A CHAT WITH THE COACH

The man who makes the cuts, General Manager Chad Mercier is happy with the first day of camp.

RH: What did you think of the first day of camp?

CM: Well I think early on there is a bit of a feel out process which I think there always is on day one. I think it’s gotten better as the day has gone on and any time you’ve got 4 teams in main camp the play can be a little bit scrambly but I think we are seeing what we need to see and just hoping that as we go through this weekend the intensity picks up after cuts on Saturday. Then into Sunday morning we expect it to start to narrow down getting ready for the season.

RH: Is the intensity level the one thing you would like to see increased heading into day two? What else would you like to see more of on the second day?

CM: Well I think just more consistent in that area. I think at times it’s been very good but then at times I think it’s been more of a mental thing than a physical thing at this time of year with regards to the level of emotion but that’s something that we’ve really stressed on that we get into battle mode as quickly as possible because as of today we are two weeks away from our home opener so we don’t have a whole lot of time to get ourselves ready. I think that has been one of the messages we have sent. I think we have done a decent job and we expect it to be even better on Saturday.