Rookie camp live update

Published 8:38 pm Thursday, August 23, 2007

Good morning! Welcome to my real-time update of the opening day of Everett’s rookie training camp. I’ll be updating regularly with my impressions from the youngsters, provided I can work the weariness out of my eyes after covering a late AquaSox game last night. Up first this morning is testing for the Blue Team. Rosters will be up shortly.

8:56 a.m. – OK, here’s the rosters:

Team White

Goalies: Brett Gagnon (91), Brad Falk (90).

Defensemen: Kyle Janzen (92), Mitch Boucher (92), Scott Van Gaal (91), Brendan Mitchell (92), John Dennis (91).

Forwards: Brett Chartier (91), Ryan Doner (92), Ryan White (91), Cameron Abney (91), Tyler Parker (92), Byron Froese (91), Derek Johnston (92), Josh Tweatmeyer (92), Matthew Ferbey (92), Branden Vandermoon (92).

Team Red

Goalies: John Paul Chapman (91), Chris Beadles (90).

Defensemen: Paul Sohor (91), Devin Dambrauskas (92), Reese Shade (92), Leeland Malkinson (91), Mark Lelievere (91).

Forwards: Justin Waskewitch (92), D.Jay McGrath (92), Brody Moen (91), Devan McLean (92), Carter Shinkaruk (91), Kevin Spotts (91), Colin Hoffman (91), Campbell Elynuik (92).

Team Blue

Goalies: Kent Simpson (92), Tanner Hamilton (92).

Defensemen: Gabriel Minville (92), Brett Kolins (92), Jordan Duncan (92), Ryan Maul (91), Alex Kindell (91).

Forwards: Kellan Tochkin (91), Markus McCrae (92), Paul Grenier (91), Brian Safstrom (91), Kevin Wiens (92), Brandon McLean (92), Brody Eisbrenner (92), Carter Page (92).

All of the 2007 bantam draft picks are here.

9:17 – Speed drills first. Kent Simpson seems to move around pretty good for a guy who’s lugging all that heavy goalie equipment around. Kellan Tochkin looks faster when he gets up to speed, but still could use some work on his acceleration.

9:37 – The guys are having a little trouble figuring out the passing and one-on-one drills. Not surprising considering for most of them it’s the first time doing these particular drills. It also looks like the ice may be a little bit slippery.

9:46 – Gabriel Minville just leveled Alex Kindell along the boards during a two-on-two drill. Paul Grenier also is playing physical.

9:51 – Markus McCrae just killed during the small area game. He was scoring goals at will. The sixth-round pick out of California looks good. Tochkin also looked good during the game.

10:19 – OK, the first scrimmage is just getting underway, White vs. Red.

10:24 – It’s one-minute shifts again this year, with whole scale changes at the horn. Penalties equal penalty shots instead of power plays. The Red’s Devan McLean gets the first one and is saved by Brett Gagnon.

10:25 – We have our first goal. White goes ahead 1-0 when Byron Froese drags Kyle Janzen’s shot from the point past Red goaltender John Paul Chapman.

10:35 – The Red’s Brody Moen scores on the rebound after Gagnon spills a shot and can’t find the puck. 1-1.

10:39 – Paul Sohor, the team’s fifth-round pick in 2006, blast a slap shot into the top corner from the center point. 2-1 Red.

10:41 – White’s Tyler Parker scores on a penalty shot on a nice move to his backhand, 2-2.

10:42 – Another Sohor slap shot from the point causes problems. Someone bangs the rebound in from a scrum out front, not sure who. Red leads 3-2.

10:56 – The first period is over, with Red leading 3-2. Can’t really say any particular players have stood out in my mind so far, though the competitive level is high. Brett Chartier came off injured at one point for White and was not on the bench at the end of the period.

11:09 – Reader Kristi Simmons asked about the Everett Events Center’s new name, as it got a new one Thursday. Drumroll please. The new name is……………..Comcast Arena at the Everett Events Center. Not exactly a huge surprise.

Also Natasha Zieroth asks if Josh Tweatmeyer is from Everett. I haven’t had the chance to track down everyone’s hometown yet, but the Tips regularly invite around 10 locals to rookie camp every year, so I suspect it is.

Second period is getting ready to start.

11:21 – Well there’s something you don’t necessarily expect in a training camp scrimmage. Sohor just sprawled out completely to block a shot.

11:25 – White’s Ryan Doner picks a rebound out from between Red goaltender Chris Beadles’ pads and puts it in, all tied up at 3-3.

By the way, no sign on Chartier on the White bench.

11:44 – D.Jay McGrath whips a no-look wrister from the left slot past White goalie Brad Frank, giving Red a late 4-3 lead.

11:47 – Tweatmeyer with a nice move across the slot to score for White, tying it 4-4.

11:48 – Beadles with a great stick save on White’s Cameron Abney to keep it tied.

