The drill is nothing new for Adam Munro.
His credentials, on the other hand, naturally make you wonder why he has come to Manitoba Moose training camp with nothing but a tryout in hand.
"It's a team I've played two years in a row in the playoffs and I've liked the city coming up here," said Munro, a talented goaltender who spent the past two seasons primarily as a backup with the Toronto Marlies and Syracuse Crunch in the American Hockey League. "I'm not really sure what's happening here with the situation but it seems like a good, winning organization.
"The same sort of thing happened last year. I got a last-minute invite to Maple Leafs camp and they were pretty much telling me there was no job for me, but I ended up getting a contract and sticking around the whole year. Being here on a tryout basis isn't a big deal for me."
The Moose expect to have either Cory Schneider or Andrew Raycroft as their starter and will likely use Daren Machesney as the backup.
But occasionally things happen in hockey and Munro is hopeful one of those things includes him nailing down a job with the Moose.
"The last few years in the AHL have gone really well and I feel I belong in this league," said Munro, who started the final game of the North Division semi for the Marlies against the Moose last spring. "I know what I can do, what I've done in the past and what I'm capable of doing."
Munro, a 26-year-old from St. George, Ont., was a first round choice (29th overall) of the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2001 and has 17 NHL games and another 121 contests on his resume.
Munro doesn't think being a first-round pick with lofty expectations weighed him down during his career.
"Chicago went through a lot of goalies those years because when you're on a losing team like that, it's tough for everybody," said Munro. "Where you're drafted doesn't really have much of an effect. Looking back on the career so far, I'm happy where it's gone and taken me. I would have made a few different choices, but you're going to learn from those experiences. Overall, it's made me a better hockey player."
His first NHL start, which came against the Nashville Predators, is something he'll never forget.
"We tied 2-2 in Nashville and I only found out I was starting at about 11:30 (p.m.) the night before the game," said Munro, who admits he's paid closer attention to off-ice conditioning the past few seasons. "I didn't have that much time to get nervous. I think I got second star and I remember at the end of the game, I skated down to the other end and tried to get into a fight with Tomas Vokoun because he took a mean slash at one of our players.
"I remember I got on TSN for skating to the other end pretty quickly. It was a pretty interesting game for sure. I don't know how many goalies try to fight in their first game."
Moose head coach Scott Arniel was excited to find out Munro would be among the netminders fighting for work.
"He's good insurance and his play will dictate how long he sticks around," said Arniel. "He's got some history, he's a little more mature and has some years under his belt. We'll really get a good look at him."
ken.wiebe@sunmedia.ca
