Saturday practice notes

This morning was the open morning skate at Philips. Hartley was supposed to be mic'ed for the first hour but I think he turned the microphone off when they worked on the PP setups. You could still see what they were trying to do. One look had Enstrom sinking down to the net, where Sterling usually was, and Kovalchuk backing up and shooting from the left wing faceoff dot. On the other unit, Holik was the guy in front of the net.

There's a lot to be gained from watching players at another angle. Today Pilar's lack of speed was even more evident. He has 90 games of NHL experience, but that was in the old NHL. He doesn't look like a new NHL player. He should be a good veteran presence for the prospects in Chicago to learn from. On a side note, he seems very nice. I was having some trouble with a trick door at the practice facility yesterday and he came over and helped me.

Valabik hooked Boulton during a one on one, which caused Boulton to struggle and send the stick flying, which Valabik caught. It was like a circus act.

Lehtonen practiced with the non-game group. There are still five goalies in camp.

Don Waddell said that the boards and glass are all brand new at Philips this year. No doubt this was done due to hosting the All-Star game. There's also a new compressor for cooling. And lastly, the 2007-08 captain will be named at tomorrow's practice.