(click for a larger version with some names attached)in past years, for the most part, i've skipped the first day (monday) of the flames' annual summer development camp cause usually it's pretty tame since the boys spend the morning in fitness tests and medicals. today wasn't really much different but after an animated phonecall around noonish from my brother ("are you way STOKED or WHAT ???! today is the unofficial start of your hockey season !!!"), and with nothing else to do today, i bit the bullet and headed down.
always my loyal sidekick, mikeH opted to duck out of work for an hour and come with. coffees in hand (a tradition, and an absolute MUST), we pulled into parking lot A and noticed a significant number of cars ---probably double the norm for the first day of camp [generally by week's end, and with far more press, the number of attendees increases]... in fairness, the flames really got the word out this year, both on their website and with articles in the herald and on various blogs.
as in previous years, the team neglected to print, copy, and make available the roster list for public consumption on day 1. i actually enjoy this because i'm able to watch the dudes i can identify from memory or facial recognition (in this case: 57 bouma, 75 armstrong, 48 nemisz, 43 seabrook, 60 mickis, 52 wahl), the goalies by their helmets/pads, and i'm able to analyze the others for standouts without any name-based bias.
the most shocking revelation of the day ? two words: josh. meyers.
without a list of players by jersey number, i presumed that #63 was tim erixon because he was in defensive white, a big guy, good skater, with a great shot and was noticeably aware of his drillmates. i figured erixon's experience in a men's league would elevate him over the rest of the blueliners and this dude looked.... better. when i found out it was josh meyers i was totally stunned cause... well... um... who the hell is josh meyers ??! he'll get a better look thru the week.
61 negrin was noticeably absent. not sure the deal there.
what else ? i made some minor scribbly notes with jersey numbers (whether i knew who they were or not) that equate to the following:
-seabrook is still recognizable with all of his clothes on:
-nick larson totally doesn't give up
-nemisz has a bullet wrister and TOTALLY schooled chris breen in a foot race
-lowry told the boys the ice was bad and banned one touch passes
-mitch wahl grew some effin' hair
-johnny armstrong's back
-joni ortio kinda looks like leland irving:
that's pretty much it for day 1. i'm pretty sure day 2 will be lengthier and i look forward to catching up with kent and hayley (and anyone else who's around) at some point. i'll be the one with the medicine hat tigers to-go mug. come say hi.:)
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John Negrin had wrist AND knee problems last season. He's currently rehabing the knee I think and is aiming to be 100% by September.
We should be talking about the most amazing transformation last season on the baby Flames. To go from "canary yellow shirt" to "hulkamaniac" in such a short period time, so late in Jim Playfair's career arc, is pretty impressive. I can't wait to see him take the coaches aside for some shirt ripping training.
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