Day Two at Washington Capitals D-Camp 2014 was busy. So busy they had to get work in before the
scheduled activities began. It started
with goalie Philipp Grubauer getting some early alone time with coaches Olaf
Kolzig and Scott Murray, who were snapping pucks at him from opposite faceoff
circles as Coach Micth Korn looked on from the side.
That was merely prelude to a busy morning session. “Three-ring circus” busy, in fact. Really. After a false start on the Capitals rink, the coaches and players headed across the hallway to the public rink to begin the day. At one end of the ice goalie coach Mitch Korn was working with goalies Rasmus Tirronen and Phoenix Copley, while at the other end of the ice the skaters were split into two groups, both working on different aspects of skating to start. One looked to be repeating the exercises of Day One as the other was working on maneuvering among cones set up on the ice.
That was merely prelude to a busy morning session. “Three-ring circus” busy, in fact. Really. After a false start on the Capitals rink, the coaches and players headed across the hallway to the public rink to begin the day. At one end of the ice goalie coach Mitch Korn was working with goalies Rasmus Tirronen and Phoenix Copley, while at the other end of the ice the skaters were split into two groups, both working on different aspects of skating to start. One looked to be repeating the exercises of Day One as the other was working on maneuvering among cones set up on the ice.
Insofar as Coach Korn and his goalies were working just
beneath our perch in the balcony, we paid most attention to those drills. It started with the goalies facing one
another, about a stick length apart. The
object of the exercise was for one goalie to shuffle back and forth and to step
forward and back, his opposite number trying to mirror his every move as
quickly as possible. After 10-12 seconds
of this, the goalies switched roles, the other being the “initiator,” while his
partner took on the role of the “mirror.”
Then it was to the front of the cage and another excuse to
get the goalies working together in an odd sort of way (this would be a
theme). Goalie A stepped to the front of
the crease where Coach Korn faced him.
Here, the object was for the goalie to track Korn’s movements with three
quick shuffles to one side, then push hard in the opposite direction to the far
post. These nets being only loosely
anchored, the other goalie was standing on the skirt of the net to keep the rig
from shifting when the goalie performing the exercise jammed his skate hard to
the post.
Working in pairs with the goalies was the common thread
here, but the best was saved for last. Coach
Korn had the nets set up facing each other below the goal line, about 15 feet
apart. Each goalie took a net, and coach
stood between them. At the top of the
crease stood another coach. The object
was this. The coach at the top of the
crease would start play by either shooting the puck at one or the other goalie,
or passing it to the other coach standing between the netminders. If the coach starting the play passed the
puck down to the other coach, Coach 2 could shoot on either of the goalies, or
he could pass it back up to Coach 1. Ah,
but here is the diabolical part. Coach
B, standing between the goalies, could shoot the puck by banking it off the end
boards to try and slip it behind one or the other goalie. The object appeared to be using familiar
skills in unfamiliar ways with an emphasis on quickness and recovery…
Tomorrow is the last day of drill sessions, Thursday through
Saturday limited to intrasquad scrimmages, according to the published schedule.
If you have a chance to visit, watch Korn and the goalies. It really is quite entertaining. And he hasn’t even broken out the toys
yet. We can’t wait to see what he has in
store for Braden Holtby, Justin Peters, and Philipp Grubauer for training camp.
Other snippets…
Nathan Walker got to wear the helmet cam for the morning
session...
Young Mr. Walker appears to prefer wearing the back of his jersey tucked into his pants. It makes it difficult to see the entire number of his jersey (79), he being somewhat on the short side.
Young Mr. Walker appears to prefer wearing the back of his jersey tucked into his pants. It makes it difficult to see the entire number of his jersey (79), he being somewhat on the short side.
At the other end of the height scale is defenseman Eliot
Antionetti who, at six-feet, six inches, towers over many of his
teammates. He also looks to have a
playoff-ready beard going on, too.
The CSN folks were in to do some media type stuff. No, we were not asked to do an interview
segment. We think they had their hearts
set on Cheerless.
And, some more pics…
Glee club is now in session
Working on D-to-D reversing the puck breakouts
One...step...in...front...of...the...oth...er
Student to teacher ratio is pretty good here
It's the same everywhere... Hurry up and wait
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