Rookie camp is upon us, the rosters have been released by the Caps, and I am not afraid to say that I squealed like a little girl when I saw who one of our invitees was.

THTM Loyals, meet Ryan Kerr.

Now, if the badass roster picture facial expression hasn’t won you over yet, let me elucidate a little.

Kerr is a former overage Portland Winterhawk defenseman just this year traded to the Calgary Hitmen. While I was displeased at losing him from the home team, the Hitmen, arguably, are a better team overall, and as such, will probably serve him better in the long run. Although he had Fehr-esque shoulder issues in his two years with the Hawks and only played 71 games, he racked up an impressive 133 PIMS. At 6′2″ and 210, the Lions Bay BC native is a solid presence on the ice, acting as an assistant captain for the Hawks.

But beyond that, Kerr brings the intangibles to the table. The guy hits like a freaking tank, and his sense of loyalty to the team and the game is amazing. One of my personal favorite moments from him is when he saw the Hawks starting to lose focus in a Christmas game against their arch rivals, the Seattle Thunderbirds. Not only did he go out and defend a teammate against a cheap hit by taking on the offending TBirds, he pulverized the guy, then got free from the ref and crossed the ice to scream at the Winterhawk bench about how they couldn’t give up and had to keep their heads in the game. Sadly, it wasn’t a movie ending as the Hawks still lost, but it was a better showing than they had before the incident.

Now, I’m not saying that Kerr should make the big team, far from it. And as a defenseman, he’s just another name in the backlog of already hopeful prospects, but frankly, I’d love to see him as a floater between the Rays and the Bears this year. If we could keep him in the organization for long enough, he shows the potential to develop into a decently solid background player with an aptitude towards the leadership positions that still seem to be a little shaky for the Caps as a whole.

Welcome to D.C, Ryan! Good luck!

(And no, I wouldn’t leave you without the fight video. Here is Mr. Kerr (white 4) giving Brady Calla a piece of his mind. What a yapper