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The Calgary Flames have released their prospect development camp roster and schedule which starts this Thursday. Many fans are excited for this year’s development camp given the amount of new faces found in the Flames organization since just last year.
Specifically gaining attention will be recently acquired draft selections Emile Poirier, Sean Monahan, and Morgan Klimchuk who fans are anxious to see for different reasons. Monahan, for starters, was atop many Calgary Flames supporter’s wish lists for the 2013 NHL draft and as such they cannot wait to see him in a Flames jersey. Poirier, on the other hand, was a draft selection which left many wondering – Emile Who?
Not too many fans knew of Emile prior to the draft and were not expecting his name to be called by Jay Feaster. These same fans will be keeping a close eye on the Quebec native in order to try and better assess whether or not Feaster made a good choice with his 22nd overall selection.
For me, the three players I will be paying close attention to will be Mark Jankowski, Reto Berra, and Johnny Gaudreau. While it will certainly be interesting to see the new draft picks skate among the group of more experienced Flames prospects, the above three players are those I feel should be standing out and showing strides in their development.
Since being drafted, 18 year old Jankowski has added some size to his lanky frame as he currently stands at 6’2 and 180lbs. The center continues to play at the college level for the Providence Friars where he has posted 18pts in 34 games played so far. Although these numbers are nothing spectacular, keep in mind that Mark was drafted earlier than most and he is still a few years removed from being NHL ready. I feel this year’s prospect camp will give us a much better idea of what the Flames have in Jankowski as he’s gained an extra year of experience and size since we’ve seen him last.
In addition to Jankowski, another name who many are looking forward to seeing is goaltender Reto Berra. Acquired from the St Louis Blues in a trade for Jay Bouwmeester, 26 year old Berra is a big tender at 6’4 and 195lbs. He has been described as a player who is very focused, strong mentally, and has excellent positioning in his crease. Given the uncertainty of the Flames goaltending situation with the likely retirement of Miikka Kiprusoff, Flames management are hoping that one of Berra or recently signed Karri Ramo could step in as their future starting netminder.
And lastly, a name which should not be new to anyone, is Johnny Gaudreau. Although Gaudreau has gained a lot of experience and is developing quite nicely, unlike other prospects around him he remains quite small at 5’8 and 155lbs. Notwithstanding his size, Gaudreau has put up some very respectable numbers over his last two years playing for Boston College with 44 and 51pts in 44 and 35 games played, respectably.
"Johnny Hockey" will certainly be an interesting player to keep an eye on during this camp as he tries to further his development and show the Flames Brass just what he has to offer. Unfortunately Gaudreau has already commited to playing another year at Boston College which should help with his biggest challenge - competing against bigger and more experienced guys like Baertschi, Howse, and Bancks. Would be nice to see Johnny try and crack the lineup, but the 19 year old winger will continue to develop at the college level which is never a bad thing, either.
Will guys with a bit more experience like Gaudreau, Baertschi, Nemisz, and Horak show the newcomers a few things throughout the camp, or will there be some pleasant surprises in guys like Jankowski, Monahan, Poirier and Klimchuk? I guess we will have to wait and see!
Below is the list of invitees to the camp which has a total of 44 prospects (five goalies, 12 defencemen, 27 forwards) followed by the two starting teams (Group A, Group B) and the schedule.
Goalies: Laurent Brossoit, Joni Ortio, Brody Hoffman, Reto Berra, Jon Gillies.
Defencemen: Ryan Culkin, John Gilmour, Curtis Leonard, Trey Lewis, James Martin, Eric Roy, Keegan Kanzig, Brett Kulak, Drew MacKenzie, John Ramage, Patrick Sieloff, Tyler Wotherspoon.
Centres: Noel Acciari, Matt DeBlouw, Roman Horak, Corban Knight, Sean Monahan, Bill Arnold, Markus Granlund, Mark Jankowski, Josh Jooris, Dan O’Donoghue, Max Reinhart.
Left-wingers: Michael Ferland, Johnny Gaudreau, Morgan Klimchuk, Bryce Van Brabant, Ken Agostino, Sven Baertschi, Turner Elson.
Right-wingers: Austin Carroll, Ben Hanowski, Tim Harrison, Ryan Howse, Pavlo Padakin, David Eddy, Coda Gordon, Linden Penner, Emile Poirier.
Group A
91 - Acciari, Noel - C
40 - Berra, Reto - G
75 - Carroll, Austin - RW
67 - Culkin, Ryan - LD
95 - DeBlouw, Matt - C
79 - Ferland, Michael - LW
60 - Gaudreau, Johnny - LW
82 - Gillies, Jon - G
83 - Gilmour, John - LD
58 - Hanowski, Ben - RW
97 - Harrison, Tim - RW
70 - Hoffman, Brody - G
51 - Horak, Roman - C
64 - Howse, Ryan - RW
52 - Klimchuk, Morgan - LW
10 - Knight, Corban - C
98 - Leonard, Curtis - LD
78 - Lewis, Trey - LD
68 - Martin, James - LD
23 - Monahan, Sean - C
74 - Padakin, Pavlo - RW
84 - Roy, Eric - LD
90 - Van Brabrant, Bryce - LW
Group B
94 - Agostino, Kenny - LW
92 - Arnold, Bill - C
47 - Baertschi, Sven - LW
1 - Brossoit, Laurent - G
45 - Eddy, David - RW
65 - Elson, Turner - LW
62 - Gordon, Coda - RW
60 - Granlund, Markus - C
77 - Jankowski, Mark - C
86 - Jooris, Josh - C
73 - Kanzig, Keegan - LD
61 - Kulak, Brett - LD
63 - MacKenzie, Drew - RD
96 - O'Donoghue, Dan - C
37 - Ortio, Joni - G
93 - Penner, Linden - RW
57 - Poirier, Emile - RW
49 - Ramage, John - RD
59 - Reinhart, Max - C
50 - Sieloff, Patrick - LD
56 - Wotherspoon, Tyler - LD
SCHEDULE
Wednesday, July 10 - Testing - all players: 7:00 AM – 2:30 AM
Thursday, July 11 - Skill Development - Group A - 10:00 AM, Group B - 2:00 PM - WinSport
Friday, July 12 - Skill Development - Group B - 10:00 AM, Group A - 2:00 PM - WinSport
Saturday, July 13 - Scrimmage - all players - 10:00 AM - WinSport
Sunday, July 14 - Skill Development - Group A - 10:00, Group B - 11:30 AM - WinSport
Monday, July 15 - Scrimmage - all players - 10:00 AM - WinSport
Tuesday, July 16 - Skill Development - Group 1 - 9:00 AM, Group 2 - 10:00 AM - WinSport*
*Groups will be re-arranged
Thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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