Training Camp underway

Notice the nice touch in the picture above- "Thank You Fans" painted on the ice on either side of the rink. Whoever came up with that idea- well done! Please accept my apologies for the quality of the picture...I was testing out the camera on my new smartphone. Not bad, but the quality is nowhere near what I get with my regular camera.

It's been a hectic weekend down at the 'Pound as the new Bulldogs coaching staff has been busy putting the prospective players through a very hard working training camp. It was tough to find a place to hide for any players that were out of shape or hadn't skated enough this summer, as Friday's practice sessions had plenty of 1 vs 1 and 3 vs 3 skating drills. I think this shows the smarts of the coaching staff. They don't know much about their players, and they don't have much time to learn much about them. To me, it looks like they have designed their practices to give them the best opportunities to see what the kids can do.

I was smiling when I noticed Bulldogs assistant coach Bryant Perrier keeping a close eye on who touched the lines and who didn't when the players were skating. Again, a very smart and simple way to keep the players honest from the very beginning. "No shortcuts" might be the message being sent there.

One thing was very obvious to me- If you were one of the players who didn't go all the way to the line and Bryant raised his stick and let you know you didn't touch- you WERE NOT going to be short of that line ever again.

Camp ends tonight with the final scrimmage. Then it's off to the exhibition season that starts in earnest with the Dogs in Duncan to face the Caps tomorrow at 6pm, and then back to the 'Pound for the first home exhibition game Tuesday night at 7:00pm when the new-look Victoria Grizzlies will be in town. Friday night the Dogs travel to Nanaimo for a 7:30 start at the Frank Crane, before the back half of the home-and-home wraps up Saturday night at the Pound at 7:00pm. The Dogs exhibition season ends next Sunday when the Dogs head down to the Bear Mountain Arena for a 1pm start time there against the Grizzlies.

Thanks for stopping by, and as always, feel free to post comments/questions/complaints/suggestions or email me HERE

Hammer