
I decided to go pop some more money in my meter and as I was walking out I saw a reporter from the Province newspaper and then a camera crew and reporter from Global TV. Once I plugged my meter and made it back into the rink practice was getting underway.
To say the least it was a very very busy practice. I tried to count and made it to 26 players before they started moving around. There were some Canucks: both Sedins, Higgins, Malhotra, Hamhuis, Bieksa and Schneider, but there were also a handful of other players from other NHL teams! I got very excited to see Tanner Glass skating. I really like Glass. The gritty 4th liner was fantastic to watch when the Canucks went on a wild run to the Stanley Cup Final a few years back. Never one to back away from getting physical Glass drops his gloves and does his job as a 4th line grinder to perfection. Tanner Glass also seems like one of the nicest guys in hockey. I have been lucky enough to see Tanner at 2 practices. One a few years back when he was playing with the Canucks and he was super chatty with all the children at practice. Then I saw him practice again when the Winnipeg Jets were in town last season. Again he was all smiles and super chatty with one huge Tanner Glass fan who was at practice. I bet Tanner made that little boy's day signing a puck for him and chatting about hockey.
Among other players on the ice there was James Reimer, netminder for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Another player was wearing Anahiem Ducks gear. His helmet said #14 and I figured out it was center Rod Pelley. Plus there was a very tall player who was wearing San Jose Sharks gear. His helmet said #2 and after some research I believe it to be defenceman Jim Vandermeer. It was quiet the montage of players. Pepper in a dozen UBC players and you got yourself a full sheet of ice!
It was a great practice to watch. It lasted about 90 minutes. Hopefully this lockout ends soon so these players can return to their teams and us fans get to start watching NHL hockey again!

Well that is what I saw at practice today. 26 hockey players and about 10 media personal. Can't wait to see what I see next time. Below you can also watch Henrik Sedin run his last drill of the day. It was the 2nd time he ran the drill. Henrik did it once, collected all the pucks put them in a pile and ran the drill again. It is a very simple drill but like I have said before one of the best parts about watching players at practice is them and the bare bones of hockey. Enjoy X