AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > August > 20
Monday, August 20, 2007
Boulton witnesses some real training
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Slowly but surely, they’re starting to return to Duluth. With school starting and training camp around the corner, more and more Thrashers are have been spotted getting workouts in at the IceForum in Duluth. Of course there’s Slava Kozlov, who is usually around. But lately, guys like Alexei Zhitnik, Niclas Havelid, Johan Hedberg, Eric Boulton, Steve McCarthy and even Kari Lehtonen are getting local workouts in with teammates as well as players who live here from other teams. That’s a good sign for those of you watching Tivoed replays of mid-January losses to the Devils. It’s also good news for the players.
“It’s always nice to get back in the dressing room, see the guys, meet the new guys and get in some routine,” Boulton said on Monday afternoon. Boulton said that players are skating five days a week doing some scrimmaging and conditioning.
But it hasn’t been all hockey for Boults. The gritty forward joined Steve McCarthy in a tour of Dobbins Air Force base, spending some time with members of the Red Dogs of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 773. The Red Dogs will deploy in early September to Iraq.
Boulton and McCarthy took turns in a flight simulator, which Boulton said was a great experience.
“It’s exactly how you feel if you were flying the plane with the joystick. We could shoot stuff, take it down to ground level and fly through buildings,” Boulton said. “We probably crashed every ten seconds.”
The whole experience was a sobering reminder for the Canadian native that while he and teammates are picking up their level of training here shortly, there’s a much more serious training operation going on not too far from Philips Arena.
“Your really appreciate what they do for our country. It’s an eye opener to see the every day operations and how much work they do,” Boulton said. “Even in training every day — they’re risking their lives training every day. The Red Dogs are going over to Iraq, we wish them the best.”
Lastly, how about a morsel of Thrashers news? The team opted to let former 4th-round draft pick Mike Vannelli join the ranks of available free agents rather than sign him by the August 15th deadline. He was the team captain at Minnesota, and the 6-foot-2 offensive defenseman had 10 goals and 29 assists his senior season.
