Happy “Thank goodness it’s almost hockey season again at last” Day, Caps fans! Hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend – of course if you’re like me and spent a significant amount of time soaking up the hockey goodness at Kettler, I have no doubt that you did.

Hockey is indeed back and a lot of the same faces from July’s Development Camp are kicking around Arlington these days. Of course, unlike July’s Development Camp this one holds the fantastic distinction of signifying that real camp – and the regular season – are close and getting closer.

Sadly real life keeps us away from Rookie Camp for the remainder of the week, but here are some initial observations from a weekend with kids and vets alike:

- It’s nice to see Anton Gustafsson back and healthy for the start of camp – he looks ready to go, and none the worse for wear after tumbling around the weight room for his (albeit short-lived) contribution to YouTube world. He also has some very interesting footwear; I ran into him and Miskovic having lunch on Saturday and caught a glimpse of some Swedish-themed flip-flops

- Dmitri Kugryshev has some speed and some great moves. Unfortunately he’s also got a Semin-esque ability to miss the net entirely at times, and looked a little winded to say the least after a healthy dose of Boudreau’s “Herbies”.

- It’s a shame that Joe Finley suffered an injury on Day 1, because he really did look great – very comfortable as a forward, all 9’2” of him (or something, I haven’t really checked that).

- Speaking of pre-injury Finley, there was a great moment in one of the one-on-one drills that pitted him against Carlson; defensemen were checking, forwards trying to either avoid or fight through the check. It felt like everyone had their eye on that match-up and it didn’t disappoint – Carlson won out, flattening Finley into the boards to a round of applause from the crowd. Bloodthirsty little buggers, I swear…

- The two mysterious no-name jerseys out on the ice with the rookies turned out to be Boudreau’s two sons, who definitely held their own among the rest. Of course, knowing that fact now makes it even more hilarious that one of them wiped out in front of Coach Dad during a drill – not once, but twice.

- Stefan Della Rovere was being held out as a precaution after suffering a mild concussion before camp. He looked pretty mournful from the sidelines as he watched the other rookies go through their drills – which is good. He wants to be back out there and we want to get him back out there.

- There is no one happier to be back out on the ice than Chris Clark, period; I’ve never seen a player go through an entire practice and scrimmage with a beaming grin on his face like that. He looked quick on his feet with the old snap back in his shot and even a little grit to his game.

- Some of the more entertaining drills the boys ran featured Clark and Knuble on the same “line”, trading passes and zipping around the ice as if they weren’t the two oldest guys out there. Also fun to watch: Laich and Morrison. Just sayin’.

- The worry with bringing in new guys is always that they won’t fit in with the chemistry and personalities of the team. I don’t think this is going to be an issue with Knuble and Morrison. Aside from being friends and former teammates with each other, they also seemed to hit it off perfectly fine with the current Caps – lots of chatting and smiles all around.

- Shaone Morrisonn is a very talented bench-heckler.

- The final score of the veterans’ scrimmage: something to something. I’m not even sure the guys themselves would know, although I’d bet all of them would claim that their team won. Mike Green had a couple of nice goals and didn’t look uncomfortable out there, at least not to my untrained eye. Also with two nice goals – Boyd Gordon, along with a couple of additional chances on Neuvirth.

- Moment of hilarity: Laich somehow ended up behind Neuvirth in a goal-mouth scramble and comedy ensued as he found himself penned in on all sides by his white-clad opponents, none of whom seemed in a rush to move. When Laich finally got free, our bratty little goalie snatched his stick away and held onto it for a minute before tossing it into a far corner and forcing Laich to chase after it.

- I missed hockey. It’s back. And we’re now just a few weeks away…