Pre-Season Hockey: A Colorful Commentary,

Part One

By: Patrice L. Leonard

Having just arrived home after sitting through a Flyers pre-season game at the Wachovia Center, I just had to write a few thoughts. Admittedly, most of these thoughts came to me while watching practice yesterday morning. I will be glad when the regular season starts and the customary fans come out of hibernation. What I witnessed over the past couple of days down right frightens me. That being said, here’s what I came back with.

Walking into the Skate Zone on the morning of practice can be a much laid back and relaxing time. You know you’re going to see your team up close and having a little fun. There is work to be done to be sure, but, for the most part a pre-season practice is very entertaining. I spent most of the session poking fun at the guys who were obviously not in “game shape” quite yet.

Now, if you get there early enough you can watch the players as they arrive in there big, shiny SUV’s. They’re always good for a nod or a wave as they drive by. But what kills me is when someone walks up to their truck and sticks a sharpie in their face. I have to say though, watching a goalie try to juggle coffee, a pen, his cell phone, and a puck is truly hysterical.

Inside, it’s cold. So, I wrap my scarf around my neck and enter the rink to the left. There aren’t too many people standing around so I take my usual place along the boards and settle in. Hitch is running drills, the usual. I generally pay attention to what’s going on on the ice, but something else has my attention today. I was eavesdropping on everyone around me as they tried to figure out who was who and what number they had on their helmets. Yes, there are a lot of new faces, but come on, they hand out a roster every practice so you can follow along. It’s like Reading Rainbow without Levar Burton.

Everyone watches for about an hour and then the team skates off the ice. People file out the doors and into their cars and head home. Bad move, Neil. They were changing rinks. Very few were aware of it and even less waited around to find out. The second half of practice was more like a pick-up game in the cul-de-sac. They ran drills for about 20 minutes and then it became a free for all. They had the normal skate around, with Freddy “Molasses” Meyer taking up the rear. What’s up with that? He spent more time on his butt, and his face than on his feet. I guess the off-season was too long for him. He forgot that you have to be able to skate to play this game.

What bothered me the most though, was that while some of their team mates stayed on the ice to play a little 4 on 4 scrimmage, his highness Simon Gagne and the Grand Duke Jeff Carter felt it necessary to leave the ice first. I’m thinking Gags had to hurry home and stash his new found wealth before Clarke changed his mind. I don’t have a clue about Carter. The likes of Peter Forsberg, Mike Knuble, Mike Richards, Derian Hatcher, RJ Umberger and a few others stayed on the ice and played in a high-spirited game against one another.

That’s what pre-season is for. Yes, the weak will be weeded out and replaced. The roster will be cut down. The strong will survive and the rest will be thrown into the pit. Well, obviously I’m kidding. But, the truth is if you don’t make it here I hear that they’re trying to start a team in St. Louis. I think they’re called the Blues……………….