Training Camp 2010, Day 2

We managed to drop in to training camp again today for a bit, and have to say we are excited for this team already. The intensity was noticeable with these guys, and it's only the second day of camp. We don't remember guys battling this hard in training camp last year until... well, we don't really remember. But this seems to be a team of hard workers so far.

Again, there were 13 skaters on the ice, and we actually recognized a few today. (They stopped and stood right in front of us where we could see their faces.) It was good to see Tim Crowder back, and also Brett Parnham. There were three goalies on the ice today, so they took turns during the drills. (No word of who the 3rd goaltender is as of yet.)

When we arrived at Acord Ice Center, the team was already well into their practice, this time doing organized drills. The first one we watched was a 1-on-1 drill in front of the net - that's where we first noticed these guys were really going for it. There were quite a few good hard checks into the boards throughout practice, and they weren't afraid to shove each other around to get the job done.

This group also paid close attention to the explanations of the drills at the white board, and weren't afraid to ask questions if they didn't understand. They got it right more often than not. Perhaps it's because a lot of them were back from last season, but we checked our notes, and on October 14th last season (almost the end of camp) Coach Colley was still yelling at the team to go back and do it again until they got it right. Today we only saw one group that had to start over for doing a drill wrong. Either Colley is mellowing out, or this team gets it.

Practice went a little longer today than yesterday - they ended with a stretch at 11:00 am. Coach Colley told them, "good job today," and left the ice. Most of the guys were still hanging out on the ice getting to know each other and working on stuff when we left around 11:15 am. We would have stayed longer to see what they got up to, but we had to get back to our real jobs.

We may not make it out to practice tomorrow or Thursday, but after Tuesday even the calendar says W. T. F. We'll try to check in again this week, though, so stay tuned. Also, practices are free and open to the public, so if you can get away from your real jobs, drop by the Acord Ice Center and check out the Grizzlies.

*Pictures in today's post were taken at yesterday's practice (10/4/2010).

UPDATE: The third goalie in practice today must have been Dan Bellissimo. [Article from ECHL.com]

Training Camp 2010, Day 1

We made it down to the Acord Ice Center this morning in time to catch the tail end of the first Grizzlies practice of the 2010-2011 season. It was good to see live hockey again, even if it was just pre-season practice.

There were 13 players on the ice, plus 2 goaltenders when we got there. The Grizzlies did release their preliminary training camp roster, but we have to be honest - we have a hard time recognizing guys without numbers so we couldn't tell you who was there. Obviously, if you look at the roster, there weren't any spare players, but that doesn't mean other guys won't be joining camp throughout the week. (Abbotsford is still holding training camps this week.)

Coach Colley didn't start with anything too fancy that we saw. We figured he was mostly just interested in getting the guys on the ice for a workout and seeing who was in shape and who might need a little more gym time. He had the guys give the goaltenders a good practice, as most of what we saw were break-away type drills. It wasn't a long practice - it started at 10:00 am and by 10:50 am the Coach said they were finished for the day. (The previously-scheduled 3:15 pm practice was cancelled.) The players hung around for a while on the ice stretching and taking shots, and probably catching up after the off-season.

We took pictures, but we don't know if any of them turned out. If they did, we'll post a few later on when we can get them off our camera.

Hibernation is Over - Grizzlies Open Training Camp

Hey Grizz fans! We're back, although we must admit we're still in pre-season form. (Okay, so we're pulling a Kirill Kabanov - we deserve the bag skate.) Then again, so are the Grizzlies, so we're in good company.

The team announced that they will start training camp today, October 4th 2010 at 10:00 am. The Grizzlies website has the full schedule. They will start out having two practices per day (10:00 am and 3:15 pm), but no word as to whether this is to split up squads or just for extra ice time. All practices are at the Acord Ice Center in West Valley (3100 South 5353 West) and are open to the public.

More on training camp later, after we... wake up.

Pictures and Videos - Day 9

We thought since there is no practice today (the team is leaving around noon for Las Vegas) we would save yesterday's pictures and videos for today so you could be entertained while waiting for the season to start. (One more day...)

AJ Perry (we think) considers giving Van Buskirk the business:

Grey team goes after the puck:

A pretty good battle going on in this one:

"Wait - what? Why'd he blow the whistle?"

"Come on - pitch it in here! Right here!"

"Yes, Lord Vader..."

Some work on the power play:

Everyone is in position:

"Those people up there - I think they're stalking us."

We'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's blocking a shot:

Some good defensive work in this next video to keep the puck on the outside:

"Sorry about running you over earlier..."

Coach puts out the cones for drills:

Nice goal by white team:

The team runs a 4-man drill:

Some of the guys take shots after practice...

... and some of them take naps. ("What? Why do you want me to move?")

"So do you like the blueberry pancakes better, or chocolate chip?"

