VOORHEES, N.J. -- It was a sickening sight to everyone, a scarier sight to some.

Before the Flyers took to the ice for their first official day of training camp, members of the team were gathered, wide-eyed, around televisions in the locker rooms, watching the first scenes of devastation from the north tower of the World Trade Center.

Then came a sight that stunned them all.

"It was such a shock, especially watching the second plane hit (the south tower) live," said John LeClair. "It's just such a shock. You just can't believe what you're watching.

"Obviously, your first reaction (is), 'How can this happen?' You think they take precautions, but they always say if somebody wants to get you there's a way, especially when it's a death mission like that."

It was a suicide mission and a successful one. It was the worst terrorist attack on the United States, one of the most profound acts of violence in the history of the world. It forever changed the lives of the families of victims that could number in the several or even tens of thousands.

It also put a very personal scare into Jeremy Roenick.

He said a friend he grew up with and is now a stock trader who worked out of the World Trade Center in New York City told him Tuesday afternoon that he had made it out of his office -- which, thankfully, was located on the second floor of the complex's north tower -- and was outside in time to hear a commercial airliner slam into the south tower nearby.

"It's ridiculous how somebody can do something like that," Roenick said. "It's absolutely insane. There are a lot of people that should worry about what's going to happen from here. They say it's the biggest attack on United States soil since Pearl Harbor. That's scary. When there has never been a terrorist attack of this magnitude, you have to wonder how much the United States can take and what kind of actions it can take from here.

"So now I've got to go get my kids and make sure they're all right."

The anger Roenick and LeClair felt was born of a feeling of nationalism, and also a natural reaction of Americans not accustomed to seeing their homeland attacked. But even those players hailing from a background not so comfortable and secure were amazed and moved by the events of the morning.

"It's unbelievable," said Jan Hlavac, a Czech native who just a few weeks ago was a member of the New York Rangers. "Trust me, I'm angered, too. I hate those Palestinians. They're celebrating right now and I can't believe that. I don't know what they're going to do in New York now, but they have to be strong. All of America has to be strong. I just tried to call (Radek) Dvorak, my best friend in New York, and he did not pick up the phone."

Just prior to trading Hlavac, Kim Johnsson and Pavel Brendl to the Flyers for Eric Lindros, the Rangers had announced a fan-friendly plan of holding training camp at Madison Square Garden rather than at their suburban training facility in Rye, N.Y.

As a kickoff to camp Tuesday, several members of the team attended a ceremony in Penn Station to greet fans before practice. Chaos would soon reign. Two hours later, Hlavac was wondering how his friend Dvorak and his other former Rangers teammates had weathered it all.

"I don't know what's going on there and I'm so scared," said Hlavac. "It's horrible. They had training camp in New York today ... I just hope everything's all right."

Over the weekend, Roenick and Rick Tocchet had dinner together at a restaurant on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, in close proximity to where the World Trade Center towers used to loom so proudly.

"Not 48 hours ago we were there. It really hits home," said Roenick. "One of the planes that hit that building was from Boston and going to L.A., and it circles around in your head whether there was anybody on that thing that you know. I'm from Boston, and one of my best friends in the world works in the World Trade Center. So there are a lot of different feelings that go around in your head. It just goes to show you how messed up this world is and how there can be such absolute non-care for human life. You just wonder what's going to happen from here.

"You see some of the most precious parts of America going down like toothpick buildings ... it's just very unfortunate. It was like watching a movie."

But clearly, as everyone is still trying to come to grips with, this historic and horrible act of terrorism was all too real.

"You think you're in the safest country in the world and you go into practice and guys are just watching this," said Tocchet, who is in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. "There could be tens of thousands of people dead. It's just amazing. Your initial reaction is, 'Let's get the Air Force and the Army and who do we blow up first?' But the people involved might be 10,000 people in a terrorist group, but there are innocent people in the countries where these terrorist groups are. So what do you do?"

Rob Parent of the Delaware County (Pa.) Times is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.