Puck 'N Hockey

All in all, a pretty cool day. I was able to catch most of the first and second periods of the scrimmage.  I tried to roam around the rink as much as possible so, in the middle of the first, I ended up down behind the White team’s net along the glass.  From there, I was entertained often by Stephan Della Rovere chirping at anyone in red that got close enough to hear him.  Great stuff.  It seemed like as soon as I got to ice level the game started to really get chippy.  I witnessed some extra slashes and hooks from most guys.  That all led to some real fireworks in the second period.

Pisano-Finley II

Pisano-Finley II went off as expected (at least I wanted them to go again today).  Another spirited battle from these two aspiring NHL toughs.  Then, apparently someone did and probably said something to Trevor Bruess in the first period.

Bruess Looking For The Next Fight?

You could clearly see him chatting up Cody Eakin as the Pisano-Finley dust up was ending.  So, Della Rovere answered the bell.

Bruess and Della Rovere

This was a real fracass.  Several blows landed by both guys.  If fans wanted to see some tough guys coming up in the system, well, they got them.  They also have more, talented Russians.

Kuznetsov In Front

I was really impressed with Evgeny Kuznetsov’s net presence.  Especially, for a skater who could just use his skill to create space for himself.  Kuznetsov has no problem parking in the paint.  He could use some time in the weight room bulking up a bit but you can already see, the effort is there to go to the goal scoring areas. By now, everyone has read or heard about the three Russians at the Development Camp this year, Galiev, Kuznetsov, and Orlov, entertaining everyone.  Well, I personally witnessed them chatting up every pretty girl in the place and asking for Red Rocker autographs.  These guys are living the dream.  I don’t think the Fox 5 camera guy understood that Kuznetsov was trying to get some face time before heading out for the second period.

Hi Mom!

After the second period, I wandered out to the equipment sale and walked around the rest of the Fan Fest.  I was able to pick up some much needed RBK socks (which will be used in the next few weeks at men’s league) as well as a Knuble stick (I usually park in front of the net and score most of my goals there).

DC Hockey Town?

The whole building had this incredible energy.  It felt very much like the old Redskins training camps in Carlisle, PA.  As fans, we had access to the entire Kettler Capitals Iceplex except the press and player areas.  If there is any doubt that DC is becoming or may already be a hockey town, one only needed to try to walk around Kettler today.  It was packed.  It was standing room only in the rink for the scrimmage with many folks stacked 5 or 6 deep along the glass.  After the scrimmage, I literally ran into many of the players as they were walking through the facility with their equipment.  I was almost run over by Joe Finley.  It was my fault though, I was too busy checking Twitter on my Droid.