There really is no official universal end of training camp in the AHL but with the 2024-25 regular season starting tomorrow it seems like today is as good as day as any to be declared the end of camp. The Moose were on the ice again at hockey for all centre as they prepare to face the Wild in Iowa on Saturday and Sunday.
Skate news:
After missing practice on Wednesday speedster Axel Jonsson-Fjallby was back on the ice today. He had dressed yesterday but was dealing with a tweaked groin so went back to the room and got treatment. Not skating again was Jets prospect Chaz Lucius who is dealing with soreness with the ankle he had surgery on last season. This is not unexpected as the team practices “ice time management” with him. It’s a critical season so ensuring he is healthy for the entirety is a top priority for the AHL club of Manitoba.
Bit of an unfortunate situation during skate as later when doing small ice drills, it appeared that top Winnipeg prospect Brad Lambert was felled by a stinger that left him in some pain. He was helped to the bench and after stretching it out for five minutes he skated across the ice on his own and to the dressing room to get some treatment. I was told after practice wrapped up that he was fine and just icing it which is good news for all parties.
One swap in the lines with Daniel Torgersson and Kevin Conley switching spots.
Lines:
Toninato-Lambert-AJF
Chibrikov-Zhilkin-Shaw
King-Suess-Ford
Torgersson-Nikkanen-Liwiski
Empey-Golder-Conley
Player media:
Waiver news:
It looked like the Moose would be heading to Des Moines with a very young goalie tandem in Thomas Milic and Domenic DiVincentiis but at 1 PM the news came out that Winnipeg had placed Kaapo Kahkonen on waivers for purposes of assignment to Manitoba. Now we won’t know until 1 PM CT on Friday if he claimed or if he was able to pass through. I suspect that Jets goalie prospect Thomas Milic will be the game 1 starter regardless.
Health update:
I was told that Chaz Lucius will not be making the trip with the team to Iowa and won’t play in either of the two games this weekend after he went through five consecutive days of heavy skates including two intrasquad games and three practices. This is just going to be standard practice as mentioned above with the team being cautious with his process to avoid causing any setbacks. I can tell you that the team is very happy from what they’ve seen from the 2021 1st rounder.
Up next:
The Moose will be wheels up on Friday morning as they head to Iowa for the season opener against the Wild. No skate tomorrow so they’ll next be on the ice on Saturday morning for gameday skate.
