EVERETT — Noah Juulsen and Carson Stadnyk preened for a video camera, giving interviews and pantomiming their pitching motions Thursday morning in anticipation of throwing out first pitches at Thursday’s Everett AquaSox game.
The two Everett Silvertip veterans, both Canadians, admitted they had little knowledge of America’s pastime.
“It’s something new — a new opportunity for me,” Juulsen said. “I don’t really watch it. Not a fan at all.”
The mid-morning playfulness quickly turned to focused intensity a half-hour later as the pair took to the Xfinity Arena ice as the Silvertips officially opened training camp Thursday with four practice sessions held before several dozen fans.
“It’s just fun to kind of get going again,” said head coach Kevin Constantine. “It’s our first look at guys, so it’s going to take a couple days to get to know the kids. But it’s good to get started.”
Veterans held a skating session Wednesday morning while free agents checked in Thursday prior to the first practice. The approximately 80 players are divided into Grey, Green, Blue and Red squads for the weekend camp.
“(I enjoyed) seeing the fresh faces and being with (the veterans) again and passing around the puck and messing around on the ice,” Stadnyk said. “It was fun to get back into the rhythm and groove.”
It was a short and busy summer for both 18-year-old Juulsen and 20-year-old Stadnyk — each of whom spent a week at NHL developmental camps.
“Today it all starts again — I’m excited,” said Juulsen, who was the first-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in June’s draft. “It’s a good group we’ve got so far. We’ve got a lot of new faces because we lost a couple guys this summer. It will be good for sure.”
The players at camp include returning veterans, like Juulsen and Stadnyk, free-agent players hoping to still be around when the roster is cut to 30 next week, and 15-year-olds like Dawson Butt, who aren’t eligible to play this year, but are checking out the organization.
Butt’s father, Jamie, is a former WHL player who played for the Tacoma/Kelowna Rockets for four years in the 1990s and went on to play two seasons for the minor league Tacoma Sabercats of the now-defunct West Coast Hockey League.
“This is really going to help me,” Dawson Butt said. “It’s faster-paced and everything. It’s just a great help.”
The Tips won the U.S. Division title last season for the first time since 2006-07 and advanced past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since that same season.
“It was nice to finally hang (a banner) in the rafters,” said Stadnyk, who is in his fourth year with the program. “Obviously want to repeat and win the U.S. Division again and obviously we want to make a deeper run in the playoffs.”
After a day to practice and settle in, camp continues Friday with four intrasquad scrimmages as the teams compete for the Volunteer Cup.
“You need a day like today to get used to kids, and what team and what jersey number and which way do they shoot so that by the time you start watching you can see the games, but (also) be attaching a name to an event,” Constantine said. “Today is a really critical day even though it’s just a practice.”
The first scrimmage begins at 8 a.m. and will be followed by scrimmages at 9:45, 3:00 and 4:45. Saturday features the same schedule, and the week concludes with the annual Green and Grey Game at 3 p.m Sunday.
All are open to the public.
Follow Silvertips writer Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse
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