In front of a sparse Monday morning crowd, the Capitals’ rookies took to the ice for their second day of Rookie Camp. The prospects were put through a extended practice that consisted mostly of tedious timing drills. The usual suspects, guys like Cody Eakin and Marcus Johansson, impressed the coaches with their skill while RMNB worship idol, Stanislav Galiev, showed-off his blazing speed. Trevor Bruess also showed improvement throughout the session, darting easily through the timers that were set up to record their speed.
Bruce Boudreau noted that all of the players were in great condition for camp. And it’s true. The boys were moving faster and looking less winded after each and every drill. However, the session ended with the dreaded set of Herbies, which we can only describe as the worst suicides on earth. The sprints included skating back and forth repeatedly across varying widths of the ice, full throttle. By the end, all of the players were doubled over, struggling for air.
During the drills, I did manage to notice that Galiev and Dmitry Kugryshev spent most of practice standing together, speaking in their native Russian. Sadly, they were separated for most of the session from their fellow countryman, Nikita Kashirsky whose group spent more time training off-ice today.
Not long after the rookies left, the veterans made their way out of the locker room. There were many new members joining the skate today like Brooks Laich, Michal Neuvirth, John Carlson, and Andrew Gordon. They put together their own makeshift practice, including a very informal scrimmage of white versus black. There were a lot of smiling faces as the guys returned to work. It was nice reminder that we’re less than a month away from Opening Night!
Make sure to check out all the photos from the day of hockey below. Photos of the Caps veterans are on the very bottom.
Pictures From Day 2 of Rookie Camp
Photos from the Caps Informal Practice
