Avalanche Rookie Training Camp kicked off this morning with plenty of enthusiasm, energy and excitement between the 26 players and four goalies. Even though Rookie Camp was scheduled to run from 9:00a – 9:50a, about halfway through the 50-minute session, a number of Avalanche veterans started showing up – and we honestly had no idea why. The team’s regular Training Camp doesn’t open until Sunday morning, yet there was Brett Clark, Marek Svatos, Cody McLeod and many others heading into the locker rooms at Family Sports Center.

Sure enough, once Rookie Camp ended for the day, the handful of fans in the stands were treated to one heck of a surprise. It turns out that most of the veterans tossed on their skates and hit the ice for some friendly one-hour scrimmage with the rookies on both sheets! It was an unexpected turn of events, but one that The Avalanche Guild absorbed and embraced with a grin from ear to ear.

Although we were impressed by a number of the young guns on this Avalanche squad, including Derek Peltier, Matt Duchene, Ryan Stoa, Ryan O’Reilly, T.J. Galiardi and more, probably the most impressive aspect of the first day of camp was the overall positive atmosphere created by the players and coaching staff.

Every single player not only seemed focused, but fired up and ready for the season to get underway. All seven goalies were sharp from the get-go and the work ethic seemed to seep onto all four benches on both sheets of ice.

Personally we were most impressed with Chris Stewart, who noticeably looks to be in the best physical shape of his career. Not only did his stride look stronger and more powerful than it did in April, but he was lighter on his skates and more agile on the back-check. Newcomer David Koci was also quite impressive, as his skating ability combined with his size and stature made him seem like a monster amongst men.

Stastny’s shot seemed a little sharper than usual, as we noticed he picked the corner on Craig Anderson and Tyler Weiman a few times. John-Michael Liles looked in great shape as well, as he was jumping up into the offensive plays with ease and in an almost casual manner. Once the scrimmages were over, fans were treated to a practice fight between Stewart and Matt Hendricks, and as you can see by the photo below, it was a great way to get pumped up for the rest of camp.

Simply put, it was an impressive and exciting day to be at Family Sports Center. The attitude, atmosphere and anticipation was nowhere near the level of this time last year. The more time that goes by, the more we feel like this team will be surprising many pundits that ranked this team 13th or 14th in the Western Conference.

*Stay tuned for more updates and photos as Rookie Training Camp continues. Remember that regular training camp starts Sunday morning and is open to the public!

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