First I’ll start out apologizing for not posting or tweeting regularly. I’ll try to catch up and post daily.
Anyway, day 1 was the typical check in day. Take the bags to the rink, then report to the dorms and check in. This year they changed the dorm building (still no AC). After checking in, there were team meetings, and an evening skate to loosen up. It was a very long day for some. A few bad new items from day one included flights that were so delayed girls missed the evening practice (big t-storms in MSP) and some girls that had no bags until Saturday afternoon so they couldn’t skate. Other than that, everyone seemed excited to see old friends and get on the ice.
Day 2 started early for some with 7am practices. These were single team, 60 min practices primarily focusing on passing. I must say I was a bit surprised at how rusty the passing seemed but I’ll chalk that up to first day nerves. The afternoon sessions were 90min with ice shared by two teams. The teams intermingled for drills and the focus was on defense and breakouts. Practice ended with some small games. When not on the ice, there was dry land training, team meetings, and a group meeting.
Some personal impressions after day 2:
- the weather was bad with rain and thunderstorms most of the day (some breaks of sun)
- the 17′s look very good. Some standouts but overall ,very good players all around
- the 16′s seem to have a wider variety of skill levels. It seems easier to notice standouts. I suppose that’s to be expected given there are more players at 16 than 17.
- there are some really good players at all levels and it’s nice to see some have made huge improvements since last year. The hard work shows!
I’ll post Day 3 highlights in the next post.
