Leafs Training Camp: Notes from Tuesday’s Session

Jan 15, 2013

MLHS rinkside reporter canucksnaphook with your Tuesday report from Leafs camp.

Tuesday’s Practice Lines:

Lupul-Bozak-Kessel
MacArthur-Connolly-Lombardi
JVR-Grabo-Kulemin
Komarov-McClement-Frattin
Kadri-Aucoin-Brown
Hamilton-Steckel-Orr

Notes:

Day 3 started off with a strong energy level in the building with the Leafs getting lots of cheers when they finally took the ice today.
Coach Carlyle stated that they were tired physically and mentally which led to a bunch of sloppy drills and unacceptable offside plays.
Early on in the practice JVR took a shot off the foot from Komisarek. JVR attempted to finish the shift but was in considerable pain and eventually left the ice. Apparently Colton Orr is injured with a dislocated finger. Only in Leafs land does our Sheriff hurt his hand in practice.
Henny was awesome again today, remembering me by name and commenting on how I am never at work, chirping “don’t you ever have fires to put out?” Funny guy. Highlight of the morning was spending 15 minutes talking hockey with Tessa Bonhomme, Olympic goal medalist for Team Canada and now of Leafs TV . Very knowledgable and likes similar players that I do. Pointed out how “efficient” Mike Kostkas skating stride is and wished him luck in making the team. Excellent chat.
Lots of regular Camp drills going on with very little to notice except the hard work again by Captain Phanuef. At one point Kessel had to play D against Dion and did an above average job of not being outmuscled by our Captain. Kudos to Phil. (Side note….he may be less than energetic on the skating drills but his speed is outstanding. He walked Komisarek like he was standing still at one point).
After an hour the team moved to Rink #2 for more PP and PK time. It was closed to fans but I managed to get in with the media again. I stood beside Uncle Cliffy for a good portion of the time on the second rink. If I thought the energy level early was good, then the physical battles in front of the net and along the boards were even better in the second hour. Connolly had a nice hit on Kadri along the boards at one point and Dion almost killed some unsuspecting forward just outside the blue line. In all honesty, I think he purposely missed the hit but sent a loud message.
The practice was well over 2 hrs in duration with it wrapping up in a Blue vs White shootout. The guys were really into it with White beating Blue by one goal.
Then there was the dreaded bag skate… man, does Carlyle love a good skate to finish things off. Even the goalies were in on the action and all three looked like they would keel over at any time.
Forward Standouts: McClement, Kessel, Lupul, Connolly
Defensive Standouts: Phanuef, Rielly, Kostka
Forwards/Defensman mediocre: nobody really stood out in a bad way today after they cleared the early cobwebs form their system. Good practice, tough to actually judge with that many guys on the ice at the same time.