George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers opened training camp at BB&T Center in Sunrise a little earlier than the scheduled 10 a.m. start.
By 9:30, goalie Chris Driedger was on the ice working with goalie coach Robb Tallas before his teammates began sneaking onto the ice.
Defenseman Kevin Connauton, here on a try out, was the first player on the ice who wasn’t working with the goaltenders.
Coach Joel Quenneville, rocking a light blue face mask, skated out onto the ice at 9:53 a.m. He rounded up the first group for his first chat of camp five minutes later.
If you’re on time, well, you’re late.
“It has been a while,” Quenneville said. “I know in having a training camp like this where there will be no exhibition games … getting off to a good start is important, it can make your season.
“It has been a long time since some guys played and some were in better shape than others.
“For the first day, the pace was pretty demanding and they handled it for the most part. We expect that to increase as we go along.’’
The big news to come out of Florida’s first practice were those who were missing. And why.
Goalies Sergei Bobrovsky and Sam Montembeault as well as defenseman Markus Nutivaara and forwards Patric Hornqvist and Juho Lammikko did not participate Monday.
Quenneville said, without going into any detail, the team was “following protocol with compliance” and that those five players were “unfit to play.’’
Under NHL guidelines, teams are not allowed to comment on whether players are out due to COVID-19 testing or are in contact tracing.
The league will announce if players test positive during the season, however.
“They are unfit to play right now,” Quenneville said, “and we will see how that all plays out as we progress though training camp.”
Seeing the team’s emergency practice goalie out with the first group — on the first day, no less — was a bit of a surprise.
The Panthers have five goalies camp and on Monday, neither Sergei Bobrovsky nor Sam Montembeault worked with either group.
In the early session, Driedger and the emergency backup worked with the first group. Philippe Desrosiers and Scott Darling had the nets in the second session.
As Quenneville said, we will see how this plays out.
Florida, like every other NHL team, will not be playing an exhibition games this season. The Panthers’ season opener comes at home on Jan. 14 against the Dallas Stars.
— There was not much to see as far as line combinations went due to how the groups were split up.
The top line, at least the way it looks to be right now, was on the first group with Sasha Barkov centering Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Duclair.
There were some other interesting pairings in the first group including Noel Acciari centering Vinnie Hinostroza and rookie Grigori Denisenko. In the second session, Carter Verhaeghe centered Owen Tippett and Eetu Luostarinen.
Defensive pairs included Anton Stralman with Riley Stillman (that was Florida’s second pairing the last time we saw them) as well as Keith Yandle with Brady Keeper.
Florida’s expected top defensive pair of Aaron Ekblad and MacKenzie Weegar were together as usual.
“Sometimes it is an acquired taste, but when there’s an immediate click, that’s an even better sign,’’ Quenneville said of trying to build some chemistry early in camp.
— One player whom Quenneville praised on the first day was center Alex Wennberg.
Bought out by Columbus in October, Wennberg signed a one-year deal with the Panthers and is expected to be the team’s second-line center. On Monday, he was in the second group and was working with Brett Connolly and Frank Vatrano.
“I love how he can skate,” Quenneville said. “He definitely caught a lot of eyes today.”
Said Wennberg: “I felt good. Obviously it’s a little different coming back to practice here. We have been skating but now we have coaches and all. It’s a good thing. There was a lot of energy out there, a lot of guys who are excited to be back. It was good to be back at practice.”
— The Panthers, for the first time, moved training camp to the arena from their training facility to take advantage of all the space the large footprint of the BB&T Center has to offer.
Not only has the weight room been moved outside, but team meetings and meals are being held outside as well. The team did a lot of off-ice stuff outside Monday, taking advantage of the overcast skies and temperatures in the mid-60s.
“It’s January right now, so I’m used to being in the snow,” Wennberg said. “We had our warmup outside today and that’s an advantage here, especially during these times when you want to keep that distance, be in the fresh air. In this scenario, the heat and the weather here is doing us a favor.”
Added Huberdeau: “We do have an outdoor gym, used it today. I think we’re lucky to have this great weather and we know it’s going to be a different year. It’s a little bizarre with everything that’s going on right now.
“But it’s on us to be careful. We don’t want any cases on our team, want everyone to be healthy and we have to use everything we have to make it that way. We’re trying to be outside as much as we can, use the climate to our advantage.”
— Quenneville on having two groups of players in training camp: “The first couple of days, we get a chance to basically give everyone a chance to play. … I thought we had a good pace, thought the second group had a bit more today.”
— The Panthers will return to the ice Tuesday with the first group going at 10 a.m.
All practices, including Thursday night’s scrimmage at BB&T Center, are closed to the public.
The Panthers plan on having limited capacity at the arena for all home games.