I could feel a change in the weather as soon as I started to open the door. The brisk feel of the air hit me immediately. It told me immediately that the season of summer was more or less over and fall and winter were ready and waiting to make their imprint on the Northern Hemisphere. My next thought was that it was a sign that hockey was about to start and I began to feel a rush of excitement. Soon I knew I’d be hearing the sound of blades cutting and scraping their way through the ice and another year of hockey was right around the corner. To quote many a hockey fan, “We’ve waited long enough, just drop the damn puck already!” We need our fix of body checks and goals, fights and perfect passes, breakaways and penalty kills. Yes I realize that for lots of people; hockey never really stops but for professional, college and a bit later high school hockey to begin there is still a little more waiting to do. This Friday, Wild players reported for weight lifting and medical testing as training camp officially opens on Saturday. For Minnesota; it will be the first meaningful impression of new Head Coach Mike Yeo as he puts them through their paces. I have little doubt that could be a bit of a shock for some Wild players; both those that are new to the team and others who have been with the organization for years. One of the small preparatory activities leading up to training camp is the annual hockey tournament Wild prospects play in.
Last year, the prospects of the Minnesota Wild were crowned Champions of the Traverse City Prospect Tournament. This year the Wild managed to take home 5th place honors (out of 8 teams), and it was the prospects of the Buffalo Sabres who were crowned 2011 Traverse City Tournament champions after a 5-2 defeat over in-state rival, New York Rangers. The Sabres’ team was led by power forwards Zack Kassian and Luke Adam who had played 19 games with the big club in 2010-11. Buffalo’s scoring by committee approach overwhelmed teams and allowed Kootenay Ice’ goaltender Nathan Lieuwen to be just good enough despite averaging over 3 goals allowed per game. Either way I am sure new owner Terry Pegula just might celebrate the victory with a small Traverse City Tournament parade around the office, just kidding but you never know. So who shined and who disappointed?
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Shined
G – Matthew Hackett ~ Hackett nearly guided the Houston Aeros to a Calder Cup championship in his rookie season so its not a huge surprise that he was solid in the tournament. He went 1-1, but had a 2.50 goals against average and a .935% save percentage. In Wild prospects’ win against Detroit he stopped 46 shots in a game where the Wild gave the Red Wings’ youngsters 10 power plays giving up just one goal on the man advantage. It was another great sign that the Wild have a quality blue chip goaltending prospect in its system. Wild.com anointed Hackett as the Wild’s Tournament MVP.
F – Kris Foucault ~ If there is one thing that has been consistent in Foucault’s career thus far is that tournaments or playoffs seem to bring about the best in his game. After being a decent playoff contributor for the Calgary Hitmen, Foucault was the Wild’s most productive offensive player, leading the team with 2 goals (tied with Joey Martin) and 5 points. Foucault had a pair of goals in the team’s 4-2 win over Detroit.
F – Mike Kramer ~ The former Como Heights star had a decent tournament impressing coaches with his hustle and consistency. Kramer scored just a single goal (against tournament champion Buffalo), but he led the team in shots with 15 and was a +2. He is still just a tryout player but his hard work earned him a spot at training camp and if he can manage to stay consistent as he has I think he might find himself a spot with the Houston Aeros.
F – Dylan Willick ~ The current member of the Kamloops Blazers did not stand out at the Prospect Camp scrimmages this summer but he had a strong tournament scoring a goal and adding an assist in their final game against Dallas. Willick dazzled with some slick moves to beat the Stars defense and earned himself an invite to the team’s training camp.
D – Chay Genoway ~ For North Dakota fans it will probably not be a shock to hear that Chay Genoway had a strong tournament for the Wild. Genoway had a goal and an assist, as well as leading all Wild blueliners with 6 shots in the tournament.
Honorable Mention
F – Taylor Peters ~ The 6’3″ 212lbs center still on a tryout impressed Wild scouts with his hustle and strong play on the penalty kill. The current Portland Winterhawk also registered a goal and was a +2 for the tournament.
Disappointed
D – Tyler Cuma ~ Cuma has been somewhat of a regular at the prospect’s tournament because of the fact his development has taken longer than expected but he was still making mistakes and that cost the Wild dearly in their game against Columbus where they lost 3-1. As a player with experience and some minor pro seasoning Cuma should’ve been more of a source of strength than being a -3 as he was.
F – David McIntyre ~ The Wild signed McIntyre this summer to help fill out Houston’s roster and I hope he plays better there than he did in the tournament where he was the team’s worst +/- player with an ugly -6 rating. Bad luck or not, he was the team’s worst +/- player by 3 points.
The Derek Boogaard Award
F – Carter Sandlak ~ The Belleville Bulls’ left wing was by far the Wild’s most active pugilist for the tournament which is kind of interesting considering the fact Sandlak only had 44 PIM’s in 2010-11. Sandlak dropped the gloves 3 times throughout the tournament. He also added the coup de gras against Dallas in the Wild’s 5th place clinching 4-1 victory. His willingness to mix it up earned him a spot at the Wild’s training camp.
