Going Camping

It’s that time of the summer again…the annual New Jersey development camp.

From July 12-16th, 34 players–20 forwards, 10 defensemen, and 4 goaltenders–will be taking the ice at Barnabas Health Hockey House (the Devils practice facility) in Newark.  Full roster can be found below:

Forwards: Pavel Zacha, Blake Coleman, Michael McLeod, Nathan Bastian, Miles Wood, Brandon Gignac, John Quenneville, Nick Lappin, Joey Anderson, Brandon Baddock, Ryan Kujawinski, Jan Mandat, Kevin Rooney, J.D. Dudek, Chris Shero, Jesper Bratt, Joe Blandisi, Austin Cangelosi, Brett Seney, Blake Speers.

Defensemen: Yohann Auvitu, Steven Santini, Josh Jacobs, Colton White, Zach Berzolla, Gavin Bayreuther, Luke McInnis, Garret Cockerill, Marc Biega, Scott Savage.

Goaltenders: Ken Appleby, Evan Cormier, Matt Morris, Mackenzie Blackwood.

A breakdown of the roster:

-8 players made at least one appearance in Albany during the 2015-16 season.

-6 players are 2016 draft selections.

-18 are Devil draft picks.

-College ties: 6 players come from Boston College.  Other schools represented: Maine, Merrimack, Northeastern, St. Lawrence, Brown, and Providence.

-Family ties: Chris Shero is GM Ray Shero’s son (no pressure, kid).

-9 players are on a tryout basis.  Could there be another Joe Whitney or Matt Lorito in that group?  We shall see.

The schedule kicks off with two practice groups on Tuesday afternoon, followed by a 3 on 3 competition on Wednesday morning (open to the public), and a community visit later that afternoon.  Thursday will feature three off ice workout groups, and Friday will see on ice skills.  Saturday afternoon everyone will take part in an intrasquad scrimmage that will also be open to the public (if everything works out to plan, I will be in attendance for that).