First impressions they say are the most crucial for anyone starting a new job or attending a job interview. In these not so great economic times, millions of Americans are spending lots and lots of time worrying about how their first impressions are going to go. Fear of saying the wrong thing, the fear of selling yourself but not sounding too cliche, or the fear of talking to complete strangers while they may bombard you with a bunch of uncomfortable questions. Questions like, “describe your biggest weakness” or “describe a conflict you’ve had at your past workplace.” Real fun stuff eh? Unless you were a highly touted player who was considered a strong possibility to be selected in the first round, most players rarely meet team execs, team coaches and player development personnel until they first report for player development camp. In the case of the Minnesota Wild, its prospects as well as a few hopeful invitees report for their ‘first impression’ tomorrow at the Xcel Energy Center and will remain there as they are put through their paces, even having an opportunity to show what they can do in scrimmages on Saturday and Sunday. It isn’t quite the NHL per se, but the prospects know that NHL eyes are squarely upon them so it is in their best interest to have a strong showing. This is especially true for the 9 invitees, another possible example of how the Wild is a very real and perhaps even desperate search for skill to fill out its prospect ranks. Last season, the Wild offered prospect camp invitees in Fridley, Minnesota-native Jarod Palmer, Brandon Buck and Bjorn Krupp pro contracts. Does it mean that either of these two players will be skating for the Wild someday, not necessarily but for undrafted players it is a way to showcase their skills. Undrafted free agents can play key roles in the NHL, as evidenced by the recently traded Kris Versteeg and the Blackhawks Antti Niemi who took a chance on a former Zamboni driver who ended up helping them win their first Stanley Cup in 49 years.
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Some prospects like University of Minnesota: Duluth star Justin Fontaine and Bemidji State’s leading scorer Matt Read who should be familiar to fans of college hockey are going to ply their skills in front of Wild brass. Both are skilled scorers who have great hands and are used to being the go-to offensive threat for their respective team. Other invitees like Joel Broda, J.T. Barnett, Darian Dziurzynski, Tyler Johnson, Josh Caron, Cameron Schilling, and Jared Spurgeon seem to be an interesting mix of toughness and skill. A few of these other invitees stand out from the rest; like Spokane, Washington-native Tyler Johnson who was a member of the U-20 Team USA squad that won gold at the World Junior Championships this winter. Johnson is a small (5’9″, 175lbs) but gifted offensive center, precisely the type of player the Wild’s prospect pool desperately needs. It will be interesting to see if he stands out against some of Development Camp’s other offensively gifted attendees like former Colorado College star Chad Rau who had a good first pro season in Houston, late-season Wild free agent Casey Wellman, as well as Palmer, Fontaine and Read. Another intriguing prospect is late-bloomer Joel Broda, who was one of the Calgary Hitmen’s (WHL) top scorers last season. It was Broda’s emergence that allowed Hitmen to advance to the Memorial Cup after teammate and elite scorer Brandon Kozun went down with an injury. In some ways, he may remind Wild fans of Andrew Brunette, a forward with not a tremendous amount of speed but a player who has good offensive instincts and uses his frame well to protect the puck along the boards but great hands near the net. The last non-college invitee that seems to have a little spice to his game is another Spokane (WHL) product in Jared Spurgeon. Spurgeon is your classic small, but offensively gifted defenseman who has a cannon of a slap shot.
Yet its not all about the invitees. For newly drafted players like Brett Bulmer, Jason Zucker, Johan Larsson, Johan Gustafsson, and Dylan McKinlay it is their first taste of pro development camp. I am intrigued by Brett Bulmer who was the late bloomer of late bloomers at this year’s draft, rising up 99 rankings before the Wild drafted him in the 2nd round, 39th Overall. Bulmer, a gangly 6’3″ power forward out of a high quality Kelowna Rockets’ program. If the Wild guessed right he could be a tremendous steal. The other player that really intrigues me in this group is Johan Larsson. Everything I’ve heard and read about Larsson’s play make him sound like the player you would hate to play against. A player who flies around the ice, hitting and doing whatever it takes for his team to win games. Whether it be charging towards the crease, or dropping down to block shots he naturally agitates by his sheer effort on the ice. It will be interesting if his style of play will rub anyone else at the camp the wrong way enough to make the gloves come off. One member of the 2010 draft class who will not be there will be 1st round pick (9th Overall) Mikael Granlund. Granlund is signed with IFK Helsinki next season and Wild fans will have to wait a little longer before they see him play in Minnesota.
