Flyers rookie camp at last!

Oh my goodness, I finally made it to camp! I woke up at 9:30 and hemmed and hawed for about an hour before I decided to go. I got there at 11:25, and entered the building as a large group of people flooded out. I was just in time to see the last rookie leave the ice! Grrr! That's even worse than showing up and finding out it was canceled entirely!

I decided to stick around for a few minutes to see if they would go do some more work on the other rink, and sure enough, they did. Looks like they were working on agility. They started off just skating back and forth, and then the coach had them work on some increasingly difficult moves.

They had to skate to the blue line, drop to their knees, get up, then jump up, then continue skating. Then they had to do it backwards! It was a pretty funny sight to see, especially since some of the guys are less than agile (I'm looking at you, poor Patrick Maroon...)!

Anyhow, the above video is of the last drill they had to do before moving on to more boring stuff. I love that even the goalies have to do these....they look so silly jumping and twirling with those pads on!

As far as the players go...I'm still sticking with my opinion from last year about Patrick Maroon. This kid is like a puppy who hasn't yet grown into his legs...he is very awkward during the agility drills. However, when he touches the puck, he loses all that awkwardness and you can just see this phenomenal talent he has.

It was also fun to watch Giroux...he looks like such a pro out there doing the drills, like, "yeah, I've done these a million times before." He makes it look effortless.

Check this out for more opinions (not mine) on some of the guys...

No pictures, since I always forget how bad the lighting in there is...

Crybaby Crosby and blog pimping

Yeah, I dropped to second place again on google search for Crybaby Crosby, so it was time to put Crybaby Crosby all over the place. Heh.

I also wanted to take a second to direct your attention to a few Flyers' blogs.

First up is The Frozen Fan. The amazing thing about this blog is that he pretty much posts every day. He has slowed down a bit for the summer (who hasn't?) but his posts are always full of insight and analysis. He's all serious and stuff...I guess we need more of that in the Flyers blogosphere.

Next up is The Flying P. This is a newish blog, but anyone crazy enough to start a hockey blog in the depths of the offseason deserves some respect. Right?

So anyhow, check em out, leave some comments and show em some love!

I was too lazy to get up at the asscrack of dawn to make the trek to the Skatezone, but I swear I will go later this week. There is also a STH event on Thursday night at the Wachovia Center, so maybe I will get you some pictures/stories then.

That's all for now! Peace out, suckas!

metal mania and rookie camp grumpiness!

Dag! I forgot to watch Metal Mania last night! The heat must have finally gotten to my brain! Anyone out there have a recap for me? Anyhow, I'm in the mood for a little Poison, even though I have to stress that they are not *really* metal. I love this video because of CC's antics, and Bret telling him, "CC, pick up that guitar and talk to me!"



I went to rookie camp this morning, but a lack of caffeine and a general grumpiness on my part resulted in no pictures for you! I will be there during the week, when it is less crowded, so I should be able to get some shots then. I'll post a link later to Nicole's pics, since she was there with Erica shooting up a storm.

Oh happy day!

the picture doesn't really do it justice....

Oh man, what a great day! They release the schedule for next season! They post the schedule and participants for rookie camp! And, I finally get my custom Flyers messenger bag from reload bags. Plus, I am home again!!!!!

Doesn't get much better than that!

oooh...also when I got home and was going through my mail, I got my season ticket holder info for next year! WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!

Settle down, Tampa Bay! Save some free agents for the rest of us!

Sheesh...the Lightning are out of control! First they get Roberts and Malone, now it looks like they have Radim Vrbata too. Who do you think you are...Homer in 2007?

I'm off today and will try to post stuff as it happens, although I expect that a real news site will give you timelier information!

update 2:25 pm

Hmm. We traded Gauthier away. I guess I should have seen that one coming. Why is Homer stockpiling picks and prospects? What does he have up his sleeve?

update 7:21 pm

Well so far today has been pretty boring. I had to take a nap while waiting to see where Soupy would end up. So far, the highlight of my day is watching Pierre McGuire go nuts on TSN over the goaltending situation in Chicago.

More Hockey in July...le petit Briere Press Conference Eve Edition

The local media has been all Flyered up this week. Hockey news has been the second story every day on CSN. Guys, they are showing hockey news five minutes into the broadcast...and it is not even hockey season! And the past two days, they have had "breaking news" on the noonday show to broadcast Hartnell and Smith's press conferences. Last year, you could find nary a Flyers score, let alone a Flyers story, and now they even yap about van Riemsdyks' week at conditioning camp on KYW news radio! Weird.

I suppose all of this is due to Homer and the moves he has made. Well tomorrow is the day a lot of people have been waiting for...le petit Briere's press conference. It will be held at the Voorhees Skate Zone. The very same Skate Zone where the little guys are having their camp this week. The very same Skate Zone that I will be at tomorrow watching rookie camp. Remember? So, yes I will be in the same building as le petit Briere. Unless of course, the Flyers organization reads this ahead of time and decides to move it to the Wachovia Center. That would be just my luck. No matter, I will be chilling at the Zone with the boys on a hot July day. That's good enough for me.

Hockey in July!

Damn, I am so lucky to live in Philly, where I am a short driving distance to the Flyers/Phantoms practice facility. Today was the first day of their conditioning camp, and for some reason, I actually went. Here is what I found out:

1) "the reamer" is a pretty big guy. Definitely the tallest kid there, and pretty well built for a kid his age. He is fast as well, and seemed to enjoy himself. He looks like a natural. I was gonna say a natural Flyer, but he just looks like a natural: very comfortable on the ice.

2) I can't take a picture of hockey practice to save my life. Honest to god. I was gonna post some, but they are all blurry, or pictures of hockey boys backs. I hate those kind of pictures. Rod is a much better photographer than I am, but he takes pictures of bands. I hate bands. But sometimes he takes pictures of hockey boys and lets me look at them.

3) Becky thinks one of the players has been supplementing his diet because he is bigger and faster than he was last year. I will not name names because I refuse to believe it is true! He is only 22 years old and finally shedding some of his baby fat...that is my theory! But he really was faster than last year. And taller...is it possible to get taller at that age?

4) We saw a great new goalie that from a distance was a ringer for Scott Munroe. This nineteen year old Czech was on fire today (as much as one can be on fire at a conditioning camp) and was stopping everything that came his way (yeah I know, it is only camp!). At first we thought it was Houle, but that didn't make sense, since he was stopping shots...then when he took his mask off we thought it was Muny. But after getting a roster, it turned out to be Jakub. I will be keeping my eye on him in the OHL next year...

5) It looks like we have a potential douchebag...I can't remember if it was number 62 or 63 that looked mean and made a half-assed attempt at some of the drills, so I won't name names until I can confirm it when I go again on Thursday.

Okay I guess that is all for now. I will be making the trek to South Jersey on Thursday and Friday, so I will report any exciting news. Perhaps there will be an actual Flyer sighting? Maybe a Briere or Smith or even Eager sighting?

We did see Paul Holmgren pulling out of the lot when we got there...could Weasel be far behind?