Rookie Tournaments Begin Today

Several members of the Saint John Sea Dogs will be in action today as National Hockey League Rookie Tournaments get into full swing.

16 members of the Sea Dogs who are eligible to return this season are taking part in NHL rookie camps this week. All of them except Nathan Beaulieu – who will be departing shortly for Montreal Canadiens camp – had departed from the team before last night’s game in Bathurst.

There are three main tournaments – the Traverse City Prospects Tournament held in Traverse City, Michigan, the Ontario Rookie Tournament held in Oshawa, Ont., and the Penticton Young Stars Tournament held in Penticton, BC.

The Penticton Young Stars Tournament doesn’t start until tomorrow.

Here is the schedule for day one of the Traverse City Tournament (all times local):

3:30 PM Minnesota vs. Buffalo (Davids)
4:00 PM Dallas vs. Carolina (Huntington) 
7:00 PM NY Rangers vs. St. Louis (Davids)
 7:30 PM Detroit vs Columbus (Huntington)

According to NHL.com, “Columbus, Detroit, Buffalo and defending champion Minnesota will compete in the Howe Division. The Gretzky Division will feature prospects from the Hurricanes, Blues, Stars and Rangers.”

Current and former Sea Dogs who will be playing in the tournament are: Zach Phillips (Minnesota), Scott Oke (Dallas), Stephen MacAulay (St. Louis), Ryan Tesink (St. Louis), Tomas Jurco (Detroit), Mathieu Corbeil (Columbus), and Mike Thomas (Columbus).

If you have the NHL Network, they will be airing the Blues – Rangers game tonight at 8pm AST.

The other tournament that gets going today is the Oshawa Rookie Tournament. The Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawks will all take part.

Today’s games see the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Ottawa Senators and the Chicago Blackhawks face the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Penguins game begins at 3pm AST at General Motors Place. Defensemen Simon Despres and Alex Grant and forward Nick Petersen are all on the Penguins tournament roster.

Here is Despres speaking with PensTV before the team departed to Oshawa yesterday.

According to the Penguins website, “all three games (of the Penguins) will air on Penguins HD Radio (WXDX FM HD-2 and streamed live on www.pittsburghpenguins.com). Steve Mears and two-time Stanley Cup champion Phil Bourque will broadcast the action. Full tournament coverage can also be found at www.pittsburghpenguins.com.”