Main camp day one live update

Published 7:12 pm Monday, August 27, 2007

Welcome to live coverage of today’s opening day of Everett Silvertips main training camp. Team Green is undergoing testing as we speak. Rosters will be up shortly.

10:17 a.m. – Here’s the rosters for main camp, along with their birth years. The two teams will be playing scrimmages today, Tuesday and Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Team Green

Goalies: David Reekie (87), Mitchell David (89).

Defensemen: Dane Crowley (87), Taylor Ellington (88), Jeff Regier (91), Mike Alexander (89), Ryan Maul (91), Chris de la Lande (90), Lewis Laczko (89).

Forwards: Kevin Spotts (91), Vitali Karamnov (89), Cameron Abney (91), Ty Skauge (90), Brett Chartier (91), Jordan Mistelbacher (90), Justin Waskewitch (92), Zack Dailey (89), Carter Smith (88), Tyler Parker (92), Brennan Sonne (87), Eric English (88), Ondrej Fiala (87).

Team Grey

Goalies: Shayne Barrie (89), Kent Simpson (92).

Defensemen: Paul Sohor (91), Jonathan Harty (88), Eddie Friesen (90), Graham Potuer (88), Levarsky (89, don’t know his first name yet), Gabriel Minville (92), Matt Strong (90).

Forwards: Brandon Campos (87), Shane Harper (89), Kyle Beach (90), Tyler Eskesen (90), Paul Grenier (91), Dan Gendur (87), Kellan Tochkin (91), Byron Froese (91), Jesse Burt (89), D.Jay McGrath (92), Markus McCrae (92), Matt Ius (90), Morgan MacLean (88), Lukas Vartovnik (89).

10:19 – Fiala’s taking part in drills and seems to be moving around fine on his surgically repaired knee. We’ll see if they let him participate in contact drills.

10:21 – It’s remarkable the difference between the veterans and the rookies. Guys who looked fast during rookie camp almost look like they’re standing still against the vets.

10:38 – To no surprise, drills are running much smoother today than during rookie camp. The coaches are really emphasizing hustle. And practice is going really short this morning, they’re wrapping up already. I really didn’t get enough of a look at the players to get an impression.

10:58 – OK, just found out that it’s Paul Levarsky, who played 17 games for Red Deer last season. Levarsky was Red Deer’s seventh-round pick in the 2004 bantam draft.

11:08 – Team Grey is testing now. Minville is out there, so he must have shaken off those facial bruises from his fight with Cameron Abney.

11:20 – Speed drills are over. Man, Gendur sure gets up to speed fast. Invitee Morgan MacLean has a nice looking stride.

11:28 – Some of the rookies and 1990-born players looke a little nervous out there.

11:31 – On the other hand, the 1990-born Ius is on fire with his one-timer, blasting it into the roof of the net twice in a row.

11:46 – Team Grey’s finishing now. Many of the vets (Gendur, Harper, Harty) looked sharp. Mitch Love is waiting patiently on the bench for his turn on the ice.

Thanks for tuning in this morning. I’ll b back at 5 p.m. for the first scrimmage of camp.

4:50 – OK, we’re back on line. The lights just went on and the players are getting close to taking the ice. It looks as though Gabriel Minville is going to sit this one out. He’s still carrying around a bag of ice for his facial injuries.

It also sounds like Graham Potuer’s invitation to camp with the Detroit Red Wings has hit a snag. His paperwork got lost in the mail and it may not arrive in time for him to attend. They’re still working on it, or possibly getting a late invite from another team, but time is short. Potuer’s had some rotten luck with NHL camps. First the inner-ear thing that scuttled his opportunity with San Jose last year, and now this. Hopefully he can get something worked out.

5:04 – And we’re off. It looks as though it’s going to be the one-minute shifts with full changes at the horn again.

Reekie (Green) and Barrie (Grey) get the starts in net.

5:06 – Carter Smith with the first scoring chance on a penalty shot for Grey, but he can’t quite finish the way he did in that game at Vancouver last season.

By the way, Fiala is playing.

5:10 – Lukas Vartovnik opens the scoring for Grey, his second attempt at a jam getting under Reekie from a Markus McCrae pass.

5:13 – Jeff Regier’s shot from the right point finds its way into the far corner for Green, tying it at 1-1.

5:23 – Beach and Ellington get a little tied up — is Beach up to his old tricks? Anyway, Beach converts the penalty shot with a nice leg fake to give Grey a 2-1 lead.

5:29 – Vartovnik looks good. He’s been very involved so far. Karamnov appears pretty strong on his skates.

5:44 – So the first half is over, with Grey leading Green 2-1. I’ve got one word for that period: Fast. It was up and down in a hurry.

Some general observations:

– Vartovnik was everywhere. He appears to have continued along his improvement curve started late last season.

– The older defensemen (Crowley, Ellington, Harty, Potuer) are laying the lumber out there.

– The rookies are doing all right, summed up by the 30-second span when Kevin Spotts was able to hold his own against Harty along the boards. So far they don’t look that out of place.

– In goal, Shayne Barrie looked solid. He could be a real key to Everett’s season as the Tips will need a reliable backup with Leland Irving probably gone to World Juniors for a month. Reekie, looked sharp. Though he gave up two goals, he had a lot more to deal with than Barrie.

6:05 – The second half is underway with Mitchell David in goal for Green and Kent Simpson in net for Grey.

6:14 – Regier gets himself in a forward position near the net and just feathers the puck out front, where it pinballs through skates and under Simpson, 2-2.

6:16 – Karamnov looks solid, though he hasn’t done anything to make the highlight reel yet. Apparently he’s got a fair amount of English, so communication shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

6:19 – Mistelbacher cleans up a rebound on the break and then goes flying into the net himself. 3-2 Green.

6:33 – Karamnov is off injured. It looks like he may have caught a puck up high.

6:35 – Gendur with the steal and snipes a shot through David. All tied up 3-3.

6:36 – Ellington nearly scores on a spectacular coast-to-coast, but Sonne is able to backhand in the rebound from a tight angle, 4-3 Green.

6:38 – Karamnov’s back on the ice. Must not have been serious.

6:39 – Fiala beats Simpson 5-hole from the slot. Simpson seems a bit disgusted about letting that one in. 5-3 Green.

6:46 – It ends 5-3 Green. Off to do interviews.

So the first day of main camp is over. what did we learn from today:

– Speed, speed, speed. Coach Becanic said the players tested as fast as they ever have in franchise history, and the scrimmage was lightning quick. It appears speed is going to be a major emphasis this season.

– Speaking of speed, Morgan MacLean looked as fast as anyone out there. I bumped into him downstairs and he said he’s still nursing a groin injury, so there’s still more speed waiting to be tapped. Things never worked out for MacLean in Brandon, but he sounded eager to take another shot at the WHL here in Everett.

– The Tips are going to have tough decisions to make on defense this season. If Crowley comes back there wouldn’t seem to be many blueline spots available this season. But the D looked strong from top to bottom, with several guys who have never suited up in the WHL (de la Lande, Friesen, Sohor) looking like they’re ready to step in if called upon.

Anyway, I hope everyone who checked in enjoyed the coverage. I’m back to doing daily updates tomorrow rather than the live updates. Thanks to everyone who has expressed their support of the blog.