Rookie Camps Nearing For Sea Dogs

An incredible 16 members of the Saint John Sea Dogs who are eligible to return next season will take part in National Hockey League rookie and training camps over the next few weeks.

Most rookie camps begin this weekend. Some teams are taking part in tournaments while others are just doing their own thing and playing one or two exhibition games.

We’ll do our best at covering the camps but if you see anything on the interweb that is Sea Dogs related, please email us at stationnation@yahoo.ca or tweet us up at @station_nation.

YOUNG STARS TOURNAMENT

The Vancouver Canucks will once again be hosting the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton, British Columbia from September 11-15. The mini-tournament features prospect teams from the Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets.

The tournament won’t have a whole lot of impact on this year’s Sea Dogs team as the only players taking part that could return is Steven Anthony - who could turn pro this season – and newcomer Ian Saab.

Anthony, Saab and former Saint John defenseman Yann Sauve will play for Vancouver. Michael Kirkpatrick, the Sea Dogs’ all-time leading scorer, will suit up for the Winnipeg Jets.

According to the Canucks website, former Dogs goaltender Karel St. Laurent will split duties with Victoriaville’s David Honzik and the Vancouver Giants' Brendan Jensen.

Here is the full schedule (Pacific times):

TEAMS	DATE	TIME
SAN JOSE VS. CALGARY	SEPT. 11	4:00PM
VANCOUVER VS. EDMONTON	SEPT. 11	7:30PM
CALGARY VS. VANCOUVER	SEPT. 12	4:00PM
WINNIPEG VS. SAN JOSE	SEPT. 12	7:30PM
WINNIPEG VS EDMONTON	SEPT. 13	7:30PM
SAN JOSE VS VANCOUVER	SEPT. 14	4:00PM
EDMONTON VS CALGARY	SEPT. 14	7:30PM
WINNIPEG VS VANCOUVER	SEPT. 15	11:30AM

ONTARIO ROOKIE TOURNAMENT

The Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawks will all play in a rookie tournament held in Oshawa, Ont. this year from September 9 - 13. The Penguins website reports that the players will do physicals and stuff in Pittsburgh on the 9^th before busing to Oshawa.

As it has for the past few years, the Penguins’ team will have a plethora of Sea Dogs content. Defensemen Simon Despres and Alex Grant along with forward Nick Petersen will all take part this year. Despres is the only one who is eligible to return but that is extremely unlikely.

Here is their schedule:

Saturday, September 10, 2011
2:00 p.m. Game vs. Ottawa
 Sunday, September 11, 2011
7:00 p.m. Game vs. Toronto
 Tuesday, September 13, 2011
2:00 p.m. Game vs. Chicago

Former Sea Dog Mike Hoffman is not listed on the Senators roster.

TRAVERSE CITY PROSPECTS TOURNAMENT

The annual Traverse City Prospects Tournament will be loaded with Sea Dogs content this year. The tournament begins this Saturday and runs through to Wednesday, September 14^th and features prospects from Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Carolina Hurricanes, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars and the New York Rangers.

Beginning with the Blue Jackets, former Sea Dogs captain Mike Thomas and current goaltender Mathieu Corbeil will both play. Steven Delisle, a defenseman who the Sea Dogs acquired the rights to last year, will also play for Columbus.

Here is Columbus’ schedule:

September 10 – Red Wings vs Blue Jackets
Septemer 11 – Sabres vs Blue Jackets
September 13 – Blue Jackets vs Wild

Tomas Jurco will play for the host Red Wings and will surely have plenty of attention surrounding him as he takes part in his first rookie tournament. PEI goaltender Evan Mosher is also on their roster, meaning the Red Wings may not allow a goal all tournament.

Here is their schedule:

September 10 – Red Wings vs Blue Jackets
September 11 – Wild vs Red Wings
September 13 – Red Wings vs Sabres

For the Wild, Zack Phillips will be suiting up. Here is their schedule:

September 10 – Wild vs Sabres
September 11 – Wild vs Red Wings
September 13 – Blue Jackets vs Wild

Scott Oke will play for the Dallas Stars as a free agent invitee. Here is their schedule:

September 10 – Hurricanes vs Stars
September 11 – Rangers vs Stars
September 13 – Stars vs Blues

The St. Louis Blues will have three players from Atlantic Canada on their team in Sea Dog forwards Stephen MacAulay and Ryan Tesink and former QMJHL goaltender Jake Allen.

Here is their schedule:

September 10 – Rangers vs Blues
September 11 – Blues vs Hurricanes
September 13 – Stars vs Blues

COYOTES/KINGS CAMP

Danick Gauthier and Alexandre Beauregard will participate in Phoenix Coyotes rookie camp which takes place September 10 – 15 at Jobing.com Arena.

There will be practices the first few days of camp. On September 14 and 15, the prospects will play a pair of games against and the Los Angeles Kings prospects at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, CA.

Like Coyotes camp, the Kings camp will operate from September 10 – 15 with the first several days consisting of practices. Sea Dogs defenseman Pierre Durepos is scheduled to take part in Kings camp.

PANTHERS CAMP

Florida Panthers rookie camp begins Friday with medical and physical testing. Jonathan Huberdeau and the Panthers prospects will play in a three-team mini-tournament.

Here is the schedule (all times Eastern):

Sunday, Sept. 11 – Tampa Bay vs. Florida at 6 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 12 – Tampa Bay vs. Nashville at 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 13 – Nashville vs. Florida at Noon
Wednesday, Sept. 14 – Tampa Bay vs. Florida at Noon

“The rookie camp and tournament provides our staff with a great opportunity to evaluate the growth and development of our prospects,” Florida Panthers Executive V.P. & General Manager Dale Tallon in a release.  “Our prospects will get the opportunity to compete in game situations and learn about the commitment and training that is necessary to play at the National Hockey League level. We look forward to seeing all our fans at the rookie camp games as we prepare for the upcoming season.”

HABS CAMP

According to the official website of the Montreal Canadiens’ practice facility, the Habs begin rookie camp on September 12 and runs through to September 15. Main training camp begins September 17.

Nathan Beaulieu, the Habs top pick in June’s draft, will be getting plenty of attention.

CAPS CAMP

The Washington Capitals website reports that their rookie camp will begin September 10 with on-ice workouts. They will play the Philadelphia Flyers prospects in an exhibition game on September 15 - the final day of rookie camp – at the Wells Fargo Arena.

Stanislav Galiev will take part in Caps camp for a second straight year. Main training camp begins September 16.

THE DEVILS

Eric Gelinas is eligible to return this season as an overager but that is looking quite unlikely. We can’t find any info on their rookie/training camp.