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The air in Denver is cooler and the air is buzzing with the new National Hockey League season.  The Family Sports Center features two NHL regulation size ice rinks with grand stand seating on each.  On one rink cameras click and fans chatter while players like Joe Sakic, Paul Kariya and Adam Foote display their skill.  On the other side it’s much quieter.  A handful of observers watch players in simple black and white jerseys.  There’s no fanfare and no media.  But let there be no doubt that each one of these players hope to be on the other rink in the years to come.  The rookies are here and every move is watched from the Avalanche private balcony by scouts, coaches and management alike.

With only eight returning players, this year’s rookie camp reflects both the attrition and influx of new talent into the Avalanche system.  This year’s camp also reflects a change at the coaching position as coach Paul Fixter, freshly promoted in Hershey, was in Denver to run the show.  The roster consisted of four goaltenders, nine defensemen, and nine forwards.  With an equal number of defensemen to a relatively short number of forwards at this year’s camp, drills and 4-on-4 scrimmages dominated practice.

This year’s rookie camp was run quite differently under coach Fixter, with a higher focus on drills and conditioning instead of scrimmages. The days consisted of two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Groups of players were rotated out on the afternoon sessions for work in the weight room with the strength and conditioning coach. They worked the rookies very hard this year and comments from parents and players alike indicated that most of the players spent their off time on the couch recovering from the long day. The good news is that most of the players look like they were well prepared for the altitude and were properly in shape for coach Fixter’s camp.

*Amateur tryout

The following is a summary report of each Avalanche prospect:

Goaltenders:

The best goalie on the ice was Peter Budaj, the Avalanche first pick in the 2001 draft. The 6’0”, 200 lb goaltender demonstrated excellent reflexes and very quick side to side movement. Budaj showed very fast movement going down to his butterfly then getting back up for rebounds. He took several occasions during camp to high five rotating goalies, laugh it up with teammates, do some one-on-one stick handling against Johnny Boychuk for laughs and even played a whole series of shots on goal by making saves with this facemask. He kept players loose and was the best communicator on the ice at all positions.

The 6’5” Tom Lawson, recently acquired as a free agent signing from the United Hockey League (UHL), started camp a little slowly as he was getting beat high and low on the first day. However, Lawson got stronger as camp went on and showed why he was picked up by the Avs with his excellent flexibility and quickness from side to side. His glove hand is pretty quick for such a large goalie and his technique makes him tall in net to compliment his size. Lawson did step in against some NHL talent during some Avalanche workouts and was getting beaten pretty regularly top-shelf as he goes to the butterfly pretty quickly and relies on size to cover the top of the net. As Craig Billington (the Avalanche goaltender coach) worked with him, he got better and more impressive as camp progressed.

Jean Filiatrault was an invitee to camp that showed great glove side saves.  He showed good reflexes but tended to slide out of position easily and was beaten on a few occasions because he slid out of the crease. Tyler Weiman had it rough from the start. He was scored on with regularity both high and low. Weiman made saves in streaks and needs to improve his consistency and overall play.

Defensemen:

This year there were a lot of new faces at defense and this is by far the most improved aspect of the Avalanche system. Leading the way was the best skating defenseman on the ice, John-Michael Liles. Liles is a very swift skater with excellent balance and exceptional foot speed. In drills he shined with is backward skating, heads up puck handling and positioning. On 1-on-1 drills Liles demonstrated excellent stick position and could coordinate a good poke check while maintaining his position. This created a lot of problems for opposing forwards with very few quality scoring chances. Liles’ strength however, has been his play in the offensive zone and it was no different at camp. He made some of the best moves on goal at camp with a very accurate shot to boot.

Tomas Slovak also made his first appearance at rookie camp fresh from his trade from the Nashville Predators. Slovak is a high energy player with excellent speed and surprised a lot of people at camp with his unheralded checking ability. On one particular 1-on-1 drill Slovak laid a monster hip check into Charlie Stephens (6’3”, 225 lbs) that got the coaching staff yelling “nice hit” which was a rarity. During a 4-on-4 scrimmage Slovak raced down the right side, stopped on a dime and spun to the outside while making a no-look pass into the crease for an easy goal showing speed, puck control and very good vision of the ice.

Mikko Viitanen also made a very impressive showing at camp. Viitanen was not afraid to get physical during scrimmages and was good at taking the body without losing position. Coach Jerrard worked with a few defensemen on some very tight backward figure eight drills around three pucks and while others struggled, Viitanen completed them without error and continued to show his smooth and balanced skating throughout camp. Viitanen struggled a bit with some puck handling drills and keeping his head up but otherwise was impressive.

Johnny Boychuk looked bigger than his 6’2” and 200 lbs he was listed at officially by the Avalanche last year.  Boychuk is a smooth backwards skater and features a very good shot from the point.  He wasn’t afraid to mix up the physical play during scrimmages but got himself into a little trouble and out of position with his aggressiveness in this area. During drills he would often find himself getting beat because of his positioning and some aggressive attempts at unsuccessfully stealing the puck. Boychuk needs to improve his consistency with his positioning and defensive fundamentals but he’s got all the skills to be a top defender.

