Avalanche Training Camp Day 1

(Originally posted to Mile High Hockey on September 18, 2010. An informal analysis of the Avs' 2010-2011 Training Camp.)

Training camp today consisted solely of three no-holds barred, let-the-boys-play scrimmages.  Grey-black, loser-blue, winner-blue.  It was like the Burgundy-White game, but even better because you got three 45 minute games without any stoppages.  Few penalties were called, even though dozens and dozens were committed.  Those that were called had penalty shots assessed rather than power plays (that was a downside, IMO).  I'm not going to go into too much detail on my reactions; I will save that for someone else.  However, I'll give you a few observations after the jump.

Rookies:
Jonas Holos sucked.  He was paired with Kyle Quincey and usually faced the top line of TJ Galiardi, Paul Stastny and Chris Stewart.  He gave Stastny way too much room on a regular basis and was beat every time.  He didn't seem to communicate well and did a poor job with line changes.

Kevin Shattenkirk was invisible.  He was paired with Scott Hannan.  His defensive positioning was generally meh, he didn't do much offensively.

Colby Cohen was one of the better guys out there.  He was paired with John-Michael Liles and the two seemed to have chemistry offensively, and they weren't too bad defensively - which was surprising.  They had some "oh shit" moments and had some goals against, but then Maxwell was in net so what can you expect?

Zach Cohen also did well.  Very physical.  Good passing.

Cameron Guance was probably the best defenseman on the ice.  Physical, offensive, fun to watch.

Mike Carman was definitely the best rookie out there today.  Strong defensively, powerhouse offensively.  Too bad we don't have room at the forward position; otherwise he would be given a serious look if he keeps this up.

Joey Hishon really is a great offensive threat.  Creative, slippery, fun to watch.  Too bad he's not stronger on the puck.  Poor man's Duchene.  Hopefully he can get stronger because he could really be valuable if he does.

Team:
It appears our top three forward lines will be:
TJ Galiardi, Paul Stastny, Chris Stewart;
Peter Mueller, Matt Duchene, Milan Hejduk;
Brandon Yip, Ryan O'Reilly, David Jones.
It was beautiful and magical and yeah, it's gonna work.
Dan Winnik is a BEAST out there.  He looks huge, he plays huge.  He is a threat both offensively and defensively.  Again, I think this acquisition is a win.