Avs Keep High Level Of Intensity At Day 2 Of Training Camp

CENTENNIAL, Colo.--There wasn't any testing at the Colorado Avalanche's training camp at Family Sports Center on Saturday, but the compete level was held to the same high standard.
It was the second day of on-ice workouts of the 2018-19 season for the players, and the practices featured 5-on-5 drills as well as smaller group sessions.

"Both defensive aspects and some battle aspects," defenseman Anton Lindholm said of what was worked on during day 2. "I think we practiced hard for probably an hour and a half. Everyone is really keeping up and everyone seems to be in really good shape. It's fun to start with systems and stuff like that."
The 55-player roster was split into two groups that each spent an hour and a half practicing, with 45 minutes spent on each of the ice sheets at the club's practice facility. The first group began at 8:45 a.m. while the second group took the ice at 10:45 a.m.
"It was good, today was a little bit of a longer practice," said Colin Wilson. "Going over some systems and getting acclimated to the speed out there. It's been good so far."

BARRIE ON THE ICE

After missing the first day of practice and on-ice testing on Friday with a minor lower-body injury, veteran defenseman Tyson Barrie was a full participant on Saturday.
"The back of my leg wasn't feeling great, so just took a day to make sure it was okay and then it felt great today," he said. "I went out and did the practice, and then got hit with the fitness testing after."
The team went through a
skating test
on Friday that Barrie completed after the session ended for the rest of the group.
"Skating I am not bad at I guess, so I don't mind that one too much, but it's a tough test," he said while trying to catch his breath. "It's a tough camp, it's good. You can see all the guys came in in great shape, and we are going to be ready to go."

BLUE LINE COMBINATIONS

During both sessions, the defensive pairings were as consistent as they could be. The first group had seven defensemen who rotated partners, but for the most part Samuel Girard and Erik Johnson were together, while Mark Barberio and Mason Geertsen were paired and Mark Alt and Josh Anderson were a twosome.
"We are going to experiment a little in exhibition. It's hard sometimes because we are pulling half our D-core out of the lineup every night and we have a number that we want most of our guys to play three exhibition games, so we will experiment a little bit," said head coach Jared Bednar. "But, right now we are playing Girard with E.J. because we are hoping that [Girard] has grown enough in the first year that he can handle that job. It would be nice to be able to have those guys on the ice for 25 minutes a night the way they can play."
The second group had an even number of rear guards and the duo's were the same throughout the session. Barrie and Nikita Zadorov were together, Ian Cole was paired with Patrik Nemeth while Anton Lindholm and Ryan Graves were partners.

INJURY UPDATES ON TIMMINS

Colorado's second selection (32nd overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft, defenseman Conor Timmins, was not on the ice as he is still under concussion protocol, but he is continuing to make progress.
"He is getting better, I don't have anything specific," said Bednar. "He is not cleared to practice with our team yet. There is nothing coming down the pipeline on him any time in the next day or two."
The 19-year-old was on the roster but did not participate in the on-ice portion of Colorado's development camp earlier this summer or at the 2018 Vegas Rookie Faceoff.

QUOTABLES

Defenseman Mark Barberio on the attitude at camp: "The fact that last year, I think right off the bat, in training camp and preseason games we wanted to build a winning attitude right away. We carried that into the season and I think we were one of the teams that was in the best shape last season, and that's our goal again this year. Take advantage of our high altitude and make our home ice a really hard place to play."

Right Wing Sven Andrighetto on the intensity level of training camp: "I think it's even higher [than last year] because we kind of knew what to expect last year. We had the same testings done, all these kind of little things we are familiar with it, so we knew what to expect and the intensity is even higher I would say."

Head Coach Jared Bednar on working with the Colorado Eagles coaching staff: "I have known [assistant coach Aaron Schneekloth] and [assistant coach Ryan Tobler] for a handful of years now and I have known Schneeky longer, and I am getting to know [head coach] Greg Cronin. We have sat down on multiple occasions and kind of gone through our system and handed it over to them."

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