Courtesy of @DarioinDenver

Peter Mueller

Another player who made his training camp debut was forward Peter Mueller. Mueller missed all of last season after suffering his second concussion in less than 6 months last preseason. He was sporting a tinted visor today and looked comfortable from what I have read around the web. Here is a video feature Varlamov and Mueller. Mueller is wearing a black jersey and the camera begins focusing on him around the 1:15 mark.


Courtesy of @DarioinDenver

After the scrimmages ended and players began filing off the ice, a few decided to stay for some extra ice time. Five rookies remained on the ice for an extra hour and a half. Among them were both first round picks in 2011′s entry draft Gabriel Landeskog and Duncan Siemens. Brad Malone, Garrett Meurs, and Stefan Elliott were the other hold outs. The five rookies spent a total of three hours on the ice, which is an incredible feat. Playing two hours of pick-up hockey has me ready for a nap and these five gentlemen skated their asses off in drills and scrimmages BEFORE deciding to stay out for an extra hour and a half.

That’s all I have for today’s activities, but I will continue to do my best to update everyone with what is going on.