Goalie Arturs Silovs: Photo by Pittsburgh Hockey Now, all rights reserved
Hockey is close. The ice is ready. The glass is already marked up, and Pittsburgh Penguins players are filtering back from all corners of the hockey globe to begin informal workouts.
Sidney Crosby was in the building, though not on the ice, as we spotted several Penguins prospects, including (we think, from a distance) Owen Pickering and Tristan Broz.
Captain’s practices are a hockey tradition. They are voluntary workouts to begin the escalation toward training camp and what will be a very crowded Penguins competition for secondary jobs. The players held court at center ice and conducted their own drills with a little help from organizational coaches who are allowed to talk with players but not instruct.
The skating has been going on for a little while; Wednesday wasn’t the first practice, but the number of players in the building is growing.
A few Penguins regulars were on the ice Wednesday: Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson, Kevin Hayes, and Philip Tomasino. Future regular defenseman Parker Wortherspoon made a late entry.
Tommy Novak, Ryan Shea, and Connor Dewar were also on the ice.
Connor Clifton watched from off the ice in workout gear, chatting with Broz.
The nets were full on Wednesday as the Penguins’ depth was present. Recently acquired Arturs Silovs took a lot of shots from the regulars. Silovs seems the odds-on-favorite to be the backup or 1A goalie this season.
Prospects Joel Blomqvist, who played 15 NHL games last season, and Sergei Murashov were also on the ice. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goalie Filip Larsson, who had a stellar season last year with WBS in his return to North America from Sweden, was the fourth goalie.
Of course, Larsson would also like to be the latest in a long, long line of goalies who found their best game after turning 25.
The Penguins have not yet announced the official start of training camp, though it is typically a few days after the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo, which is Friday, Sept. 12, through Monday, Sept. 15.
Fans may also find it interesting that sources told PHN that Karlsson has been in town for about a week and ramping up his workouts. He suffered an injury in a captain’s practice last September and missed camp and the preseason, but fans may also point to the star defenseman’s preparation for a better season.
Take it as you will. Hockey is close.
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