Great Focus; Training Camp Opens

Todd Richards was large and in-charge

This afternoon the Columbus Blue Jackets  opened their 2012-13 training camp to a packed  Ice Haus.  To me, the biggest thing I took away from the day's activity is that the players were very focused.  Yes, they were happy to be back on the ice, but they recognize that the puck drops for real in less than a week.  They were very intent, and the pace to practice was good.

Dang its good to have NHL hockey back.

Nick Foligno - Number 71

Lot's of drills today to get thing going.  They did battle drills in the corners, to get people used to the hitting.  One of the drills I enjoyed watching the most was a 1 on 2 drill where the puck holder had to go one on one with a defender, and a forward skated across the ice to join in to try to strip the puck carrier.  In one of the drills, Nick Foligno was going against Derek Dorsett and the two of them got the puck pinned on the boards.  This situation demonstrated that Foligno has just about as much 'no quit' in him as Dorsett, which bodes well for the teams future.

The other thing that I noticed was that goal tender Sergei Bobrovsky plays every puck in practice like its a game.  He worked very, very hard.  Likewise, Steve Mason looked very sharp today too.  I'd like to see nothing better in the CBJ goal than a 'one goal game' being the currency for keeping the net.  Improbable, of course, but I'd like it.

All in all, myself and a lot of other people in Columbus were darn happy that the NHL was back in business.  The schedule looks crazy, but well talk about that more later.  For now, the CBJ opens on the road in Nashville, and opens at home Monday night, January 21 against Detroit.  THAT ought to be interesting!

GO JACKETS!!