Gone campin'

I made my first trip to the SASC to take a look at Murph's crop of talent this year. There really wasn't much of an opportunity to evaluate chemistry -- mostly breakout drills and puck movement -- but definitely got some idea of what we're looking at. Having said that, however, the top line of Robertson, Macdonald and newcomer John Mazzei looked very sharp. They were just working a few 3-on-2 drills both down low and off the breakout, but I was really impressed with how they worked the puck out there. Feels like almost a sure lock for the Scorps' pair of games against Amarillo this weekend.

A few other things I noticed:

• Mitch Stephens is a wizard with the puck. Watching how he was setting things up in those drills, I expect him to put up some stellar numbers this year. Today, he was teamed up with Jamie Herrington and Josh Paquette. I was talking to Brent Woodside for a bit and he said that Finlandia (former program for Paquette and Scorps camper Ryan Sullivan) didn't put much of an emphasis on conditioning. Seeing as those two own just about every record in both school and conference history, it's interesting to think about what they can do if they really get into shape. Definitely some talent to be had.
• I was really impressed with Jason Wolfe. The guy is positionally and fundamentally sound and, with his size, is gonna be tough to beat on a good night. Right now, it looks to me like it's shaping up to be a two-man race between him and Andrew Martin. No offense to Peter Vetri, who made a few great saves of his own, but he seemed to lack the consistency and poise of both Martin and Wolfe, even if it was only a practice situation.
  
• You can really tell how happy Andrew Smale is to be back on the ice. He looked like a top-pairing defenseman out there for sure, and take my word for it when I say that I think we're going to see a much more physical Andrew Smale this year.
• My only real critique is on the back end. I don't see much size to go around. After Smale and Aaron MacInnis, the dropoff is pretty steep. With the exception of Dylan Row, I have yet to see any of these guys in real action, so I couldn't tell you about their positional play, but it sure would be nice to have one or two more thumping bodies on the back end.
  

Lastly, the other 26 teams in the NHL get under way this weekend, starting with four contests tomorrow night. Glad to see my TV set's going to get some use again. Go Wings!