Thursday, July 7, 2011

DEVELOPMENT CAMP UPDATES

DUREPOS AND THE KINGS
Sea Dogs defenseman Pierre Durepos will be attending Los Angeles Kings Development Camp next week. The camp runs from July 11-12 at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo. Here is the full schedule from the Kings website:
Monday, July 11:
Group A – Practice, 8:00-9:15 a.m.
Game – 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Group B – Practice, 10:45-Noon
Tuesday, July 12:
Group B – Practice, 8:00-9:15 a.m.
Game – 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Group A – Practice, 10:45-Noon

Other notables participating in the camp include Nicolas Deslauriers, Jean-Francois Berube, and Chris Gibson.

“Once the draft was over and I wasn't taken I thought I'd probably get the opportunity to get a tryout somewhere,” said Durepos in a interview with the Kings blog Mayor’s Manor. “Fortunately for me, two or three days later one of the scouts for LA called me and asked if I was interested in going to the camp. It was a no-brainer for me. Obviously I wanted to go to an NHL camp, so I was pretty happy.”

PENS CAMP SCHEDULE
Pittsburgh Penguins Development Camp will once again have a high dosage of Sea Dogs flavour.

Defensemen Simon Despres and Alex Grant along with forward Nick Petersen all received invites according to the Penguins website. The camp runs from July 11-16 at the new CONSOL Energy Centre. There will be a scrimmage on the 16th that is open to the public.

It will take a miracle for Despres to return to Saint John next season. After dominating the QMJHL last year, the ‘Big Horse’ will be moving onto the pro-ranks this season.

Grant, who was Sea Dogs captain for the 2007-08 season and parts of 2008-09, spent much of last season recovering from a nasty hit he took at the annual London, Ont. rookie tournament. He played in 14 regular season games with the East Coast Hockey League’s Wheeling Nailers, recording three goals and two assists. In 17 playoff games he registered two goals. He also played four games with the American Hockey League’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins but had no points.

Petersen, who played his overage season in Saint John in 2009-10, had a productive year offensively. In 40 games with Wheeling he had 24 goals and 33 assists. With Wilkes-Barre he recorded five goals and nine assists and added two more markers in the post-season.

COYOTES CAMP
Phoenix Coyotes Development Camp kicked off today with a 90-minute on-ice session at Polar Ice in Peoria.

Former Sea Dogs goaltender Jacob DeSerres, a free agent invitee, is one of four goaltenders at the camp. Louis Domingue of the Quebec Remparts, Team Canada’s Mark Visentin, and Michael Lee from St. Cloud State are the others.

The camp continues tomorrow with another 90-minute on-ice session.


SENS HIGH ON HOFFMAN
Ottawa Senators Development Camp came to an end on Monday with a three-on-three tournament. Former Sea Dogs sniper Mike Hoffman along with forwards Mark Stone and Stefan Noesenand and defenseman Ben Blood and Kirill Lyamin were all a part of the winning squad.

“Team Blue won the whole thing, thanks in large part to some damn fine hockey from Stone and Hoffman, who were likely the two hardest working players in the tournament: They never let up on their opponents, trapping them in the zone regularly, forcing turnovers, and moving the puck pretty well,” writes the Senators blog Silver Seven.

"Mike Hoffman came to camp (last year) as a guy that was sort of a borderline player," said Ottawa general manager Brian Murray on the team’s website. "I thought the first half or beyond in Binghamton last year, he was borderline. Then he got to the second half and in the playoffs in particular, he became a real force and he looks like he’s an NHL player now."

PANTHERS CAMP BEGINS NEXT WEEK
Florida Panthers Development Camp will begin next Tuesday, July 12. There will be a lot of hype surrounding Sea Dogs forward Jonathan Huberdeau who was the team’s first round pick just a few weeks ago.

According to Florida’s website, “the Panthers open development camp with their first on-ice practice on Tuesday, July 12 at 9 a.m. at the Saveology.com Iceplex. Two additional on-ice sessions will be held at the Saveology.com Iceplex on Thursday, July 14 at 9 a.m. and Friday, July 15 at 9 a.m.”

Also on the camp roster is Connor Brickley, a University of Vermont forward who the Sea Dogs own the rights to.

According to the On Frozen Pond Facebook page, Panthers main camp opens September 16.

GONE WILD
Minnesota Wild Development Camp begins next week. On the roster is Sea Dogs forward Zack Phillips who was selected by the Wild in the later stages of the NHL Draft’s first round.

According to the Wild website, “the 2011 Wild Development Camp will run July 12-17 and will feature two scrimmages that are open to the public and free of charge on Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, July 17 at Xcel Energy Center. Both scrimmages will start at 11 a.m.”

STARS CAMP
Dallas Stars Development Camp ended today. Sea Dogs forward Scott Oke was a free agent invite to camp but we haven’t seen anything about him on any Stars media or fan sites.

Via ESPN Dallas, here is some video of today’s scrimmage.



CANUCKS CAMP
Vancouver Canucks Development Camp is in full swing. The camp began on Tuesday and features Sea Dogs forward Steven Anthony and former netminder Karel St. Laurent.

Here is Anthony being interviewed by the Canucks web people:



CAPS CAMP
The Washington Capitals announced details on their 2011 Development Camp today. The camp will run from July 11-16 at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex.
According to the Caps website, the camp will include three intrasquad games.

Sea Dogs forward Stanislav Galiev, a third round pick of Washington in 2010, has been invited to his second Development Camp.

Photo Credits: Marc Henwood/Station Nation, Getty

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