It's beginning to look a lot like Hockey Season! The Penguins will kick off their annual prospect camp and tourney in Kitchener, ON this weekend. Here are the details, including the invited roster of players...
More on this later today...
The Pittsburgh Penguins will hold their 2009 prospect camp from Saturday, Sept. 5 to Thursday, Sept. 10 in Kitchener, Ontario. Penguins’ prospects will compete in a Rookie Tournament at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium against prospects from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins.
Penguins’ prospects will be in Pittsburgh Saturday morning to undergo physicals and fitness testing at Pittsburgh’s UPMC facility on the South Side before departing for Kitchener. Players will be available to the media at UPMC at 8 a.m.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Todd Reirden and assistant coach John Hynes will oversee the 22 players attending the camp. Among the prospects taking part are promising forwards Eric Tangradi, Dustin Jeffrey and Luca Caputi.
Tangradi, whom the Penguins acquired with left winger Chris Kunitz from Anaheim for Ryan Whitney, is an imposing figure at 6-foot-4, 221 pounds. The gifted left winger tallied 88 points (38 goals, 50 assists) in 55 games with the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League. His 88 points ranked eighth in the OHL. The 20-year-old added 21 points on eight goals and 13 assists in 21 playoff games.
Jeffrey played in 14 NHL games with the Penguins during the 2008-09 season, posting three points (one goal, two assists). In 63 games with Wilkes-Barre, the 21-year-old totaled 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists). Jeffrey finished second on the team with 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 12 AHL postseason contests.
Caputi also made his NHL debut with Pittsburgh during the 2008-09 campaign, scoring one goal in five games. He scored his first career NHL goal on the first shift of his first NHL game (Feb. 3 at Montreal). Caputi finished sixth in scoring for Wilkes-Barre with 45 points (18 goals, 27 assists) and added eight points (three goals, five assists) in 12 AHL playoff games.
Other prospects attending camp include: defenseman Simon Despres, Pittsburgh’s first-round pick (30th overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft; defenseman Brian Strait, who helped lead Boston University to the 2009 NCAA championship; center Keven Veilleux, who scored 48 points (15 goals, 33 assists) in 29 games with Rimouski of the QMJHL; and forward Casey Pierro-Zabotel, who led the WHL in scoring with 115 points (36 goals, 79 assists) with Vancouver.
Pittsburgh Penguins veterans will report to training camp in Pittsburgh Sept. 12. Schedule details will be released prior to the opening of camp.
Following is a schedule for the Penguins’ 2009 Prospect Camp:
Saturday, September 5, 2009
7:30 a.m. Medical Testing @ UPMC South Side
Bus Kitchener
6:00 p.m. Practice in Kitchener
Sunday, September 6, 2009
10:00 a.m. Practice in Kitchener
7:00 p.m. Game vs. Toronto
Monday, September 7, 2009
10:30 a.m. Practice in Kitchener
7:00 p.m. Game vs. Ottawa
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
11:30 a.m. Practice in Kitchener
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
10:30 a.m. Practice in Kitchener
7:00 p.m. Game vs. Toronto
Thursday, September 10, 2009
2:00 p.m. Game vs. Boston
Bus to Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS 2009 PROSPECT CAMP ROSTER
DEFENSEMEN (6) Robert Bortuzzo
Lane Caffaro
Jonathan D’Aversa
Simon Despres
Alex Grant
Brian Strait
FORWARDS (14)
Andy Bathgate
Luca Caputi
Justin Dowling
Joey Haddad
Dustin Jeffrey
Nick Johnson
Nathan Moon
Nick Petersen
Casey Pierro-Zabotel
Ryan Schnell
Zach Sill
Eric Tangradi
Keven Veilleux
Joe Vitale