Friday, September 07, 2007

Hangin' with the Boys

As I'm sure everyone has heard, a number of the Caps are now in town and have been skating together regularly in a mini-training camp - something they are doing at their own cost, on their own time, and of their own accord.

I managed to venture out to Kettler yesterday morning for a little hockey fix and I have to say I got much more than I hoped for. 18 players took the ice and after about an hour of drills (led by Craig Laughlin) they launched into a high speed, end to end, four on four game of shinny that was highly entertaining and ended with a final score of...oh, let's say 8-4. I could be wrong.

Seen and heard at KCI:
- Donald Brashear in an elevator with a cup of coffee and a kind word for a speechless fan (who shall remain anonymous...)
- Milan Jurcina getting absolutely undressed by Brash in a passing/shooting drill that drew a roar from the team and a sheepish grin from Jurcina
- Boyd Gordon with some fancy moves that led to not one but two goals against Johnson...and more than a few chuckles from the team
- Matt Pettinger and Olie Kolzig talking smack through the whole scrimmage - it was hard to hear what they were saying specifically, but rest assured it probably wouldn't have been fit for public consumption anyways
- Olie doing push-ups after the blue team scored
- Olie's "temper tantrum" after the final goal was scored, which included stick-swinging and door-slamming on his way to the locker room...I'm pretty sure it was fake
- Nylander working with Backstrom on some sprint drills after most of the team left the ice

Here are some pics from my morning at KCI:

Laich and Green warming up with Johnny

Locker explaining a drill to Clark and Nylander

Brooks Laich

Mike Green

Boyd GordonBrian Pothier
Sutherby and Bradley
Punishment for being scored on...push-ups on ice
Waiting for the next drill

Scrimmage action:

(I have a newfound respect for camera operators, by the way...)

Follow the links below for some more live action thrills and chills:

Boys standing around
More boys standing around

(hey, this is stuff you won't find just anywhere, folks!)
Skating drill
Camera-stalking Chris Clark for no apparent reason
Camera-stalking Michael Nylander, again for no apparent reason
Brash doing his requisite push-ups

4 comments:

Unknown said...

what time have they been practicing in the morning?

FS said...

I thought that was you there yesterday, I was going to come over and say 'hi' but couldn't remember your name until afterwards. Cést la vie.


Jordana, they've had the ice reserved from 10-12 each day, but I'd just call the Ket before wandering over.

CapsChick said...

FS: Same! I thought that was you roaming around with your camera. Oh well :) Next time, right?

Anonymous said...

Hee. I'm jealous. That's awesome. Thanks for the stuff! I miss hockey...