Ducks Training Camp Notebook: Prospects Excited For Preseason Action

Sep 26, 2021

By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com

The intensity of Training Camp ramps up tonight at Honda Center.

The Anaheim Ducks open their preseason schedule with a matchup against a split squad of the San Jose Sharks at 5 p.m. PT (TV: None, Radio: AM 830). The team opens a seven-game slate of exhibition contests, which includes four games on home ice.

Preseason games represent the next progression as players prepare for the regular season. It’s often the first taste of the National Hockey League for prospects and young players.

“Seeing the jersey when you walk in with the Ducks logo on it, it definitely gives you some jitters and gets you excited,” Max Golod said. “It'd be nice to get into a preseason game here. Just come to the rink, work every day and try to impress the guys up top.”

Coming off a 2020-21 season where he spent time with the Gulls, Golod entered this year’s camp knowing adjustments are necessary to find success at the professional level.

“You realize how hard it is, playing against men,” he explained. “You have to stray away from some bad habits you develop earlier in your junior days, where you can get away with some different things, but certainly not at the next level. Learning how to come to the rink every day, be a professional and carry myself like a professional was the biggest thing I learned from the older guys.”

Other young prospects, like defenseman Axel Andersson, discussed how the increased intensity helped prepare the players for tonight’s preseason opener.

“I mean, everyone that is here wants to show what they're going for,” he explained. “Everyone's doing the best they can, so the intensity is very high. It's very good for us, and we develop as the time goes. It's fun.”

The Ducks enter tonight fresh off their Fly Together Weekend scrimmage, an intra-squad competition that saw Team Kariya down Team Niedermayer, 4-1, at FivePoint Arena. The scrimmage capped a third straight day of on-ice work, with each day bringing a more intense focus to system work and conditioning.

“Obviously Rookie Camp, you're with younger guys, kind of newer guys to the organization,” Bryce Kindopp explained. “Once you go through that, you kind of get comfortable. Once you get here with all the older guys, all the veterans, it definitely picks up with those guys. You can learn from them and see what they do every day. The intensity every day at camp goes higher and higher for sure.”

The veteran presence helps provide a roadmap for the rookies and young prospects to follow. Many described themselves as a sponge, looking to soak up the information and habits of established NHLers.

It also raises the bar, and forces those young players to adapt and grow quickly.

“At first, you're a bit star struck, but then you realize you're kind of competing with them and competing for the same job, at the end of the day,” Golod said. “You kind of put that aside and, at the same time, you're trying to be a sponge and soak everything in, see what they do off the ice, how they take care of themselves and what makes them successful at the end of the day.”

Kindopp shared the same sentiment.

“It's one of those things with hockey, once you're out there on the ice your mentality changes,” he said. “You're a hockey player; you're here for a reason. You're trying to show all the management and coaches that you belong here and you can play at the highest level. It's cool, but once you're on the ice, you just have to turn that off and play your game and show them why you're here.”

Tonight, these young players face their next challenge, and the chance to raise their game to new heights.

“All of us are competing hard,” Andersson said. “Everyone wants to take a spot to play in the show.”