Friday, September 14th wasn’t just an average day for the Boston Bruins organization. The date marked the beginning of the on-ice portion of 2018 Training Camp. With over half of the organization’s NHL roster overseas for two preseason games in China against the Calgary Flames, only a handful of NHLers remained in Boston to lead a batch of rookies onto the ice at Warrior Ice Arena, the Bruins’ practice facility in Brighton, MA.
Not all fans are familiar with NHL training camps, and may even be unaware that they are usually open to the public. I made the hour-plus trek to the Boston city limits Friday to document my findings and give the average fan an idea of what to expect when and if they decide to venture out to training camp themselves.
NHL Training Camp – A Taste of Hockey Once Again
Training camp is often the first time fans get to see their favorite players back in action since the end of the summer. And if you are someone who is craving a much needed dose of hockey, by the time September rolls around you are probably doing everything you can to get your fix.
Here is a video of my experience at Boston Bruins Training Camp (I am still working on becoming a master videographer)
Not all training camps are created equal. Some teams have better organizational depth than others, and if you are a fan of a team that has struggled to see success in recent years (Arizona Coyotes / Buffalo Sabres), then you might be particularly interested in checking out how some of the up-and-coming players in your favorite franchise handle themselves against seasoned veterans.
If you have been keeping up with your team throughout the summer then you might have even been at development camp, where fans are able to see recent draft picks in action for the first time. (I did a recap of the Boston Bruins Development Camp that you can check out here if you haven’t already).
While development camps are good for showcasing an organization’s prospects to fans, while also giving management a chance to see what players stick out from their peers, there is only so much you can learn without seeing how some of these guys match up against bonafide pros.
Some players will be sent back to their junior, college, or whatever team they will be playing during the coming season if management decides they need more time to develop. They won’t even bother bringing these guys to training camp. Other players, often those who have been in the organization for two or three years already, will come to camp to prove their worth as potential NHL players.
A Look Ahead to Potential Line Combos
Training camp also serves as a bit of an experimentation period for coaching staffs to see what players might work best together in game situations. Most teams already have a general idea of where players are going to slot in, but if a team lacks scoring depth for example, and wants to try and split up their high end talent without losing too much fire power up front, then it is important to see which players might fit well in a role on the first or second line with a couple of veteran players.
In Boston, the combo of Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak was one of the best in the league during the 207-18 season with a combined 228 regular season points. But there have been rumors that the organization might move David Pastrnak around to potentially the second line and put another, likely younger, player in his spot to spread out the scoring wealth more over the top two-three lines.
Of course the team is split up this preseason between China and the United States, which makes tinkering with lines before the start of the regular season that more difficult. However, it takes some teams more than the preseason to set strong line combinations, particularly if they are working with a lot of newer faces (as is the case with the Bruins). So in those situations fans can expect to see fluctuating line combinations into the first few weeks of the season until the coaching staff has found a configuration they are satisfied with.
A Quick Recap
Whether it is getting to see your favorite player on the ice for the first time since the spring, or just a desire to sit in a cool rink as the summer begins to wind down, NHL training camps give fans a chance to see their team away from an intense in-game setting. If you live within reasonable driving distance from your team’s practice facility, then making a weekend day trip to training camp is a great way for any devoted hockey fan to spend their Saturday or Sunday afternoon with friends or family (you might even get lucky with a player autograph or two).
If you want to see more from my trip to Bruins Training Camp, check out my personal twitter handle @jeremyperrigo.
