Day Four of Flames Development Camp began with Group ‘A’ & ‘B’ doing on-ice skill development in the morning, while the second scrimmage of the week went in the afternoon.
5 RANDOM THOUGHTS
1) This morning’s skill development ice-time saw one particular drill that drew ‘oooh’s and ‘ahhhh’s from the crowd. Each group were divided into two teams competing in a breakaway rally. If a player scored he hustles back to the neutral zone for another breakaway, when the player is stopped the puck has to be carried back to the neutral zone where the next player in line would take over. One team races the other from the other end of the rink… The net results? Some gorgeous dekes, saves and scoring prowess on display.
Markus Granlund was the wizard of the event scoring on 8 of 12 breakaways. The 19-year-old identified holes in the net-minders quickly and exploiting them with shots from the low hash-marks with precision. Without question, the event was Granlund’s best showing of the week.
2) Johnny Gaudreau also had some nice goals in the drill – including a gorgeous ‘Forsberg’ deke poking the puck around the goalie from the far side of the netminder. Gaudreau wasn’t as electric in the scrimmage as he was in Tuesday’s only prior game simulation, but still seemed a bounce or two away from a red light every time he had the puck.
3) In the afternoon scrimmage, Sven Baertschi, Mark Jankowski, and Eric Robinson were put together and provided some serious offensive zone time. The line accounted for the first three goals Team Red scored, including a lovely Jankowski to Baertschi connection that brought the biggest cheer from the crowd, speaking of which…
4) What a great turnout for the scrimmage today. Despite the Stampede and a great day of Summer weather in Calgary, it was capacity crowd with not a seat available in the rink. Also, lined up around the glass of the ice, and the walls surrounding the rink were standing fans eager to get a look at the next crop of Flames. After the ice-time Sven Baertschi, Max Reinhart and numerous others Flames prospects were mobbed by kids for autographs.
5) Speaking of Reinhart, he was his well positioned self again today, stealing pucks, springing team-mates and adding an exclamation point with an absolute bullet of a slap shot over the shoulder of a goalie and into the roof of the net from the left circle. Reinhart seems comfy in these surroundings, as he looked in the Spring with the Heat, despite it being his first professional action ever. The eldest of three potential NHLers who all have Paul Reinhart – a 10-season NHLer – as a father; could play a big role for Abbotsford this season on the wing, with four experienced centres theoretically starting the season in the Fraser Valley (Byron, Laing, Street & Walter)
More tomorrow as the final scrimmage of the camp runs at 9:00 AM MDT.