We're not sure yet whether we'll be in Las Vegas for the season opener on Friday (awesome), but if we do, we'll have more pictures. If we don't make it, we'll see you at the E Center.

Go Grizzlies!

Training Camp, Day 9

Back from the E Center, and starting to thaw out. For some reason, we neglected to take a jacket. Probably because we were totally late leaving our real jobs after being stuck in a meeting and were in a hurry. It's been one of those days.

Practice today (what we saw of it) was more of the same, which is kind of what practice is about anyway. The coach is still pushing the team, and things seem to be getting faster every day. A lot more banging around the boards and pucks flying everywhere. One of them hit the glass right in front of us, and we probably would have been startled if we hadn't been looking through the viewfinder of our camera at the time.


The team ran plays repetitively, and if they did them wrong, the coach made them do it again. They worked power play/shorthanded configurations and did a lot of drills to get the puck down the ice. The white jersey line was looking pretty good. We like the combination of Kinasewich and Perry. We aren't sure who the other guy was on the line. We suspect he may have been switched up a few times.


We noticed a green practice jersey missing today. (Three full lines, plus 2/3 of green - grey line had to fill in.) Turns out that Moises Gutierrez was released from the team. Too many penalties, we think. We looked for new guy Dylan Hunter, but couldn't pick him out. If he practiced, we saw him though. No news of anyone else joining from Abbotsford yet, but in the first broadcast of Grizzlies Live last night it was hinted that the team would be getting a new player on Friday. The team's last training camp day is Thursday, so we won't get to see whoever it is in action until the season starts. We have mixed feelings about that.

We'll get over it. We hope.

We apparently took a lot of pictures because our camera told us the memory card was full. We don't know if we got anything good or not. We'll check tonight and post whatever looks good. If nothing looks good, we'll just post a few crappy things. We never claimed to be good with a camera.

First game of the season is right around the corner.

Go Grizzlies!

Pictures and Videos - Day 8

You can tell the team was moving a lot faster today - our pictures are kind of blurry. We can't complain about that too much.

The team tries to tame a wily puck:

AJ Perry gets ready for a play while his teammates plan a pancake run:

A little bit of nice stick work:

The E Center had the magic ribbon (or whatever that thing is called) lit up inside the rink today. Now we just need some fans in the seats.

We don't really know why, but we like the wipe-out videos. Sorry, guys.

Van Buskirk gets a quick break:

"So are we going to the IHOP later?"

Someone was standing in front of us for this play, but we like the guy taking out the net at the end of it:

We're planning on going to training camp tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Three more days.

Go Grizzlies!

Training Camp, Day 8

Just back from Training Camp. The intensity level of practice has definitely increased. Drills and plays are moving much faster, and the coaches seem to be pushing the boys harder. There were a few tense moments where passes were missed or plays were confused, and the boys were required to run them again to get it right.

They were running some man on man breakaway drills and then moved into 2-on-2 drills. There was a lot of speed behind these drills today. A few of the boys ended up crashing the net accidentally. At least we're assuming it was accidental . . .

There was also some power play situation practice today. We drew a diagram of the set up, but it basically looked like a tic-tac-toe board so we're not sure if we got it right. The boys were split into groups of 4 on 3 (we think - at one point there were only 5 people on the ice . . .) and ran the plays. The groups not playing sat in the bench waiting for their turn. These drills were intense with a lot of . . . um, critiquing . . . from the coaches. We're just glad it wasn't us on the ice. The boys worked on some passing drills as well.

Today, someone (we think one of our injured players) was watching training while riding an exercise bike. We didn't really get close enough to see who it was, unfortunately, but we kind of wish they had those for the public. We could have stayed warm that way!

Picures and video to be posted later.

Go Grizzlies!

Pictures and Videos - Day 7

We saw this sign on our way to the rink. We're not sure what they're advertising.

If you're going to the E Center, be prepared for construction. (Yes, that's a bug squashed on our windshield.)

Oh, and Elmo might be there. We hear when he grows up, he wants to drive the Zamboni.

When we got there, the players were creating a live diorama. Or something. (Notice we weren't the only ones there today.)

Red Team digs it out of the corners:

New goalie Mitch O'Keefe checks out the team:

Coach Colley gives the speech from Miracle. Or something.

"Ew... What did I step in this time?"

The hockey equivalent of ringing the doorbell and running away:

Looks like someone's mom forgot to put their helmet in the bag this morning:

The Goalie Test Sequence (sorry - we don't know which goalie):

- Coach takes a shot at the goalie:

- Someone whose number we can't see takes a shot at the goalie:

- And a picture of someone taking a slapshot:

The guys goof off at the end of practice. What you don't see is the guy in the white jersey falling down after - we were a little too quick on the pause button, dangnabbit.

We hope to be back tomorrow with more. Stay tuned - the season starts soon.

Go Grizzlies!

