The Colorado Avalanche first day of training camp yielded a few surprises — and a warm welcome to a returning player.
The Colorado Avalanche held their first day of training camp on the ice at Family Sports Center today, roughly from 8:45 to 12:15 with two groups of players skating. Amidst all that, GM Joe Sakic was apparently blowing up the phone lines, because shortly after training camp came the announcement that the team had signed Zadorov to a two-year contract worth $4.3 million total.
More on that in a separate post. First off, some of the prospects who stood out were J.T. Compher and A. J. Greer. They were both skating well and participating confidently in drills.
Speaking of drills, a lot of Avalanche fans observed that the camp was deviating from previous habits in that both groups of players had to participate in bag skates. This seemed like a waste of time. There is a refreshed emphasis on conditioning, so perhaps there’s some rationale there.
I’m not a fan of bag skates per se, but I do like watching goalies skate:
Poor Semyon Varlamov — he’s really trying!
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Of course, the most anticipated moment of the camp was seeing Matt Duchene participate. I can tell you, he came out to a very warm reception from fans. All the negative press has really rallied his fanbase around him. And he seemed appreciative.
Something else I observed — Matt Duchene is absolutely of value to any team. I’ve been watching the prospects a lot, observing who’s a standout and might contribute to the team. It’s not just that Duchene blows these guys out of the water, but that he blows almost everyone else out of the water, too. He is skilled. He is talented. He is polished.
He also seems to have finally found some linemates with whom he works well. He skated with Nail Yakupov, J.T. Compher and Alex Kerfoot for different drills. All three have good foot speed and were able to keep up with Duchene. Yakupov and Duchene seemed to be getting along especially well.
Here is some footage of Duchene working a drill with Kerfoot and Yakupov:
Indeed, Kerfoot seems to be pulling away from the pack of prospects as well.
A troubling trend from training camp was Tyson Times Two’s inability to stay healthy. It’s said that Tyson Jost has been nursing a tweaked groin for a few days. He didn’t participate in the bag skate, and it was said he “came up lame” before leaving the ice. So, he may be injured, or he may just be taking precautions.
Later, Tyson Barrie left the ice with an apparent upper body injury, but it sounds like he just took a puck to the arm. He returned.
Next: Projection Rampage Forward Lines
In any case, tomorrow is the second day of Colorado Avalanche training camp, which happens same time and same place. It doesn’t appear Nikita Zadorov will be there. Matt Duchene will. The Tysons? No one knows.
Finally, a big shout out to Brad, whom I met today. I love when readers come talk to me. Just look for the Roy tattoo — pretty sure I’m the only one.