The third day of practices at the Utah Mammoth's training camp brought more work on the systems ahead of Utah’s first preseason game of the year. Forward Yegor Borikov moved from Group B to Group A for Saturday’s on-ice session, and he was the only addition to this group today.
After playing at center for the first two days of camp, Vincent Trocheck moved to the wing. He played alongside captain Clayton Keller and center Nick Schmaltz.
“For those three, they were looking for each other, they moved the puck, three high-end guys together,” head coach André Tourigny explained. “We want to give ourselves as many opportunities to have different looks, to try guys in different areas. I did like that line.”
Here were today’s groups:
Group A
F: Nick Schmaltz, Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther, Brandon Tanev, Vincent Trocheck, Caleb Desnoyers, Jack McBain, Barrett Hayton, Liam O’Brien, Daniil But, Michael Carcone, Kailer Yamamoto, Yegor Borikov, Lawson Crouse, Anders Lee, Tij Iginla, Kevin Stenlund, Logan Cooley
D: John Marino, Maveric Lamoureux, Andrew Peeke, Dmitri Simashev, MacKenzie Weegar, Nick DeSimone, Artem Duda, Nate Schmidt, Gregor Biber, Mikhail Sergachev
G: Sebastian Cossa, Jesper Vikman, Karel Vejmelka
Group B
F: Kevin Rooney, Sammy Walker, Florent Houle, Owen Allard, Julian Lutz, Noel Nordh, Miko Matikka, Yegor Borikov, Sam Lipkin, Vadim Moroz, Cameron Hebig, Joshua Roy, Austin Poganski, Gabe Smith
D: Brandon Holt, Cal Thomas, Max Pšenička, Reko Alanko, Tomas Lavoie, Montana Onyebuchi
G: Michael Hrabal, Jaxson Stauber
Wrapping Up the Review
The first three practices of training camp were focused on getting the group up to speed before the preseason slate. After working on breakouts on Day 1 and defensive systems on Day 2, Utah focused on the offensive zone and the second half of breakouts.
Something that has stood out over the first three camps is the speed of this group. Defenseman Maveric Lamoureux shared his impressions on the speed.
“I think it’s just getting adapted to the speed again,” Lamoureux said of the first few days. “The team last year was already quick. This year, it’s even quicker. So, I say it’s just the biggest adjustment of getting used to that.”
Fitting In Right Away
Although there are new faces with this year’s defensive core, the new additions are fitting in quickly. A trademark of last year’s group was how close the d-core was, and this year shouldn’t be any different.
“They fit right in,” defenseman John Marino said. “We have (Andrew Peeke) over he’s obviously a really great addition here. We were a pretty close d-core last year, we expect the same, have everyone on the same page, and hopefully overall, be more consistent.”
Stepping Up the Intensity
For the final part of Saturday’s practice, Group A participated in a scrimmage. Everyone brought the intensity, and the scrimmage was a way to practice the systems in a different way. This is especially important with a preseason game tomorrow.
“Yeah, that was a cool scrimmage,” Tourigny said. “I think at that point for the guys who play tomorrow, just to have a little touch and chance to play and to talk on the bench and burn some energy.”
Since training camp is full of incredibly competitive players, it was a fast, physical game.
“Practice is already so hard, so intense,” Lamoureux said. “(For) the scrimmage, we’re all competitors. None of us want to lose. So, the step just gets a bit higher. It’s good also. It just gets us ready for a game coming up.”
There were times when some player’s competitive spirit and passion were on display. However, it’s all in good fun.
“Some guys were getting on each other, which is good to see,” Marino smiled. “…it’s all in good fun and back in the locker room it’s all good.”
