The Oilers finally hit the ice for 2010 training camp, and while no one needed a puke bucket, some of them might have had a headache from all the chalkboard time. Tom Renney spent a lot of time teaching on the whiteboard this morning.

TEAM A hit the ice first at 8:15, and were greeted by at least 700 rabid fans who wanted to see Taylor, Jordan and Magnus first hand. Well they will have to wait, as none of the big three were on for the first session, instead they got to see a lighter Ales Hemsky and Sam Gagner. I don’t think it is a coincidence that Hall and Eberle will be in the third session, because the fans that came will wait until Hall and Eberle hit the ice around noon.

Team A consisted of,

Dubnyk (40) and Pitton (50)

 

Whitney (6)/Petry (58)

Strudwick (43)/Blain (61)

Davidson (60)/Bendfeld (55)/Ehrhardt (75)

 

Penner (27)/Gagner (89)/Hemsky (83)

Schaber (74)/Pitlick (68)/ Ondrus (25)

Hartikainen (56)/Reddox (85)/Stortini (46)

Cornet (51)/Kytnar (64)/Abney (53)

 

Hemsky is ten pounds lighter –he didn’t lose it on purpose, it occured due to his lengthy off-season training– while Gagner purposely shed seven pounds.  Don’t fret about Hemsky’s weight loss, he says he didn’t lose any strength over the summer and says he feels better than he has in three years. Gagner is down to 194 pounds, and after three years of hearing how he needed to get bigger and stronger, he elected to go drop some weight with the belief he’ll be quicker on the ice.

 

"I don’t think my game will suffer from being lighter. I’m not a guy who does a lot of crashing and banging, and I think being quicker on the rush and hopefully faster through the neutral zone will benefit my game,"said Gagner when I spoke with him at Perry Pearn’s 3-on-3 camp.

 

It was hard to tell during line rushes, half-ice three-on-twos or in any of the other drills if Gagner is indeed quicker, but he did look a quicker first step. We won’t really know until we see him in some pre-season action, but if his VO2 test is any indication he should be faster. Gagner registered 56.8, his best result in four training camps, and is positive he’s never been stronger or in better shape. 

 

Fans who came to Rexall expecting to see if Gagner/Hemsky/Penner have some chemistry were grossly disappointed. Renney spent a lot time at the chalkboard, unfortunately we couldn’t hear what he was saying, but Renney lived up to his promise of ensuring his team will understand exactly what style he wants to play. He will be part coach and part teacher during camp and is determined that his players know exactly what is expected of them.

 

"I don’t like to leave people guessing, I know I don’t enjoy that too much myself, as much as a lot of coaches do that to motivate, inspire, scare or whatever it is to get the players to perform. I seem to work from the other point of view, where it is better to know what is expected of you than to guess what that might be. I want to help nurture the player through the process," said Renney.

 

After a two-hour session, that included a flood at the midway point, Team A left the ice and headed to the weight room for a quick lift in the gym. I can’t say anyone stood out in my eyes, since line rushes and two-on-ones aren’t the best situation to evaluate, although Penner did bury a goals on some line rushes. 

 

Penner looks like he slimmed down over the summer. Last year he played the most minutes of his career, and he hit the wall in January, before rebounding after the Olympic break. Penner spent this summer training like he would play 20 minutes a night, so he shouldn’t hit the "fatigue" wall midway through this season.

 

I’ll update more after Team B gets off the ice. I’m curious to see if I can tell who is faster between Paajarvi and Cogliano when they line up with Gilbert Brule. The crowd continues to grow and I won’t be surprised to see more than 1000 fans in the building by the time Hall the rest of Team C get on the ice.

When Team B stepped off the ice, you could tell it was a tough first day of camp. Two hours of skating, line rushes and lots of focus on neutral zone play had the players fatigued. The fans weren’t tired though, they gave Team B a loud round of applause as they left the ice. Team C, and Hall came on at 12:15 and the kid many have been waiting to see stepped on Rexall ice for the first time in an Oiler practice jersey. It was interesting to see the excitement on the faces of the fans; young, old, male or female. Hall has every fan in the Oilersnation excited about the potential that he can bring.

Every shot and stride he took was closely monitored by the crowd and it will only intensify as the regular season approaches. He will show glimpses of his great acceleration and quickness, but today wasn’t a day where fans could grasp the depth of his skill.

It is only one day, but Linus Omark looked pretty good. Everything he shot seemed to go in, and it was funny to see how often he was deking the goalies. That is a bit of a no-no in camp, but Shawn Horcoff thought it was quite comical. "I wish Rollie or Tommy Salo had been out there today. They would have been pretty frustrated. Omark has some great skill, and he his attitude was refreshing. He likes to have fun on the ice," said Horcoff. It is only drills of course, but the kid can finish. Looking forward to seeing him in a game. I’d love for him to shine and make it a real competition v. Eberle and Paajarvi for a roster spot.

It was clear from the minute he stepped on the ice this morning that Renney was committed to having his players understand his system. There wasn’t any scrimmaging on day one, instead there was a lot of focus on neutral zone play and forechecking.

I also asked Brule what Renney focused on specifically for the forwards.

"Definitely our neutral zone forecheck, especially on the D to D passes.  We want to have a change with our first guy, and an exchange with our second guy if the D to D keeps coming, and not just play man-on-man and staying in a wedge in the neutral zone."

Ryan Whitney liked Renney’s strategy on the ice this morning.

"The way we want to play this year is uptempo hockey. When you think about it, there is no need to be scrimmaging and trying to kill each other out there. Now we can be learning the new stuff and kind of learning the new coach’s tendancies."

Whitney on what the expectations will be from a D-man’s perspective in Renney’s uptempo system.

"It was a lot of fun, maybe a bit nervous to start it off for the first five minutes, but after that I got settled in and realized it was just another practice and you have to just work at becoming a better player."

Hall broke a pane of glass in his first practice and joked about it afterwards. "I didn’t know I had that kind of shot in me, maybe all those beach workouts I’ve been doing all summer (laughs)…but it was definitely a fun practice and a fun day."

The players are like sponges right now. They believe in the system and since they haven’t lost a game yet, they have lots of faith in Renney’s new approach. We will see what happens when the real bullets fly, but it is clear that the players like Renney’s dedication to detail. It sounds like tomorrow will be another teaching day, and there might not be any scrimmaging until Monday or possibly Tuesday.

An overview of the first day.

His first impression of Omark?

When does he start thinking about his goaltending situation? Any chance he will carry three goalies?

 Are you more of a teacher than coach right now?