Monday, July 6, 2009

Badgers at development camps

I'll be honest; I have a hard time keeping track of the development camps held by NHL teams who hold the rights of Badgers/future Badgers. So if anyone has any pertinent links or can fill me in on other development camps, please do so. (You can post in the comments section, or you can always send me an email at sixtymin@gmail.com. Thanks!)

Right now, I can tell you this:

The Oilers' development camp is this week (July 6 - 10), and Guy Flaming reports that Troy Hesketh is in attendance. I'd imagine Guy will have further reports from the camp later on, and I'll try to link them as they become available. Also, looking at the 1st link here, it appears that the Oilers website will have a Hesketh feature available on Thursday, so keep an eye out for that. EDITED TO ADD: 630 CHED has an audio interview with Hesketh available today. Good stuff!

The Rangers had their development camp last week (thanks to DPlaya for the heads-up!), and HF indicates that Derek Stepan had an excellent camp:
Finally, Stepan’s on-ice work this past week is indicative of why the Rangers think he may be their first-line center of the future. His vision, decision-making with the puck, speed, acceleration, shot, and hard work were all superb. Perhaps the most creative player on the ice during Friday’s scrimmage, Stepan and Bourque on the ice together were an exciting duo. Although it was Bourque that got the winning goal on an excellent skate in on net, it was Stepan that stepped around defender after defender to make the plays during much of the scrimmage.
Nice work, Derek!

(I gotta tell ya, Stepan is one of the players that I'm really looking forward to seeing play next year. I've got a good feeling about him and the elevation of his game.)

Ryan McDonagh, whose rights the Rangers recently obtained, wasn't at the camp -- the Rangers didn't obtain his rights until June 30, and the camp was already underway.
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