Training Camp, Day 7

Training camp was held at the E Center today so we were later than usual. We think we missed the good stuff. We were hoping to see the coach making the team do 23,487 laps and then bench press him, but it was mostly just more plays by the time we got there. Hey, it's still hockey, and we were still entertained.

They spent a lot of time working in front of the net while we were there, and that was looking pretty good. We're hoping they worked on their passing before we got there, because if they can't get it in front of the net in the first place, it doesn't do them any good. That seemed to be one of their problems in the pre-season games. We realize there are still a lot of new guys on the team, but the season opens on Friday. That's five days, counting today. They have to start getting used to each other pretty quick. Maybe Coach Colley should make them have a slumber party at the rink. What's the masculine equivalent of braiding each other's hair?

[RANDOM NOTE: We just heard on the radio that the Bridgeport Sound Tigers are still undefeated on their season.]

Actually, there was a lot of talk while we were there. Well, the coaches talked and the players listened. Sometimes they asked questions. That's a good sign. At least the lines of communication are open between players and coaches, even if the players are still a little out of sync.

An interesting note - there were three goaltenders in camp today. Since Parker Van Buskirk is the only goaltender on the Grizzlies' roster currently, we're wondering who those other two guys are. We saw Adrian Denny at the rink watching practice, so we know it wasn't him.

We did get some pictures and video, so we'll post them later tonight.

It's almost here.

Go Grizzlies!

Pictures and Videos - Day 5

Angle from above - the team sets up for a play:

Some practice, and our excellent promotional phone conversation:

"How about you guys come over here."

Right before the face-off, Red Center bursts his teammates' bubble by telling them that in the real story, the little mermaid dies and turns into foam.

Watch out for the boards - they sneak up on you:

Did someone say pancakes?

Some nice defensive work by the forwards:

Coach Colley drops the puck:

Grey and green teams play a shift:

Good to see some fans getting out to watch practice:

That's all for today. Tune in this weekend for reports from the pre-season match in Logan. We're SO ready...

Go Grizzlies!

Training Camp, Day 5

The closer it gets to actual game time, the more the practices resemble hockey games. Today the coach had the guys divided into two teams and let them run power play scenarios. We actually heard him say "power play", so we figured that's what they're doing. It also stands to reason that they were working penalty kill as well, but we were kind of late getting there, and then had a phone call. (Us today = distracted)

What we did see was white team matched up against red team, and green team matched up against grey team in some actual shifts and game-like situations. We think it probably looked easier than it was because both teams knew what the other one was trying to accomplish as far as plays, but it was still fun to watch. We noticed that the team was working longer shifts than before. Once again, this is probably the coach trying to get them ready for real games. Some of the guys seemed more ready than others, but the team just got a few newbies yesterday. Plus some of the guys are back from last season, so they're more familiar with each other already.

For anyone wondering, there were still two goaltenders on the ice today. We haven't heard about any new signings yet, or anyone coming down from Abbotsford or Bridgeport, so we're assuming Dov Grumet-Morris is still practicing with the team for now. Goalies pretty much just look like big piles of moving equipment to us anyway - we can't tell who is who without a number.

We do have some pictures and video for later, so keep your eyes open for that. The team has a short practice tomorrow (10-11 am) at the Acord Ice Center before they take off to Logan for the game. We'll be at the practice tomorrow, but we probably won't be doing a write-up. Some of us are planning on going to Logan for the pre-season game though, so there will definitely be something coming up on that.

One more day.

Go Grizzlies!

Training Day 4 - Pictures and Videos

Since it was Skate in Front of the Camera Day at the rink, we got a few more shots of the players close up...

Adam Perry and Scott Thauwald wait their turn for drills.

Ryan Kinasewich and Scott Thauwald waiting for drills. Did Thauwald move?

Vladimir Nikiforov (Vladi - it's easier) and... a teammate in a red jersey whose name we don't know rest and wait to play. (Anyone recognize Red Jersey Guy? We couldn't see his number here.)

You can see this drill pretty well until Adam Perry and Tom May skate in front of the camera.

We don't know who this is, but the picture is kind of cool.

We don't know who this is either, but his fall is forever immortalized on our blog. Sorry, Dude.

"The net you're shooting at is that way. Go that way." (Hopefully they remember this instruction for when we yell this at them later in the season.)

Some practice for defense in both ends.

"Want to hit up the IHOP after practice?"
"Yeah, I could go for some pancakes."

Some defense passing drills. Or something.

Slapshot practice.

"So are you guys getting pancakes?"

Watch the red guys - in Irish dance, we call this a lead round. Sort of.

"Did he say 'again'?"

"Woah, did that go in?"

This was taken at yesterday's practice, but we just noticed this guy in the background. Is that Adrian Denny? Yo, Adrian!


We should be back tomorrow for day 5.

Hang in there - it's almost here!