The Minnesota Wild also announced their training camp roster yesterday, which will include 18 players who competed at the Traverse City Tournament. One of messages sent to Wild players by General Manager Chuck Fletcher at the end of the 2010-11 season was that they would be held accountable to be in shape by the time they reported to training camp, and it has been reported that left winger Guillaume Latendresse reported nearly 20lbs lighter than he did a season ago after missing much of the season with a groin injury. So far Mike Yeo is pleased with how in shape the players were when they reported to camp as reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune here. Here is the official training camp roster where last year’s club will be listed in parentheses and last year’s stats behind them.
Centers:
#27 Cody Almond (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’2″, 221lbs – 65GP 15G 19A = 34pts 124 PIM’s
#21 Kyle Brodziak (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 6’2″, 209lbs – 80GP 16G 21A = 37pts 56 PIM’s
#7 Matt Cullen (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 6’1″, 200lbs – 78GP 12G 27A = 39pts 34 PIM’s
#53 Tyler Graovac (Ottawa, OHL) ~ 6’3″, 179lbs – 66GP 10G 11A = 21pts 10 PIM’s
#9 Mikko Koivu (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 6’2″, 214lbs – 71GP 17G 45A = 62pts 50 PIM’s
#34 David McIntyre (Albany, AHL) ~ 6’0″, 190lbs – 78GP 12G 18A = 30pts 51 PIM’s
#45 Carson McMillan (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’2″, 190lbs – 78GP 12G 10A = 22pts 80 PIM’s
*#83 Taylor Peters (Portland, WHL) ~ 6’3″, 212lbs – 72GP 8G 11A = 19pts 47 PIM’s
#43 Warren Peters (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’0″, 201lbs – 62GP 15G 17A = 32pts 47 PIM’s
#61 Zack Phillips (Saint John, QMJHL) ~ 6’1″, 175lbs – 67GP 38G 57A = 95pts 16 PIM’s
#36 Chad Rau (Houston, AHL) ~ 5’11”, 188lbs – 60GP 13G 27A = 40pts 12 PIM’s
#19 Jeff Taffe (Rockford, AHL) ~ 6’3″, 215lbs – 74GP 30G 37A = 67pts 22 PIM’s
Left Wings:
#54 Brett Bulmer (Kelowna, WHL) ~ 6’2″, 182lbs – 57GP 18G 31A = 49pts 109 PIM’s
#72 Kris Foucault (Calgary, WHL) ~ 6’1″, 202lbs – 65GP 25G 23A = 48pts 60 PIM’s
#18 Colton Gillies (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’4″, 207lbs – 64GP 11G 15A = 26pts 82 PIM’s
#28 Matt Kassian (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’5″, 240lbs – 60GP 4G 4A = 8pts 132 PIM’s
#48 Guillaume Latendresse (Minnesota, NHL ~ 6’2″, 230lbs – 11GP 3G 3A = 6pts 8 PIM’s
#23 Eric Nystrom (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 6’1″, 193lbs – 82GP 4G 8A = 12pts 30 PIM’s
*#80 Carter Sandlak (Belleville, OHL) ~ 6’1″, 190lbs – 34GP 9G 7A = 16pts 44 PIM’s
Right Wings:
#96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 5’10”, 173lbs – 59Gp 12G 26A = 38pts 14 PIM’s
#73 Joel Broda (Bakersfield, ECHL) ~ 6’0″, 208lbs – 32GP 17G 13A = 30pts 39 PIM’s
#22 Cal Clutterbuck (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 5’10”, 209lbs – 76GP 19G 15A 34pts 79 PIM’s
#29 Jon DiSalvatore (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’1″, 200lbs – 80GP 28G 33A = 61pts 57 PIM’s
#52 Justin Fontaine (Minnesota-Duluth, WCHA) ~ 5’10”, 160lbs – 42GP 22G 36A = 58pts 42 PIM’s
#15 Dany Heatley (San Jose, NHL) ~ 6’4″, 220lbs – 80GP 26G 48A = 64pts 56 PIM’s
*#81 Mike Kramer (Princeton, ECAC) ~ 5’10”, 200lbs – 31GP 13G 18A = 31pts 4 PIM’s
#41 Jed Ortmeyer (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’1″, 205lbs – 60GP 8G 11A = 19pts 45 PIM’s
#79 Jarod Palmer (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’0″, 200lbs – 65GP 9G 19A = 28pts 64 PIM’s
#14 Darroll Powe (Philadelphia, NHL) ~ 5’11”, 212lbs – 81GP 7G 10A = 17pts 41 PIM’s
#10 Devin Setoguchi (San Jose, NHL) ~ 6’0″, 200lbs – 72GP 22G 19A = 41pts 37 PIM’s
