August marks one of the slowest months on the NHL calendar, but it does offer one sign that hockey is not too far off the horizon - Players will slowly start to trickle in and start skating to get ready for rookie and veteran training camp.

One of the players who has been in the Philly area throughout, rehabbing and settling in, is defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. PhiladelphiaFlyers.com caught up with Ghost to touch on a number of different topics from the off-season and looking ahead to the regular season…

Q: How does it feel to be back skating after your surgery?

SG: “It’s actually it feels really nice. You would think there would be some tweaks there, but I am feeling better than before so it definitely feels good to get back out there.”

Q: What excites you about this upcoming season?

SG: “Although we made the playoffs last year we got bounced in the first round. But that’s a good platform to lead off of for the start of this season. We got a couple key guys back and a couple of free agents who are pretty solid guys. We are pretty excited for the season ahead.”

Q: What are some of the things you are working on when you are out there skating?

SG: “The mechanics of skating, the crossing over, pivoting, the little things like that. It is surprising how gassed you get so quickly. I’m definitely going to start working on the wind part sooner or later. We are going to have more and more guys coming back. It is going to be easier pushing each other, not only on the ice but also in the gym as well. There some big things coming along for us, not only the beginning of the season but also the start of World Cup for some us, so it is a big part of the summer around the corner.”

Q: What’s something about the World Cup that you’re looking forward to?

SG: “I’d say just getting there. I think we are excited, you know, having a long summer like that and the build up to it. Meeting your teammates, it’s a different dynamic I think that’s cool too. It’s Canada and the USA together so it’s definitely different… that’s never been done before. I think it’s going to be really fun. It’s international hockey so it’s definitely different in that aspect. It’s “enemies coming together” so it’s definitely going to be fun. I think we are the most relaxed team for sure. We are young guys, we aren’t playing for our country so to say, we are playing for each other. We are going to have some fun out there and we are a pretty good team.”

Q: What was your biggest takeaway personally from last season as far as things you wanted to work on, and things that you wanted to look at over the summer?

SG: “You know, getting healthy and having a clean body. Definitely had some bumps and bruises toward the end. You look at some of the older guys like Streiter and Schultzy and see their long careers and you take little things from them on how you take care of your body and not only what you do on the ice but off the ice like what you’re putting in your body [diet]. I’ll probably just focus more on that and being a good pro.”