Day 3 of Camp featured more drills. The pace is definitely starting to pick up and the battles are getting more fierce in the corners; drills got more chippy as both sessions wore down. After practice, several of the players admitted to the Nashville Predators are starting to feel a little sore -- but in a good way.

After a summer that, according to captain Jason Arnott, “came too soon,” this group of veterans knew a long, relaxing summer just wasn’t going to cut it heading into the ‘09-‘10 season.

“Training camp is so short now. I remember when I first started we would have two or three weeks of this, we would scrimmage and skate everyday. We would mostly use that to get into shape but now we have two or three days and we are right in to exhibition” Arnott went on to add. “You need to come in shape; that’s what the summer is for.”

Drills the first two days were geared toward allowing the players to get their timing back; focusing on speed, hands, and increasing skating intensity. Today's sessions, though, started to focus more on situational play.

“We had a really good practice but at the same time it was a little less tempo a little more technique” J.P. Dumont acknowledged. “So you just have to make sure after a day like that you go home and get some rest and are ready for the next day. We work really hard all summer for training camp and now we have to make sure we maintain all the good work we put in.”

"The guys all came in great shape and every one looks fantastic," Dumont said. "We started out working pretty hard and now we are working on getting some of our systems down. We have a lot of new guys and there are a lot of open spots on our team. We want to make sure we establish the way we play and the best way it to practice it."

Spaling Draws Strong Reviews in Rookie Game Opener
The Preds rookies dropped the opener of their two-game series against the Atlanta Thrashers rookies, 6-3 at Duluth Ice Forum Monday night. However the Preds coaches received some positive feedback from the staff in Georgia.

“I want to say that is Atlanta’s rookies sixth or seventh game, so the pace of the game caught our guys a little off guard” coach Trotz relayed from the coaches in Duluth. “Their power play had a little zip to it and so they got three power play goals.”

Reports back to Coach Trotz gave praise to Ncik Spaling, who had both a goal and an assist, Wilson, ending the night with a goal and a +2 plus-minus rating, along with Jonathon Blum and Ryan Ellis on the defensive end.

“The coaches were really happy with them, obvious disappointed in the lost but happy with the play.”