If you are like me at all, then the anticipation has just about built to its boiling point. Rookie camp is almost here, and the hockey season is right around the corner. This time of year is always exciting because you never know what’s going to happen. Who’s going to show up, who isn’t? Who’s made a quantum leap in their game and who’s remained stagnant? And what new names will pop onto the scene?
To me, this year those questions are magnified with the Tips. Given the amount of turnover the team is undergoing this season, there’s more questions than ever before. It’s going to be difficult for Everett to match the win totals from the past few seasons, but it’s going to be real interesting to see how things shake out.
As for rookie camp, with so many of the top 92s advancing straight to main camp (Kent Simpson, Markus McCrea, Tyler Parker, D.Jay McGrath, Gabriel Minville), I’ll really be focusing on the 93s just acquired in the bantam draft, getting a feel for what they can do. I’m particularly intrigued by first-round pick Ryan Murray because the offensively-skilled defenseman is the type of player Everett’s never really had before. The Tips have had d-men who have piled up points, but they’ve never had someone who I considered to be a true offense initiator. I’ll also be keeping a close eye on second rounder Tyler Giebel. The Tips paid a steep price in order to move up and select him, so I suspect he has some special qualities.
And just a reminder, I will be real-time blogging the first day of training camp on Thursday, so tune in to get updates on how the prospects are performing.
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