Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - IceRays hit the street for their first day of practice

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Monday, October 2, 2000

IceRays hit the street for their first day of practice
Unable to use the ice, hockey players exercise outdoors
By Matt Young
Caller-Times

George Gongora/Caller-Times

Goalie Matt Wealick jogs along the seawall during practice Sunday. The IceRays’ rink won’t be ready until Tuesday, sending players outdoors.

The Corpus Christi IceRays' first official practice of the season was a day at the beach.
   The IceRays were forced to spend their first practice outdoors as logos were still being painted on the Memorial Coliseum ice Sunday. With no ice to work on, the IceRays practice looked much more like a cross-country workout than a hockey practice.
   The Sunday morning workout included several jogging trips along the seawall, running up and down the seawall steps, squats in the sand on the beach and running the stairs inside the coliseum.
   The IceRays will repeat the routine today before they're allowed on the ice for two-a-days Tuesday.
   "These first few days are pretty intense," IceRays coach Taylor Hall said. "I think this land-training shows the guys that they need to get more intense, because it was a pretty grueling day of running out there."
   Despite the boot-camp start to practice, Hall said he was pleased with his players' conditioning.
   "All the guys really looked like they showed up in pretty good shape," Hall said. "It looks like we have a real good group of kids, now we'll wait and see how they look on the ice."
   The IceRays' first exhibition game is Wednesday, which means they'll have one day of organized practice on the ice to prepare for the game.
   "I think it sounds worse than it is," Hall said. "A lot of our guys went home during the summer, so they've been skating a lot. We'll be on the ice a lot all year, so I don't think missing a couple days on the ice is really going to hurt us."
   Twenty-eight players reported for the first day of practice. Rosters will have to be cut to 20 before Oct. 12, the date of the IceRays' first regular season game.
   Among returning players from last season's team, which was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, are team MVP Kurt Wickenheiser, league all-star Geoff Bumstead, right wing Dustin McArthur and goalie Eddy Skazyk.
   "We've a good group back and a lot of good young kids coming in, too," Hall said. "From the looks of things, I'm going to have some tough decisions to make when it comes time to cut players. I would think we'll probably have to cut some players that could play with almost any other team in the league."
   Staff writer Matt Young can be reached at 886-3702 or by e-mail at youngm@caller.com

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