No I wasn't there on day one to watch the goalie drills. But I know (of) a couple people that were:
Walk Invisible shares her impressions of the skaters and stopppers. She notes Daniel Ryder looked fresh and eager while Backlund was less impressive. Kris Chucko looked like Kris Chucko. Matt Keetley looked like the best tender for the second straight year apparently as well.
Scott Cruickshank managed to talk to the enigmatic Ryder after the session where the former Junior star divulged why he skipped out on the organization last year -
"I just needed some time away from hockey — I still wasn't ready for a full season. That was my decision — I'm glad I did it. Two long seasons in a row, two short summers. It was just hockey every day. I wasn't ready for a full season. I feel ready for a full season now.(The Flames) let me take the time — what I needed — and be ready for next year. They were great with it. They helped me a lot. It's good to have people like that around."
He's back because "it was too good an opportunity to pass up. So I'm just going to go with it and see what happens. It's going good so far."
That actually makes some sense. In his final two seasons in Junior, Ryder played in 122 regular season games and 39 play-off games (thanks to back-to-back Memorial cup appearances). That's a ton of hockey.
I've always liked Ryder as a prospect and am glad to have him back in the fold. It'll be interesting to see how he progresses from this point on. Im sure both of the links above will post on-going first hand accounts throughout rookie camp, so check them out if you're interested.
