Finally some hockey!!

Today I went to Doan’s unofficial camp. It was pretty interesting. The guys looked like they were having a lot of fun.
Here is who I remember being there:
Kyle Turris
Daniel Winnik
Keith Yandle
Ed Jovanoski
Olli Jokinen
Mikael Tellqvist
Brett MacLean
Enver Lisin
Jonas Ahnelov
Kurt Sauer
Nikolai Khabibulin
Todd Fedoruk
Shane Doan
Turris and Lisin are some fast boys! They were just flying all over (except when Doan totally tricked Lisin and Lisin fell down – hilarious!).
Jovo fell like 3 times (Mike York syndrome?), not sure what was up with that. He let the puck go by him a few times.
Yandle thought he had a goal, but they took it away from him. The bench also awarded Lisin a penalty shot (which he missed) when Fedoruk took him out.
Speaking of Fedoruk, he was playing like he does in an actual game, slashing and hacking away. He did forget to put his tooth in this morning. He may be a nice addition to the team. I am warming up to him a little more. I am looking forward to seeing him in training camp.
Jokinen had a smile on his face the whole time and really seemed to have some chemistry with the guys. He looked like he was having a good time and the guys seemed to really like him. I’m thinking he just needed a change of scenery and he’s not the locker room cancer that Florida is claiming him to be.
Telly looked good. He was down at the other end (with Khabibulin) so I didn’t get too good of a look at them. Our end seemed to have the ASU goalie and a goalie in a Western Michigan helmet. We were thinking he might be a sundog (there were a couple of them there).
Ahnelov may give Jones a run for his money. He is looking really good out there. And he is huge. MacLean is looking better and better. His skating is much improved since last summer (even since rookie camp this year).
I am really starting to like Kurt Sauer. He is huge and seems to have a good handle on the blue line. His shot isn’t on target but damn is it a hard shot.
Doan came about an hour into it (sneaking in as usual) but he was having a blast. Laughing and smiling the whole time. At one point he pinned Turris in the corner.
Winnik looked good. His skating is good, his passes good. I’m thinking he makes the Coyotes again.
I’m starting to see a few more pieces falling into place. Even though I’m liking Sauer, I still think there are some questions on the blueline. I’m not sure how every one is going to be paired and who the last 2-3 will be (if we go with a 7 dman rotation – most of last year was carried 6). It will be between Hale, Jones, Yandle and Ahnelov (maybe Ross, give him a shot but let’s not rush him). Z, DMo, Jovo and Sauer are sure things.
I’m looking forward to seeing MacGrattan. I was hoping he’d show up for this practice. I guess I will have to wait until training camp. He is most likely going to play against the teams in our division and be a healthy scratch the rest but I want to see how he interacts with some of the guys (Fedoruk and Carcillo mostly). I’m hoping Carcillo lets him take some of the battles so Carcillo can focus on scoring and agitating.