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The annual Traverse City NHL Prospects tourney begins today and the Detroit Red Wings will be looking to defend their title from last September. This marks the 16th year that the Red Wings have hosted the prospects tournament. The other teams competing in the tournament this year are the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues.
Notable 2014 first-round draft picks participating in the tournament consist of Sam Reinhart (Buffalo, No. 2 overall), Haydn Fleury (Carolina, No. 7 overall), Sonny Milano (Columbus, No. 16 overall) and Robby Fabbri (St. Louis, No. 21 overall). The Red Wings’ top draft pick, center Dylan Larkin (No. 15) is preparing for his freshman season at the University of Michigan and is ineligible to participate in the NHL tourney.
Even for the most seasoned of prosepcts who might be taking part for the 3rd or 4th time, the tournament helps prepare them for each of their team's main training camp beginning next week.
Here is the press release from the Red Wings outlining the Wings' roster for the tournament:
DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today revealed their roster for the 2014 NHL Prospects Camp, which is slated to run from Friday, Sept. 12 to Tuesday, Sept. 16 at Centre ICE Arena in Traverse City, Mich. Highlighting this year’s roster are 11 players who helped the Red Wings win their first-ever tournament championship last September, including Anthony Mantha, the reigning CHL most-valuable player after scoring 81 goals in 81 combined regular-season and playoff games during the 2013-14 season, Ryan Sproul, one of nine rookies to make their NHL debut for Detroit in 2013-14, and Martin Frk, a 2013 CHL Memorial Cup champion and the team’s top pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.Six players from last year’s tournament went on to play for the Red Wings during the 2013-14 season. Over the 15-year tournament history, 440 players have moved on to skate in at least one NHL game. Prospects from the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues will also be competing in this year’s tournament.
Tickets are available for $10 per day and can be purchased at Centre ICE Arena, over the phone at 231-933-7465 and via fax through the ticket order form on www.centreice.org. Each ticket is good for all four games per day. Teams are divided into two divisions and will play each team within their division once during the round robin before a crossover on the final day of the tournament, with the first-place finishers in each division meeting for the championship on Tuesday, Sept. 16. For more information and a complete tournament schedule, visit centreice.org.
2014 Detroit Red Wings Prospect Camp Roster
Goaltenders #31 Jared Coreau - Toledo (ECHL) - Signed by Detroit, 4/3/13 #36 Jake Paterson - Saginaw (OHL) - 2012 3rd round (80th overall) #68 Lucas Peressini - Kingston (OHL) - Free agent invitee
Defenseman
#25 Mattias Backman - Linkoping (SHL) - 2011 5th round (146th overall) #46 Ty Stanton - Medicine Hat (WHL) - Free agent invitee #48 Ryan Sproul - Grand Rapids (AHL) - 2011 2nd round (55th overall) #53 Joe Hicketts - Victoria (WHL) - Free agent invitee #71 Mitchell Wheaton - Kelowna (WHL) - 2013 5th round (139th overall) #74 Marc McNulty - Prince George (WHL) - 2013 6th round (169th overall) #77 Richard Nedomlel - Toledo (ECHL) - 2011 6th round (175th overall)
Forwards
#39 Anthony Mantha - RW - Val d’Or (QMJHL) - 2013 1st round (20th overall) #42 Martin Frk - RW - Grand Rapids (AHL) - 2012 2nd round (49th overall) #45 Colin Campbell - RW - Lake Superior St. (WCHA) - Signed by Detroit, 3/17/14 #54 Hayden Hodgson - RW - Erie/Sarnia (OHL) - Free agent invitee #59 Tyler Bertuzzi - LW - Guelph (OHL) - 2013 2nd round (58th overall) #60 Marek Tvrdon - LW - Kelowna (WHL) - 2011 4th round (115th overall) #62 Zach Nastasiuk - C - Owen Sound (OHL) - 2013 2nd round (48th overall) #63 Jerome Verrier - RW - Drummondville (QMJHL) - Free agent invitee #67 Brandon Robinson - C - Kitchener (OHL) - Free agent invitee #72 Andreas Athanasiou - C - Barrie (OHL) - 2012 4th round (110th overall) #76 Darby Llewellyn - LW - Kitchener (OHL) - Free agent invitee #78 Dominic Turgeon - C - Portland (WHL) - 2014 3rd round (63rd overall) #82 Tomas Nosek - C - HC Pardubice (Czech) - Signed by Detroit, 6/14/14 #86 Blake Clarke - LW - North Bay/Saginaw (OHL) Free agent invitee
Red Wings Traverse City Schedule
Sept. 12 vs. St. Louis Blues - 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets - 7:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at Minnesota Wild - 7:00 p.m. Sept. 16 - Championship Game - TBD
The Red Wings will bring a talented and interesting mixture of prospects to Traverse City. Anthony Mantha begins his mission of making Ken Holland's decision extremely difficult when it comes to making the big club by leading this prospect team offensively. It should be noted Mantha scored two goals in last year’s championship game.
Defenseman Ryan Sproul and goaltender < b>Jake Paterson form a formidable pair of prospects on the defensive side of things that should help the Red Wings in their defense of their title. Up front, the likes of Andreas Athanasiou, Zach Nastasiuk and 2014 second rounder Dominic Turgeon will also be a part of what should be a solid forward unit for the Wings at this tournament.
Perhaps of greater interest will be whether the likes of Martin Frk and Marek Tvrdon rebound from "down" season's a year ago? A solid showing at this weekend's tournament would go along way in getting them on the right path.
mark.spizzirri@hockeybuzz.com
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