#16 Brad Staubitz (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 6’1″, 215lbs – 71GP 4G 5A = 9pts 173 PIM’s
#17 Casey Wellman (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’0″, 184lbs – 42GP 14G 21A = 35pts 14 PIM’s
Defenseman:
#42 Drew Bagnall (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’3″, 222lbs – 72GP 0G 2A = 2pts 111 PIM’s
#68 Josh Caron (Kamloops, WHL) ~ 6’3″, 215lbs – 27GP 1G 1A = 2pts 47 PIM’s
#26 Tyler Cuma (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’1″, 198lbs – 31GP 1G 3A = 4pts 15 PIM’s
#44 Justin Falk (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’5″, 217lbs – 55GP 3G 11A = 14pts 41 PIM’s
*#59 Kris Friedheim (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’2″, 195lbs – 66GP 3G 6A = 9pts 24 PIM’s
#65 Chay Genoway (North Dakota, WCHA) ~ 5’9″, 177lbs – 36GP 6G 31A = 37pts 26 PIM’s
*#25 Jordan Hendry (Chicago, NHL) ~ 6’2″, 200lbs – 37GP 1G 0A = 1pt 4 PIM’s
#74 Colton Jobke (Kelowna, WHL) ~ 6’0″, 170lbs – 51GP 1G 9A = 10pts 84 PIM’s
*#62 Sam Lofquist (Guelph, OHL) ~ 6’2″, 205lbs – 62GP 8G 28A = 36pts 57 PIM’s
#2 Mike Lundin (Tampa Bay, NHL) ~ 6’2″, 191lbs – 69GP 1G 11A = 12pts 12 PIM’s
#67 Kyle Medvec (Vermont, H-East) ~ 6’6″, 225lbs – 29GP 2G 4A = 6pts 28 PIM’s
#51 Jeff Penner (Houston, AHL) ~ 5’10”, 183lbs – 67GP 5G 18A = 23pts 38 PIM’s
#39 Nate Prosser (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’2″, 221lbs – 73GP 8G 19A = 27pts 31 PIM’s
#6 Marco Scandella (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’3″, 206lbs – 33GP 3G 16A = 19pts 17 PIM’s
#55 Nick Schultz (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 6’1″, 203lbs – 74GP 3G 14A = 17pts 38 PIM’s
#46 Jared Spurgeon (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 5’8″, 171lbs – 53GP 4G 8A = 12pts 2 PIM’s
#4 Clayton Stoner (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 6’3″, 206lbs – 57GP 2G 7A = 9pts 96 PIM’s
#5 Greg Zanon (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 5’11”, 198lbs – 82GP 0G 7A = 7pts 48 PIM’s
#3 Marek Zidlicky (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 5’11”, 196lbs – 46GP 7G 17A = 24pts 30 PIM’s
Goaltenders:
#32 Niklas Backstrom (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 6’1″, 186lbs – 51GP (22-23-5) 2.66GAA .916%SP
#30 Dennis Endras (Augsberger, DEL) ~ 6’0″, 167lbs – 46GP (20-22-4) 3.14GAA .900%SP
#31 Matthew Hackett (Houston, AHL) ~ 6’2″, 179lbs – 45GP (23-16-4) 2.37GAA .916%SP
#37 Josh Harding (Minnesota, NHL) ~ 6’2″, 199lbs – Did Not Play (Injured)
#35 Darcy Kuemper (Red Deer, WHL) ~ 6’4″, 200lbs – 62GP (45-12-5) 1.86GAA .933%SP
*- denotes a tryout player
The team had its first scrimmage today in front of around 2,000 fans, and it had its rough spots but it was the goaltenders who stood tall and no goals were given up. Niklas Backstrom, the Wild’s #1 goaltender sat out because of a sore knee which according to the Star Tribune’s Michael Russo is a ‘minor injury’ and nothing more. That means Josh Harding who looked sharp in the scrimmage will likely get the start for the team’s first pre-season game on Tuesday against Edmonton. Yea, that’s right I said Tuesday.
With a new coach and lots of new faces there is a lot of learning going on but that’s what training camp is for. Hopefully the Wild learn their lessons now and during pre-season so they don’t have to learn the hard way in the regular season. Here is the club’s pre-season schedule.
Tuesday, Sept. 20th @ Edmonton – 8:00PM CST
Thursday, Sept. 22nd @ St. Louis – 7:00PM CST
Friday, Sept. 23rd vs. Columbus – 7:00PM CST
Saturday, Sept. 24th @ Pittsburgh – 2:00PM CST
Tuesday, Sept. 27th vs. St. Louis – 7:00PM CST
Thursday, Sept. 29th @ Columbus – 6:00PM CST
Friday, Sept. 30th vs. Edmonton – 7:00PM CST
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