NLL Insider

The last time Rochester Knighthawks fans saw a Gait dressed in teal, it was Paul Gait doing his thing in 1997.

More than 10 years later, there’s another Gait set to suit up for the birds and this time, it’s Gary Gait. And as the Knighthawks opened their training camp over the weekend, Gary was one of the first on scene. “I just want to play, man,” he said while smiling outside the box as he geared up and prepared for practice. The nearly three dozen fans who showed up for the workout were just as eager to see Gaiter on the floor and even though it was practice, he didn’t disappoint. Fluid and smooth, he ran drills and said afterward pretty much what you’d expect him to say.

“It was great,” he told Knighthawks PR guru Craig Rybczynski in an interview that can be heard here.

“I’m still getting used to Gary Gait of the Rochester Knighthawks … but first day of training camp, I was pretty happy. It wasn’t that bad. I got out there and got moving a little bit. It felt pretty good,” he said.

Gait is Gait, of course, but he’s not taking anything for granted. He was one of the last guys to leave the floor when practice ended. When a willing goalie stayed for some extra work, Gait used the time to work on his shooting.

“I need to get practice,” he said. “It’s been a while. We didn’t do many shooting drills so I wanted to get a little in after.”

There’s been a lot of talk of Gait being “too old” and speculation that he won’t be able to keep up. None of that worries Gait, who appeared to be in fantastic shape.

“I’ve been preparing for it and it’d be different if you show up out of shape and not ready to go,” he said. “But I put the work in and I feel pretty good.”

So do a bunch of Knighthawks fans who watched Gait, along with a few other new faces as the eager Knighthawks get ready for a season of redemption after being left out of the 2008 playoff dance.

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