11:51 – Red’s Justin Waskewitch with a great backhand pass across the slot to set up his buddy McGrath for an easy redirect. Red leads 5-4 with two minutes left.

11:52 – White had all kinds of chances to tie it in the final shift, but Beadles closed the door. Red wins the opener 5-4.

Good lively first game. As for the players, for Red I thought Sohor did a lot of positive things. McGrath and Waskewitch at times showed why they were considered Everett’s skill picks in the last draft. And I thought Kevin Spotts had his moments and provided energy. For White, I thought the forward pairings of Doner-Abney and Parker-Froese played well together.

Anyway, it’s break time for the players as they have lunch and some meetings. On-ice activity begins again at 5 p.m. with Team White’s testing. See you then.

4:53 p.m. – OK, I’m back. A little early it turns out, as Team White’s testing begins at 5:30, not 5:00.

This evening I’m going to change things up a little bit. I’m still going to give regular updates, but I’m going to scale back on the rapid-fire nature of them a little bit. On the one hand, I believe many of you appreciate the fast and furious updates. On the other hand, I know I missed some stuff this morning because I was so busy typing! This way hopefully I can provide a little more depth (as well as get a little better feel for the players myself). Either way, I clearly still have some more learning to do before I find the right balance on this blog thing, and please feel free to e-mail me any feedback on what you think about the respective formats.

Anyway, cleaning up some things from this morning:

– The Red goal where I didn’t see who scored was credited to Campbell Elynuik.

– Natasha Zieroth mailed back to correct the spelling of Josh Twietmeyer’s name. Thank you Natasha.

– Also, Melissa Tolle-Peacock (and her six-year old son) asked about who’s going to captain the team this year. I suspect it will take longer to figure that out this year than it has in the past, mainly because of the uncertainty regarding who’s going to play for Everett and who’s going to play professionally. In the past the Tips always had an overager as captain, but with Dane Crowley, Dan Gendur and Ondrej Fiala all candidates to play pro, there’s no telling who the overagers are going to be. Then the fact that there’s a good chance Peter Mueller (an alternate captain last year) won’t be back, and that Zach Hamill (another alternate) won’t arrive in Everett until probably the opening of the season because of the Canada-Russia Super Series, and I don’t expect a decision until late. However Melissa, I suspect your son’s favorite player, Jonathan Harty, has as good a shot at it as anybody.

5:29 – One quick note as White’s testing is about to begin. Brett Chartier is sitting out. Apparently he’s got a bruised thigh.

6:28 – OK, White’s practice is over. During speed drills I’d say Scott Van Gaal and Branden Vandermoon looked pretty quick, though it’s hard to say without the times. The eyes can deceive. Passing drills went a lot smoother than this morning during Blue’s practice — perhaps some of the players did some viewing this morning? Then again maybe not, because rush drills were a complete mess. Ah, rookies. The most entertaining part was the small area game. Brad Frank made a couple highlight reel saves, but couldn’t keep Kyle Janzen’s winner out. Ryan Doner scored a couple nice goals during the drill. Overall it wasn’t as physical as Blue’s practice was this morning. That may be because of the game Team White played earlier.

6:48 – Blue vs. red about to start. This game pits the two teams with the most “name” players on them — Tockhin, Simpson, Minville on Blue; Moen, McGrath, Waskewitch, Sohor on Red.

7:20 – Boy, there was some hitting going on in the first half of that game. Blue’s Markus McCrae and Red’s Devan McLean were the ones I noticed the most, but there was plenty of hitting going around.

Blue leads 3-1 going into the break. Kevin Wiens scored twice, both times found open in front, first by Brian Safstrom from the corner, then by Brandon McLean from behind the net. McCrae also scored, finishing nicely when released by a great stretch pass (not sure from whom). Red’s goal, which tied it 1-1, was scored by Carter Shinkaruk, who was the only player racing into the zone for a loose puck, beat Simpson to it, and slid it into the open net.

Individually, the first thing that stood out was the play of Simpson. He appears to be the real deal. He made a couple great reaction glove saves early and made it look routine. Very assured with the glove.

Then there’s McCrae. This guy is an absolute bull out there. He’s big, he lays huge hits and he shows good offensive abilities. It appears the Tips may have found a sixth-round steal in the Californian.

8:09 – Team Blue wins 4-2. I’m off to do interviews. More later.

8:30 – So anyway, the second half of the scrimmage slowed down a bit. There was less hitting as it appeared the teams began to wear down after a long day.

Team Red cut the deficit to 3-2 early in the period when McGrath sent a perfect backdoor pass for Waskewitch to redirect at the far post.

But Team Blue restored its two-goal lead shortly after, Brian Safstrom receiving a pass from Brody Eisbrenner while cutting to the net and placing a backhander just inside the post.

Safstrom, the nephew of former Events Center operator Fred Safstrom, looked good throughout the second period. He showed some good puck skills.

For Red, I thought Shinkaruk and Spotts showed a lot of energy during the second period.