ISAAC RATCLIFFE CAMP BLOG: Learning the Little Things

Hey Flyers fans…
After Day 2 here I have to say it's a little more comfortable. We knew what to expect going into the drills and getting on the ice for the second straight day. I'm starting to get a little more familiar with how everyone plays and what you're going to see from the players as well as the coaches so you can kind of compare yourself and get to know what the coaches expect from you.
We've been back and forth at the hotel a couple times a day and you can see everyone is a little more open and will talk to each other a little more. You're always saying hi to a guy walking by in the hallway where as the first day, maybe you kind of turn your shoulder to him a little bit because you don't know who he is. Guys are a lot more chatty and you can tell it's getting to be a lot of fun being around here.

That being said, there are long days here at the rink. We're usually getting back around nine o'clock at night and are pretty gassed so we just go right to bed or fire up NetFlix for a little while. Some guys will actually go out to find more food, but other than that there's not much time to get out and walk around.

Getting back to the ice sessions, what I've noticed here being my first camp is that the drills are pretty simple. They make you work on the small things of all aspects in your game to try and pinpoint the areas that you need to improve on the most. Bringing all of those elements together, whether it's our edge-work or just the way we're holding our stick when we make a pass or even getting a shot off, the drills really bring those areas of your game out in the open.
We have a lot of meetings coming up and the groups merge tomorrow, so I'll catch you up on all of that in my next entry!
-Isaac