Veteran's Day Practice

Yes, I know that Veteran's Day was yesterday and today is only the observance of the holiday, but it seemed appropriate since veteran Chris Clark has been sited at a practice on the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Micheal Nylander. It looks like Viktor Kozlov, Nick Backstrom and Tomas Fleischmann makes up the second line.

The mood around the practice facility was a little quiet. Ovie more than once took his anguish out on the boards after a missed shot or two. The team is not talking, which is bad. While it's just practice, there is no chatter, no joking, no communication during some drills. Most of that melted away by the end of the practice (after Hanlon left the ice). George McPhee sat on his little balcony and watched most of the practice with a sour look on his face (but when does he not have a sour look on his face) in front of a very dark and still front office. It was a bit eerie to watch him and the empty office behind him (foreshadowing?).

Hanlon looked a little peeved through the whole practice. Stopping drills every now and then to give clear instructions. Most of what they worked on today were quick passes and stretch plays on the break out.

There was one drill that sort of caught my attention, which was defense recovering after shooting from the point. A defenseman would take a pass from the corner, draw it to the middle and shoot on net, then catch up to a two on one. The best two defensemen I saw were John Erskine and Brian Potheir who were able to get back in a defensive position every time.