Thursday, August 23, 2007

Brotherly Love At Rockets Camp

  • Three sets of brothers will be attending the Kelowna Rockets 2007 training camp. You have Evan and Lucas Bloodoff who will both attend main camp, plus overage forward James McEwan will see his younger brother Josh attending rookie camp. Now comes word that Kyle St. Denis' 14 year-old brother Travis will be attending rookie camp as well. I've been told Kyle's younger brother received quite a bit of interest from several WHL teams about attending training camp, but opted for Kelowna.
  • Rockets 19 year-old defenseman Colin Joe should be cooking at main camp next week. Joe told me Wednesday, he spent the summer working out and working as a chef in a local restaurant. Joe says on many night's he was the only one at the grill, cooking up everything from chicken alfredo to hamburgers and fries. Does C-Joe consider himself a good cook? He's not sure, but assured me no one got food poisoning when he was on duty.
  • I had a good talk Wednesday with Scott MacDonald, the father of Rockets forward Jason MacDonald. Scott had high praise for the Regina Pats organization and the way GM Brent Parker and head coach Curtis Hunt dealt with his son. MacDonald was traded from the Pats to the Rockets in a 6 player trade last December. The Pats are a solid organization, and while Parker may get a bad wrap out East with some of the comments he makes to the media, you have to love his passion for winning and his ability to tell it like it is.
  • Am I disappointed that Swift Current Broncos European Daniel Rakos isn't returning this season. When I read on Jon Keen's blog that he wasn't expected back for his 20 year-old season, I took it as a personal setback. The reason? I like his last name. Nothing more - nothing less. While Rakos has a nice ring to it, it can't beat former Chilliwack Bruin Euro Aki Kangasmaki. Kangasmaki may have won the award for the best name in the 'dub' last season. Kangasmaki won't be returning this season either.
  • David Michaud stated in his blog that we will both be at the Rockets rookie camp bright and early Thursday morning. On-ice sessions begin and 8 am, but unlike Michaud, I will stagger into Prospera Place at around 10 am. Michaud is an extremely early riser, while I like to gently move into the day at a much slower pace. Despite our different schedules, we will both be sharing our thoughts daily on what we see at both rookie and main camp.

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