Team Delvecchio (and there are signs stuck to the locker room doors that say "Delvecchio #10," etc.)
Forwards:
#13 Pavel Datsyuk: May have had more fun than anyone else in practice. Friday's practices were all about rotation and support--sort of an, "If everything goes right, we're going to move the puck up and down ice as a team, so our personnel deficiencies don't matter" theme--and Datsyuk managed to weave in some dekes, dangles and goofing with goalies that just illustrated how much he absolutely adores playing the game.
Oh yeah, his knee! Looks great. Absolutely great. No worries there, he's happy and goofing off in practice, all great signs.
#18 Joakim Andersson: His hands were off, and when his hands are off, that's not a good thing. He looked a little clunky.
#21 Tomas Tatar: He looked sharp and ready to take advantage of his spot on Pavel Datsyuk's line. Speedy, urgent, a little gritty.
#43 Darren Helm: Also looked like he wants a spot on Pavel Datsyuk's wing, might fit in there quite well as a forechecking, space-making winger.
#56 Teemu Pulkkinen: Using a Bauer stick instead of a CCM, more tape on the blade, still has a wicked shot and a half.
Defensemen:
#4 Jakub Kindl: Kindl started the day with Easton gloves and switched back to Bauers. He looked a lot like Jakub Kindl, except when he was paired with Danny DeKeyser. When challenged to skate, he could meet that challenge. That was intriguing.
#23 Brian Lashoff: First day of camp but skated as if his job was on the line.
#47 Alexey Marchenko: Still not doing crossovers, still testing his ankle when he's skating laps, very wide stride to begin with, but he's not quite at 100%. Close but no cigar.
#53 Joe Hicketts: Babcock had to stop drills three times to correct Hicketts, but Hicketts had no problem with that. Looked a little less speedy among NHL competition but enthusiasm remained.
#65 Danny DeKeyser: Shook off a little first-day-of-camp rust, looked a little bigger on his frame and was no-frills responsible.
Goalies:
#35 Jimmy Howard: Howard's got new leg pads and new gloves--or versions of leg pads and gloves he broke in during the Olympics--but he's using the same glove he always has, and while he looks a little more flexible, those damn pop-outs remain an issue.
Team Lindsay:
#8 Justin Abdelkader: Wearing shot-blocker plastic inserts on top of his gloves, Abdelkader did his best to keep up up with Nyquist and Sheahan when the trio were together. He didn't stand out but played a skilled game.
#14 Gustav Nyquist: Ready to go and ready to play well. His skill level's so high that you almost don't see him working his ass off, but it's the fact that he works hard that's gotten him to where he is.
#15 Riley Sheahan: Gone full Bauer gear-wise, looked ready to play and quite confident in his game.
#26 Tomas Jurco: Speaking of flashy...Jurco's also a Bauer endorsee now, and he's got red palms on his flashy mitts. Babcock had to stop the drills a couple of times and didn't seem to be too thrilled with Jurco's dipsy-doodling when he should've been grinding away. That's Jurco sometimes...He wants to indulge his inner Datsyuk, but he hasn't earned that right quite yet.
#82 Tomas Nosek: He had a harder time getting up to Babcockian speed but he soaked in what he could and did not look out of place at all.
Defensemen:
#3 Nick Jensen: Healthy for the first time in forever, Jensen moved the puck very well and took instruction very well. Still really starting out his first full pro campaign at 24.
#48 Ryan Sproul: Sproul worked so hard during the prospect tournament that he had a bit of a let-down day. Still a tremendous individual talent; gotta put it on the same page as his teammates' games.
#52 Jonathan Ericsson: Probably needs some occupational therapy on that left middle finger but he looked fine and looked like he was rarin' to go.
#55 Niklas Kronwall: Super-serious as usual and very much so at ease in his role as the team's de-facto #1 defenseman.
Goalies:
#34 Petr Mrazek: Looked like he was trying to control his motion a little more. Was a struggle at times but there's more patience to his game.
Team Howe (which I only watched for the scrimmage):
Forwards:
#17 Daniel Cleary: His beard is better than my 10-o-clock shadow and he looked...Competent. Shh.
#20 Drew Miller: Miller looked a little stronger on his stick and he was working very hard to show he can flash some skill. He said he was on a mission to prove he could score more prior to camp.
#40 Henrik Zetterberg: Aside from looking healthy, and talking like a man who was in no pain, Zetterberg was his elegant skilled-and-sneaky self. He was making great plays, ragging the puck up the ice and scoring slick goals, smiling the whole way. Seemed really happy to be at camp and doing well health-wise.
#41 Luke Glendening: Scored a goal. Which reminds us all that it's training camp.
#42 Martin Frk: A little out of his element but did his best to show off a little bit of his playmaking and speed.
Edit: #72 Andreas Athanasiou: Like everybody who really gave their all during the prospect touranment, he looked a little gassed, but he's also battling a flu bug. Still speedy as hell and able to make plays at high speed.
#93 Johan Franzen: Pretending to wear a visor, but that's fine if Kronwalling it means fewer blows to the head. He actually looked really good and engaged.
Defensemen:
#2 Brendan Smith: At his best, was spare, at his worst, was...Fancy.
#25 Mattias Backman: Saw his lanky frame and ever-so-brief flashes of the kind of skill he brought at the prospect tournament.
#27 Kyle Quincey: He hasn't changed a bit.
*Sighs*
#61 Xavier Ouellet: Seemed to be regaining his footing, sometimes he's a support defenseman and sometimes, sans massive speed, he can create a whole bunch of offense by skating the puck up the ice.
Goalies:
#50 Jonas Gustavsson: Breaking in new pads, used a Team Sweden glove for a while, was...Spartan. Gustavsson is always spartan, and when he goes down and stays down you worry. But he got back up.
Re: Detroit Red Wings
Originally Posted by kaverorzi
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