This year’s prospect camp also features plenty of players who have been to multiple camps, especially those who spent most if not all of their season last year with the Wild’s American Hockey League affiliate the Houston Aeros the last few seasons including Colton Gillies, Petr Kalus, Justin Falk, and Maxim Noreau. No doubt these players all are probably spending more time thinking about NHL training camp with the Wild as they hope to earn the last few remaining spots on the roster. Yet there are some other relatively recent draftees that can also highlight their progress by having a strong camp; especially soon-to-be Golden Gopher in winger Erik Haula who had a strong season in the USHL, as well as Tyler Cuma who is coming off a much different 2009-10 campaign. The Toronto-native struggled mightily, and adding insult to injury failed to make Team Canada’s U-20 squad. One player who did make the silver-medal winning Team Canada U-20 squad was defenseman Marco Scandella. Scandella looks to be progressing very nicely after the team drafted him in the 2nd round (55th Overall) in 2008. Even with the ugly elbowing incident that basically robbed him of his second half of the season in Val ‘d Or, Scandella has demonstrated the skill, poise and leadership ability that makes him one of the Wild’s best prospects. Kris Foucault is hoping to parlay a strong playoff season into showing Wild coaches he’s finally learned the consistency that thus far has eluded him throughout most of his junior career. Three players who showed some promise in a late-season call ups; forwards Casey Wellman and Cody Almond as well as Elk River, Minnesota-native Nate Prosser hope to show that they’re ready and deserving of a long look at Wild training camp this September.
Perhaps the most intriguing matchups of the prospect camp will be between the pipes. The Wild signed German goaltender Dennis Endras who was recently named the best goaltender of at the IIHF World Championships this spring. He is a small but athletic goaltender who has superb positioning and he adds an interesting wrinkle to Minnesota’s developing drama between the pipes as future of Josh Harding as the backup to Niklas Backstrom. Harding’s days with the Wild still appear to be numbered as the team hopes to save a little money by giving him a shot with another team where he’d have a better chance to be the top puckstopper. Yet the Wild have some other intriguing goaltending prospects; led by blue chip goaltending prospect Matthew Hackett. Hackett was outstanding for the Plymouth Whalers (OHL), and was a pillar of consistency for them all season long only to be finally be worn down by the relentless offense of the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL playoffs. The story was not quite the same for Darcy Kuemper, who was not only nearly as solid of a team, but played equally strong for the Rebels before they were overwhelmed in the first round of the WHL playoffs. Kuemper did get a small stint with the Houston Aeros where he won 2 out of the 3 games he started in. Raw, Swedish goaltending prospect Johan Gustafsson rounds out the goalie pool.
The players will be put through their paces by Houston Aeros’ bench boss Mike Yeo, and new Director of Player Development Brad Bombardir. The players will also get a crash course in NHL strength and conditioning program in addition to lessons in proper nutrition as they will the team’s strength and conditioning guru Chris Pietzak-Wagner. Without question, especially for those players who played Canadian major junior hockey his workouts which use traditional methods such as kettlebells will have those kids feeling a little sore by the time he’s done with them. No matter what it will be a fun camp, and I will do my best to keep you updated on the daily happenings of the camp.