Jeff Finger left St. Cloud State University a year early to make the jump to professional hockey this year so this was the first look at his abilities in camp.  Finger was a better skater than previously reported with quick feet and great energy.  He takes the body well and drives players out of the crease aggressively. Finger also has some good puck-handling abilities but was the victim of a few errant outlet passes during scrimmages.

David Liffiton had an unimpressive first camp.  He showed good foot speed and some good positioning during scrimmages, but he did not stand out with his physical play nor his passing abilities. Liffiton did nothing to separate himself from the crowd at this year’s camp. Liffiton could have been feeling the pressure of his first pro camp, playing it safe or just playing at his ability level. Only time will tell.

Tim Wedderburn showed good quickness but did not distinguish himself defensively nor offensively. Darryl Yacboski plays a strong, in-your-face style of defense, but his skating seldom allows him to get in that position. Yacboski was the poorest of the skaters at this year’s camp and will need to work on improving that before other aspects of his game can flourish. Agris Saviels showed some good skating and some promising offensive abilities at the beginning of camp but sat out two days of camp due to injury.

Forwards:

The most impressive forward on the ice this year was the diminutive Marek Svatos. Svatos skated at a speed the other players on the ice couldn’t match.  He has terrific acceleration and very good vision of the ice.  If that wasn’t impressive enough, Svatos has a goal scorer’s touch.  He had some lasers in the top shelf corners during scrimmages that had the players on the bench banging their sticks.

Jonas Johansson demonstrated why he was drafted in the first round with his effortless skating and solid puck handling. Johansson isn’t afraid to be creative with the puck, but can get distracted and stop moving his feet when he’s played physically on defense.  Johansson is a competitor and showed signs of checking and defense that he doesn’t get press for.  If he can continue to improve defensively, Johansson can make the jump as soon as next year. He’s got pro-caliber skills that are easy to see.

Charlie Stephens looked very good at this year’s camp. He uses his body well to shield the puck and works well along the boards. He shows surprisingly soft hands and some quality moves on breakaways. Stephens is also an effective skater for his size, but was subjected to some pretty solid hits. It’s hard to say if this was an inability to see hits coming or a fearlessness of such contact because of his size. At the pro level, Stephens will need to keep his head up and avoid that kind of abuse.

Linus Videll surprised a lot of people by flying over from Sweden to participate in this year’s camp. Videll did not waste his time as he showed some very nice puck-handling skills.  He used his 6’3” frame to frustrate defenders during keep-away drills.  He is a smooth and natural skater with good speed for such a big forward, and not surprisingly he worked well with fellow Swede Johansson. Videll is definitely a playmaker. On one particular play he was down low below the left circle shielding a defender with his body, he worked the puck out to the middle of the slot and drew the right side defender over to steal the puck. He made a beautiful feathered pass between them both to a wide open Svatos for the easy goal, showing very good vision.  His shot loses a lot of accuracy from beyond the slot and he was knocked off his feet by Finger a couple of times when he was away from the play but overall he performed admirably.

David Svagrovsky had the best slap shot of anyone at camp and he uses it liberally.  It has tremendous velocity and accuracy and it had Weiman ducking a bit when he it let it go. Svagrovsky has good hands and worked well out of the corners.  Svagrovsky doesn’t use his size to be very physical, but does utilize a long reach to his advantage. His skating needs to improve and progress to get him to the next level and there were also some obvious defensive lapses during 4-on-4 drills.

Cody McCormick was not all that impressive in the heavily drill-oriented rookie camp in the afternoon sessions.  But he did get a chance to show some of his checking prowess and work ethic during the scrimmage sessions in the mornings. He laid some nice hits on Stephens and Boychuk that had the bigger players struggling to keep their balance. McCormick showed some good skating ability when away from the puck but got a lot more conservative when he held the puck. He showed some signs of good shot-making ability, but it was rather inconsistent. McCormick is a hard worker on the ice and keeps his head up while driving toward the net on offense, but can improve with better consistency on his shot and puck handling.

Sergei Klyazmin showed a nose for the net during scrimmages and demonstrated a good scoring touch. His skating and puck handling were good, but he did shy away from physical contact. Unfortunately, on day two Klyazmin limped off the ice with what looked like a leg injury and did not return.

Brad Richardson showed speed second only to Svatos with great acceleration and control. Although he has a really good shot he was not really strong on his play-making ability as he passed off the puck quickly and didn’t look to generate his own shot very often. Richardson did not seem to have any glaring weaknesses, but never stood out with any part of his game except his speed.

Invitee Craig Kennedy was relatively quiet throughout rookie camp.  He showed good foot speed and work ethic.  His shot making showed a lack of accuracy but he showed good energy levels on all drills and shifts in the scrimmage sessions.

The most impressive showings at camp this year were: Peter Budaj in goal; John-Michael Liles, Tomas Slovak and Mikko Viitanen at defense; and Marek Svatos, Jonas Johansson and Charlie Stephens at forward.  The biggest surprise out of camp is probably the strong showing of Mikko Viitanen who did not get to play much last year with a knee injury and the underrated skating and play making ability of Linus Videll.