The Florida Panthers will conclude rookie camp today starting at 9:30 a.m. All camp sessions at the Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs are free and open to the public.
Day One’s session was described as being fast and competitive by a few people in the LNC family who attended.
The consensus was that Owen Tippett didn’t flash, while Henrik Borgstrom did and looked like he might of added some size and strength. Will Lochead, a defenseman signed to an AHL contract, leveled towering prospect Serron Noel in a short ice drill. A couple of community members pointed out that Riley Stillman was more noticeable than Brady Keeper. The speed of Aleksi Heponiemi, Jonathan Ang, and Rodrigo Abols also warranted mention.
Springfield Thunderbirds head coach Gordie Kinnear ran the session and had this to say:
“It was a lot of fun out there. Any time you can get out there with a group of hungry players, it’s a great day for me. It was a great day to teach and try and instill some habits, some mentalities that [Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville] wants to get across. It was a great first day.”
Some of the main roster players and camp invitees got on the other rink at IceDen for an informal practice with Chris Driedger the only goaltender. Among the players out there getting in some work in preparation for Friday were Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Josh Brown, Sebastian Repo and Anthony Greco.
For more on rookie camp head over to FloridaPanthers.com and check out Jameson Olive’s notebook.