Scorpions Promise To Be a Burlier Brood in 2000-01.(Sports)

Byline: Glen Rosales For the Journal

The offseason couldn't pass fast enough for New Mexico Scorpions defenseman Travis Van Tighem.

But with Sunday's team-wide medical, the start of the new season is under way at last.

Today, the team officially will take the ice for the first time as a unit. Many of the players already have been on the ice together for informal, three-day-a-week practices.

That, however, doesn't compare to real camp, designed get the 20 players steeped in coach Tony Martino's schemes.

"I'm ready to go," Van Tighem said following a recent informal practice.

He was one of the last players off the ice and narrowly avoided the ritual of having to clean up the sticks after the session-ending shoot-around, a chore given to the last player to score. …