As Russo stated at the top of the last post, practice highlights today definitely centered around Colton Gillies. The kid didn’t stop smiling the whole afternoon after hearing officially from GM Doug Risebrough this morning that he had made the team. His one-tooth-missing grin is very hockey-like. Just like Burns.

Cameramen and reporters alike swarmed the 19-year-old once he got off the ice (he was the first one on today, and the last one off. Think he’s not on Cloud 9?). It didn’t get it into my story, but apparently Gillies had not even called home to break the good news before he practiced, then met with the media.

“I’m sure he’ll be crying or something,” Gillies said of  informing his dad.

After the day off yesterday, and another tomorrow, practice was pretty fast-paced. A solid 3-on-3 drill inside the slot kept the goalies busy for awhile, including Harding who appears to be doing just fine.

Zidlicky, though, was nowhere to be found on the ice. Still nursing that right ankle. No official word from the team on any update, but you wonder with every passing day what his chances are of being ready for opening night.

And just to get your minds rolling with T-minus five days til the puck drops, the line combos today were:

Veilleux-Sheppard-Gaborik
Nolan-Belanger-Bouchard
Brunette-Koivu-Miettinen
Pouliot-Gillies-Weller-Boogaard

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 4:55 pm and is filed under Practice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.