baxter
09-24-2003, 10:00 AM
I just got back from todays practice in Jasper. So i will pass on a few things I saw
Ryan Smyth was skating today on a line with Izzy and Hemsky, didnt look like his hand was bothering him.
George Laraque did not skate, but he was in the building and I saw him pushing a mountain bike after the practice.
The first 45 mins of practice were devoted to powerplay, the first line being Smyth between York and Hemsky. It was actually quite disapointing to watch, five guys passing the puck around with no defenders and they still were having difficulty scoring, after they put a few defenders in the powerplay had trouble, lots of shots not many goals. On the flip side our pk looked great.
Goalies looked strong, esp. Salo, he saved a vast majority of the shots on the drills.
Jamie Wright looks hungry for a job. He was skating hard, and got a bit of pk time in the drills. He was on a line with Torres and Sarno, and definitely looked the best out of those three. At the end of practice those three had to do numerous three on ones with the team watching till they finally scored on about the fifth attempt, to the cheering of both the team and the fans.
Craig Simpson should suit up again, the guy hasnt lost his hands at all. Him Smyth, Semenov, MAB, Huddy and Chimera were playing some game with some of the goalies shooting from the slot chasing rebounds etc, anyway Simpson scored more goals than the rest combined.
The only player I wasnt too impressed with was Louma, seemed a step behind or out of the play frequently.
Hemsky was the most impressive, he looks hungry for goals even in practice, an was upset a few times when one of the goalies stoped one of his shots. Picked a few nice corners, and had some great tape to tape passes.
All round it was interesting to watch, first practice I have been to. Seemed a bit relaxed, probably not as serious as normal due to the large amount of fans in attendance.
If anyone has any questions about todays practice or tomorrows I will do my best to answer them.
Ryan Smyth was skating today on a line with Izzy and Hemsky, didnt look like his hand was bothering him.
George Laraque did not skate, but he was in the building and I saw him pushing a mountain bike after the practice.
The first 45 mins of practice were devoted to powerplay, the first line being Smyth between York and Hemsky. It was actually quite disapointing to watch, five guys passing the puck around with no defenders and they still were having difficulty scoring, after they put a few defenders in the powerplay had trouble, lots of shots not many goals. On the flip side our pk looked great.
Goalies looked strong, esp. Salo, he saved a vast majority of the shots on the drills.
Jamie Wright looks hungry for a job. He was skating hard, and got a bit of pk time in the drills. He was on a line with Torres and Sarno, and definitely looked the best out of those three. At the end of practice those three had to do numerous three on ones with the team watching till they finally scored on about the fifth attempt, to the cheering of both the team and the fans.
Craig Simpson should suit up again, the guy hasnt lost his hands at all. Him Smyth, Semenov, MAB, Huddy and Chimera were playing some game with some of the goalies shooting from the slot chasing rebounds etc, anyway Simpson scored more goals than the rest combined.
The only player I wasnt too impressed with was Louma, seemed a step behind or out of the play frequently.
Hemsky was the most impressive, he looks hungry for goals even in practice, an was upset a few times when one of the goalies stoped one of his shots. Picked a few nice corners, and had some great tape to tape passes.
All round it was interesting to watch, first practice I have been to. Seemed a bit relaxed, probably not as serious as normal due to the large amount of fans in attendance.
If anyone has any questions about todays practice or tomorrows I will do my best to answer them.