The Hurricanes Season Ticket Holder Cookout yesterday was a great success- there's nothing better than watching a practice, eating some yummy food, and then getting to listen to your favorite players chat over the most random questions. I had never been to a Hurricanes practice before & it was definitely an interesting experience.
The Canes ran drills for about an hour. I am now able to confirm that Chad LaRose is REALLY loud (I knew this, but I had never truly witnessed it). Even with thousands in the stands, Chad was audible over the crowd.
It was also interesting to see some of the things the coaches worked with the players one on one. Maclean worked with Dalpe on getting a shot off under pressure. Several of the guys worked on getting shots off quickly & on net (warm up for the goalies?).
It was interesting to see who stayed out on the ice the longest- Boychuk & Westgarth worked with Rod, while Skinner, Dalpe, & Bowman shot on the other net. The young guys had a bit of a competition & Bowman made his shot, raised his arms in celebration, & received more cheers than expected from the crowd. It was funny watching his reaction to his celebration.
Also, this zamboni driver is my favorite, mostly because he really didn't seem to care about keeping to a pattern.
The Player Q&A was definitely a lot of fun. There's nothing better than watching 6 hockey players (Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner, Chad LaRose, Cam Ward, & Tim Gleason) fidget with a mic for 40 minutes. The name of the game seemed to be who can avoid holding the mic and talking for the longest.
Things We Learned from the Q&A
- Skinner laughed when asked about his hair & doesn't seem to know what's going on with it. Eric stole the mic and made a joke about how it took Skinner 20 minutes of styling before he walked out.
- LaRose said his plans post-hockey are to have a family like many of his teammates. He also "hinted" that he wants a job like Cory Stillman (and by hinted, he repeated his aspiration again loudly and asked if any of the front office guys were still hanging around).
- Jordan was asked who was more excited about the trade- his parents or himself. Mom & Dad seemed to have won. Apparently when they were talking about it pre-trade, Henry & Linda kept saying "Well... it would be nice."
- Who's going to be the first player to reach 20 goals? *loud Rosey whispers in the background* Skinner's answer? Chad LaRose. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Skinner is easily coerced...
- Cam Ward decided he wanted to be a goalie when he was around 12 years old. John Forslund confirmed that this was a pre-puberty decision.
- After a typical 7pm game, Gleason admitted that he normally falls asleep around 2-3am. Takes a lot of calm down after game; his normal routine post-game is to eat dinner & drink a glass of red wine.
- Ward was asked to pick 3 players for a shootout. He chose Skinner, Semin, & (loud whispers again!) LaRose. LaRose "borrowed" the mic and said the guys next to him (Ericl, Jordan, & Skinner) would be really good choices too.
- Gleason said he loves seeing "ya'll" out tailgating when drives up before the game & wishes he could stop and join one. I would pay money to have Gleason say "ya'll" again-had to be the most unnatural thing he's ever said.
- Skinner was asked what's the best advice for an 11 year old hockey player. LaRose loudly said "figure skating!" Skinner said you should just have fun.
- Eric said he first realized he had a legitimate shot at the NHL was when he was 15 & playing in Peterborough. The others seemed to nod in agreement just so they didn't have to talk. LaRose joked that it took him longer & that he just turned 30.
- Eric said he's not sick of brother questions yet. He admitted that sometimes he forgets that Jordan is on the team until he gets to the locker room for practice and is like "Oh yeah, you're here now."
- Theme of the day? Thanking their wives. Gleason, Ward, and Jordan all made sure to mention how fantastic their wives were. LaRose's loud whispers kept encouraging this from them all, but he didn't have a problem fist-pumping with the guys that didn't have kids.
- Ward said his wife has been great about letting him get some sleep. He loves spending time with his kids- Nolan is at the age where he loves sports (likes basketball in particular) & Nila (Nyla? Nilah?) likes cuddles because she's only 2 weeks old.
- Gleason's proud dad moment was revealing that his "boy" (Grady) took 6 steps on his own the day before :)
- Eric revealed that he loves taking his boys to Yogurt Mountain because they like ice cream and their dad enjoys the occasional ice cream too.
- Jordan was asked what was more exciting- getting traded to the Canes or getting married. His answer? "I love my wife, but no comment."
- Jordan was also asked what it would take to get Marc into a red jersey- he just said Marc has several years left on his Rangers contract & that Marc really loved playing in New York, but that you really don't know what the future holds.
- Canes have been working hard to make sure Semin feels welcome. At the team dinner at the beginning of the season, Captain Staal told LaRose to go make him laugh. Apparently Semin was smiling all night while sitting between LaRose & Harrison.
Overall, it was a GREAT day!
Until Next Time,
L
