Impressions from Day 1 of training camp

Let’s jump right in. Some quick-hitting observations following the first day of Penguins training camp:

• If Phil Kessel was limited today because of offseason hand/wrist surgery, I sure couldn’t tell. Looked perfectly fine. Battled in the corners. Did everything that was asked. Afterward, once he finishing addressing his World Cup tweet, I asked him about the hand/wrist.

“It’s OK,” Kessel said. “It will take some time here and just get back into it.”

•Kessel skated in the third practice group, which didn’t scrimmage. The other two did. Some entertaining stuff.

Team 2 won, 3-2. Which means that I won an unofficial bet with Sam Werner. What do you think, should he buy lunch on Saturday?

Thomas Di Pauli scored 38 seconds in, first shift, first shot. Went all Mario Lemieux on us. And then deflected all credit.

“That was all (Conor) Sheary and (Nick) Bonino,” he told me. “They made some nice plays down low, and I kind of boxed out my defender.”

Justin Schultz tied it with a snapper, and Teddy Blueger scored coming down the right wing. Ethan Prow answered shortly thereafter, and his shot-pass that Scott Wilson finished delivered the final margin.

• Was really impressed with Prow. Sad part is, no matter how much he shows here, he’s going to start the season in the American Hockey League. There’s simply not an open spot with the big club. Maybe, if somebody gets hurt or has a horrid camp, something changes. But it also wouldn’t be the worst thing for Prow, who’s only beginning his pro career, to learn a little down there first.

• Wilson’s skating looks strong and crisp. Sam wrote a little about him, in case you missed it. If Wilson’s legs are healthy, look out. He has the hands and showed ’em off on the goal from Prow. Although, to be fair, it was an especially nice feed from the defenseman.

Scott Wilson fights for the puck against Reid Gardiner during training camp Friday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. (Matt Freed/Post-Gazette)

•I noticed Tom Kuhnhackl’s skating quite a bit, too, when I ventured over to the other rink. He talked last week about wanting to improve his foot speed. He has. Nice burst from him.

• The whole team skated a ton today. Mike Johnston loved his sprints, and Mike Sullivan does too. Maybe in a different way, though. Didn’t nail down the exact specifications of what Sullivan was doing, but it was something like four laps in 40 seconds. There was a fairly substantial amount of fatigue. Kris Letang, of course, was barely winded.

• Talked to Di Pauli about a few things. One of them was arriving here in early September, which he did, and how much it helped him.

Apparently Di Pauli and other Penguins, young and old, played a lot of miniature golf to pass the time and build camaraderie.

“We have a lot of free time, so it’s either playing cards or mini-golf,” Di Pauli said.

Di Pauli actually isn’t very good at miniature golf. And he refused to tell me his worst score.

“I don’t want to say,” Di Pauli said. “One day was bad. That’s also due to the fact that I was teammates with (Daniel) Sprong. He let me down.”

(If you’re worried about Sprong the hockey player, not Sprong the golfer, what I can tell you is this: His shoulder rehab has gone great, but even the best case scenario has him back at the end of December ... though likely in early 2017.)

• Goaltender Sean Maguire isn’t in camp because of an undisclosed injury. I have no clue what the injury is, but I do know that he once missed an entire college season because of a severe concussion. He’s had issues with them in the past.

I asked Sullivan if Maguire’s injury was concussion-related. He said he was awaiting several medical updates and expected to know more later today.

“I don’t know the details of his injury to this point,” Sullivan said. “I’ve got to spend some time here with our medical staff when I’m done with you guys. I haven’t really had any time at all to spend with these guys to get an update on where people are at. That’s my next pursuit here when I leave here. I don’t want to comment on it because I don’t know the details.”

Sullivan just got back from Toronto. Maybe it was an unfair question on my part, although I’d think he’d be getting updates on his players. Regardless, I hope Maguire’s OK. Never want to see that.

• Last and maybe least, Sidney Crosby is on a postage stamp. Please try to control your excitement. And I don’t cover postage stamps -—obviously — but how in the world do Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky not have postage stamps? Or do they?

LINKS TO TODAY’S P-G COVERAGE

I also have an analysis of Derrick Pouliot and what his new look means. Will be around midnight.

Penguins notebook: Kessel clarifies tweet that criticized USA Hockey (Mackey/Werner)

World Cup of Hockey notebook: Four Penguins still have shot at title (Molinari in Toronto)

Crosby all business as World Cup clash with Ovechkin, Malkin and Russia looms (Molinari in Toronto)

Confident Schultz ready to compete for spot (Mackey)

After ankle injury and recovery, winger Wilson says it's 'great to be back' (Werner)

Miss our Penguins Prospectus series? Here's a quick recap (staff)