New Jersey Devils development camp officially came to an end yesterday. It was a fun week for both the players and the fans, especially for those who were able to watch the scrimmages in person. Not a ton of footage has been posted on the Internet just yet but as soon as the Devils do, it will be dissected as well. But for now, here’s a general overview of development camp.
Players arrived in Newark on Monday; here’s a complete roster of those who attended.
They warmed up with some soccer and then hit the ice.
Here’s a complete photo album from Day One.
Day Two started with off-ice workouts and Coach Hynes was there to observe.
The Devils announced development camp teams A and B. Team A consisted of forwards Joey Anderson, Brandon Baddock, Jesper Boqvist, Ryan Kujawinski, Nico Hischier, Brandon Gignac, Blake Speers, Aarne Talvitie, and Miles Wood; defensemen Yaroslav Dyblenko, Joshua Jacobs, Colby Sissons, Reilly Walsh, and Colton White; and goaltenders MacKenzie Blackwood and Evan Cormier.
Team B consisted of forwards Nathan Bastian, Austin Cangelosi, Robert Carpenter, Nicolas Guay, Michael McLeod, Nikita Popugaev, John Quenneville, Marián Studenič, Pavel Zacha, and Fabian Zetterlund; defensemen Jocktan Chainey, Jeremy Davies, Michael Kapla, Michael Kapla, and Steven Santini; and goaltenders Ken Appleby and Gilles Senn.
The Devils also announced that forwards John Quenneville and Brandon Gignac, and goaltender Gilles Senn would not be participating on the ice due to injuries for mostly precautionary purposes. Senn did play a little further on in the week.
Tuesday night, the Devils prospects attended a cooking class and had their own Iron Chef competition. They learned how to prepare healthy meals and had some fun in the process.
Day Three was the 3-on-3 scrimmage, the one open to Devils Season Ticket Holders who RSVPed well in advance for the event. Here were the rosters:
After two rounds of play, Team Daneyko led the way with a 2-0 record, Team Niedermayer and Team Brodeur went 1-1, and Team Stevens was 0-2.
Team Daneyko, led by Pavel Zacha, went 3-0 to win the 3-on-3 scrimmage championship (is that the official name for it or…?).
Also on Team Daneyko, defenseman Joshua Jacobs has been on all three 3-on-3 scrimmage championship teams over the past few years. Here’s a recap and here’s a photo album from the event.
That night, Pavel Zacha and a few of the prospects went out to dinner at Dinosaur BBQ in Newark; he took over the Devils’ Instagram story for the night.
Thursday was an off-ice day. The prospects were split up into three (four) different groups to venture out into the Newark community and get involved. The first group stopped by the Newark Library to read to the kids:
The second group (Jeremy Davies, John Quenneville, Aarne Talvitie, and MacKenzie Blackwood) headed to the Goodwill in Newark to serve food.
The third group skated with kids through Hockey in NJ, an excellent program that helps kids in state play the sport.
And the fourth group visited little kids at the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
After they finished their community visits, they came back together to go on a boat cruise on the Hudson River, sailing from Exchange Place in Jersey City and passing landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and One World Trade Center.
Here’s a complete recap from Day Four. Miles Wood took over the Devils’ Instagram story while SuperBuddies Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian took over the Devils’ Snapchat to cover the event.
Friday, July 14 was highlighted by the Devils prospects taking on the Escape the Room challenge in Montclair. They were split up into four teams for the competition and all four teams made it out within the time frame. Joey Anderson took over the Devils’ Snapchat for that. Here’s a recap of that.
Saturday was arguably the main event of development camp, when the prospects were split into two teams (Team Red and Team White) and competed against each other. Devils fans were on hand to watch and cheer. Here were the official rosters:
Team White edged out Team Red, 6-5, with Nathan Bastian’s game-winning goal with 2:30 remaining in the scrimmage. Steve Santini, Nico Hischier, Jocktan Chainey, Joey Anderson, and Ryan Kujawinski all scored for Team Red while Reilly Walsh (2), Fabian Zetterlund, Michael McLeod, Robert Carpenter, and Bastian tallied goals for Team White. Walsh, Bastian, McLeod, and Jesper Boqvist (2) all had shootout goals.
The Devils had a point system in place all week long and they awarded points for a variety of different things; tryouts Carpenter and Nicolas Guay finished with the top two point totals, and MacKenzie Blackwood finished third.
And that is a wrap on Devils Development Camp 2017. Expect plenty more coverage throughout the next week or so. I’d like to do recaps of players that stood out to me and I definitely want to take a long hard look at Hischier, as well as players who could crack the Devils lineup in the fall. As August arrives, I’ll start looking ahead to training camp and who I think will be in the opening night lineup, who might stay up/down next season, breaking down the Devils’ 2017-18 schedule, etc.
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