2010 Wild Prospect Camp Roster
Forwards:
#75 – C – Cody Almond (Houston, AHL) – 6’2″, 199lbs ~ 48GP 7G 11A = 18pts 77 PIM’s
*#42 – LW – J.T. Barnett (Vancouver, WHL) – 6’0″, 191lbs ~ 71GP 21G 17A = 38pts 42 PIM’s +3
*#40 – C – Joel Broda (Calgary, WHL) – 6’0″, 203lbs ~ 66GP 39G 34A = 73pts 65 PIM’s -1
#59 – LW – Brandon Buck (Houston, AHL) – 6’1″, 191lbs ~ 21GP 0G 3A = 3pts 4 PIM’s
#51 – LW – Brett Bulmer (Kelowna, WHL) – 6’3″, 175lbs ~ 65GP 13G 27A = 40pts 95 PIM’s -7
*#49 – LW – Darian Dziurzynski (Saskatoon, WHL) – 6’0″, 210lbs ~ 70GP 14G 15A = 29pts 156 PIM’s -1
*#52 – RW – Justin Fontaine (UMN-Duluth, WCHA) – 5’10”, 160lbs ~ 39GP 21G 25A = 46pts 22 PIM’s
#72 – LW – Kristofer Foucault (Calgary, WHL) – 6’1″, 204lbs ~ 68GP 22G 21A = 43pts 31 PIM’s +3
#18 – LW – Colton Gillies (Houston, AHL) – 6’4″, 195lbs ~ 72GP 7G 13A = 20pts 73 PIM’s
#56 – C – Anthony Hamburg (Omaha, USHL) – 6’1″, 190lbs ~ 54GP 5G 17A = 22pts 35 PIM’s
#60 – LW – Erik Haula (Omaha, USHL) – 5’11”, 170lbs ~ 56GP 28G 44A = 72pts 59 PIM’s
*#46 – C – Tyler Johnson (Spokane, WHL) – 5’9″, 175lbs ~ 64GP 36G 35A = 71pts 32 PIM’s +14
#54 – RW – Petr Kalus (Houston, AHL) – 6’2″, 192lbs ~ 66GP 12G 11A = 23pts 77 PIM’s
#57 – RW – Dylan McKinlay (Chilliwack, WHL) – 6’0″, 162lbs ~ 72GP 20G 23A = 43pts 57 PIM’s Even
#47 – LW – Johan Larsson (Brynas, Swe. Jr.) – 5’10”, 200lbs ~
#45 – RW – Carson McMillan (Houston, AHL) – 6’2″, 213lbs ~ 56GP 4G 4A = 8pts 70 PIM’s
#79 – F – Jarod Palmer (Miami-OH, CCHA) – 6’0″, 200lbs ~ 44GP 18G 27A = 45pts 40 PIM’s
#44 – C – Chad Rau (Houston, AHL) – 5’11”, 178lbs ~ 79GP 19G 19A = 38pts 7 PIM’s
*#68 – F – Matt Read (Bemidji State, CHA) – 5’11”, 190lbs ~ 37GP 19G 22A = 41pts 32 PIM’s
#58 – F – Jere Sallinen (Espoo, Sm-Liiga) – 6’0″, 183lbs ~ 38GP 5G 6A = 11pts 18 PIM’s
#63 – C – Casey Wellman (UMass, H-East) – 6’0″, 160lbs ~ 36GP 23G 22A = 45pts 38 PIM’s
#62 – F – Jason Zucker (U.S. National Dev. Team, USHL) – 5’10”, 175lbs ~ 22GP 11G 7A = 18pts 23 PIM’s
Defenseman:
*#53 – Josh Caron (Kelowna, WHL) – 6’4″, 208lbs ~ 60GP 1G 5A = 6pts 190lbs +4
#71 – Tyler Cuma (Ottawa, OHL) – 6’2″, 192lbs ~ 52GP 5G 17A = 22pts 73 PIM’s
#73 – Justin Falk (Houston, AHL) – 6’5″, 215lbs ~ 69GP 3G 6A = 9pts 87 PIM’s
#61 – Bjorn Krupp (Belleville, OHL) – 6’2″, 189lbs ~ 67GP 0G 11A = 11pts 53 PIM’s
#65 – Sean Lorenz (Notre Dame, CCHA) – 6’1″, 192lbs ~ 34GP 2G 1A = 3pts 14 PIM’s
#67 – Kyle Medvec (Vermont, H-East) – 6’6″, 225lbs ~ 39GP 5G 10A = 15pts 50 PIM’s
#74 – Maxim Noreau (Houston, AHL) – 5’11”, 192lbs ~ 76GP 18G 34A = 52pts 60 PIM’s
#78 – Nate Prosser (Colorado College, WCHA) – 6’2″, 195lbs ~ 39GP 4G 24A = 28pts 58 PIM’s
#64 – Marco Scandella (Val ‘d Or, QMJHL) – 6’2″, 208lbs ~ 31GP 9G 22A = 31pts 41 PIM’s
*#76 – Cameron Schilling (Miami-OH, CCHA) – 6’2″, 182lbs ~ 42GP 4G 15A = 19pts 58 PIM’s
*#41 – Jared Spurgeon (Spokane, WHL) – 5’9″, 185lbs ~ 54GP 8G 43A = 51pts 18 PIM’s +4
Goaltenders:
#31 – Dennis Endras (Augsberger, DEL) – 6’0″, 167lbs ~ 52GP (21W-23L) 3.28GAA .905%SP
#43 – Johan Gustafsson (Farjestad, Swe. Jr) – 6’2″, 202lbs ~
#50 – Matthew Hackett (Plymouth, OHL) – 6’2″, 170lbs ~ 56GP (33W-18L-3OTL) 2.62GAA .925%SP
#70 – Darcy Kuemper (Red Deer, WHL) – 6’4″, 195lbs ~ 61GP (28W-23L-4OTL) 2.73GAA .908%SP
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