First Practice Observations

I got my first glimpse of the 2015-16 Eagles today. The first thing observation I had was the pace at which the team was going at, even if it was just their third or fourth time together on the ice. Comparing the tempo of last year's practices to this year would be like comparing the speed of Honda Pilot and a Corvette.

Earlier today, Coach York told the Hockey East media that Thatcher Demko may not be ready for opening night, "He is not 100% yet but by the end of October, early November, he should be fully healed." Demko was on the ice today and from what I could tell, there were no instances in which he showed a lot of pain. Sure, we all want him in the net vs Army on October 9th but the reality is that this team should be able to beat their first four opponents relatively easily before things get a bit tougher in November. It is not the end of the world if he has to miss the first three or four games.

It is still early in the preseason but here are the lines the staff rolled out today.

Wood-Sanford-Calnan

Fitzgerald-Brown-Gilmour

Bracco-Cangelosi-Tuch

Gaudreau-White-Silk/Dudek 

Certainly, there are some interesting combinations but I doubt the staff will have the same exact lineup for opening night. 

On another note, BC was voted #1 in the Hockey East coaches poll for the 14th time in the last 17 years. Not bad. 

Go Eagles.