An Hour at Prospect Camp 7-15-08

That was all I could manage today since I cut my work day short yesterday with the surprise news out of the front office. But I wanted to get there today just at least to be back in the cold air and hear the blades on the ice.

I rushed like hell, and left my phone on my office desk. Of course, I imagined every possible scenario that would be devastating for me to not have my phone with me because that’s the way I’m wired. Always thinking the worst. Especially since no one knew I was going to Iceworks today, so if I was in an accident or kidnapped or developed amnesia, I had no damn phone to call anyone. But I was already late, and I wasn’t turning back. I had my laptop with me and that would have to suffice as the communication device for now.

There were no parking spaces left in the front lot. Wearing heels and carrying those 30 lbs of hardware that I SHOULD be used to by now, there was no way I was parking in the back and walking the ½ mile to the entrance. I parked as best I could and bolted into the lobby.

It wasn’t as crowded as the parking lot had foretold. The regular suspects were there. A few people I recognized from the Booster club. “My Friend” from IslanderMania, Carbons2K from our NYIC board and my friend and mentor, Brad Kurtzberg from Inside Hockey. There were pee wee teams there too, and a few toddlers giving their mothers a run for their money.

But we were there to see the boys on the ice. I must be getting too used to this. They didn’t look as young as they had in the past. A few years ago, when IslanderQueen and I went to this camp, I felt as if I had walked in on a high school game. The squad on the ice LOOKED like College kids, and for the most part, they are.

Brad handed me the printout from the website with all their names and information on it. I glanced at it, but truthfully, I’m just there to be impressed. I don’t go there being armed with information and looking to match the name to the prospect. I look for someone to make me sit up and take notice. I did a LOT of LOOKING, and not too much sitting up.

But to be fair, I only saw half the squad since I couldn’t come back for the 3 pm scrimmage. I came away with this:

Kessel is incredibly graceful skating backwards. It was beautiful to watch. Hillen, on the other hand, tries to make himself invisible when he skates, but there’s something about him I really like. I just don’t know what. If Brian Gibbons is 5’8” then I’m a runway model.

Bailey looks very confident, and there were one or two of the boys that were very fast. But no one was really scoring during this practice and no one on the ice was very big. Hope we’ve still got some enforcers on Bridgeport to call up.

Ted’s absence didn’t seem to have any bearing on anything as there were plenty of coaches on the ice and off. Garth was hard at work upstairs and Carbons2K caught him with Capuano. He caught me too. He’s our own NYIC Paparazzi!

I don’t think I’ll get back there this week. But it was good to see… the Future is Still Bright people. Just about as bright as Okposo’s smile.