Kenney is dead on.
As players start ramping up for the next season, they need to just get back on the ice against dudes who can play. Usually someone (or a few players) will start loosely organizing pick up games and will contact other guys from their hometown area. Let's assume that Boyle is the point man on this...maybe he calls a few BC guys he knows and then puts in a call to someone like Ryan Whitney, who hollers at a few BU guys. And maybe someone says "i'm not in town, but my cousin skates with Eichel, how about I call him" and so forth.
The best part of these skates is when you see a young buck who doesn't quite get it and is going 110 out there while someone like Boyle is just loosening the legs up. There's usually a brief 'discussion' about that.
It's super informal and probably the closest thing to street basketball that you'll ever see in a rink.
