Prospect Camp and More Delicious Treats

For once Minnesota has a decent amount of coverage pertaining to the Prospect Development Camp, where all the youngsters in the system (and a few invitees) practice, train, skate, scrimmage, and basically live at the X for a week. In fact last night for the Select-A-Seat the team was scrimmaging while fellow season ticket holders and I were able to catch a glimpse. (I was also able to catch a glimpse of Houston Aero Coach Kevin Constantine wolfing down some ice cream while I was enjoying a Pabst tall boy at Tom Reid's Hockey City Pub.)
Cal Clutterbuck was profiled as a prospective roster spot winner by Wild.com, while Tyler Cuma's prospect camp went everything but smooth; he took a stick to the mouth Wednesday, and is now out for the rest of camp after spraining his Medial Collateral Ligament after making a hit. Depending on the severity of the sprain, Cuma will likely be off the ice for a couple weeks (I sprained my knee a few years ago and it took months before it felt normal again, although I certainly am not a finely tuned athlete like Cuma.) He also was interviewed by Bob Sansavere for the Pioneer Press.

Here is some video from Camp:

Tyler Cuma


James Sheppard


Benoit Pouliot


Colton Gillies


Kyle Medvec


-Today The Wild Shawn Belle for Corey Locke. Belle completely fell off the radar this last year after having a cup of coffee in 06-07, and while he has immense talent the biggest knock on him has been his lack of hockey sense. Locke was a stud in junior hockey for the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario League, and had formidable chemistry with Matt Foy (who just signed with the St. Louis Blues), although he's only seen action in 1 NHL game. Minnesota also signed Center Krys Kolanos; Kolanos was a first round pick for Phoenix in 2000, and was on his way to being a very good player until injuries (notably a concussion) side tracked his career. Both Locke and Kolanos are meant to bolster the Houston Aeros, and provide some sort of depth in case injuries beset the big club up the middle.
-Nate Hagemo, a former Edina Hornet and Minnesota Golden Gopher, is participating in Carolina's prospect camp. Hagemo has had a number of run-ins with the law and with drugs since he had to leave the Gopher hockey team do to an injury suffered his freshman year. Best of Luck to Nate.
-I like Jeff Carter of the Philadelphia Flyers as much as the next guy, but apparently a super fan. Impressive indeed.
-One of the "perks" of the Select-A-Seat was that I was able to give input on concepts of not only a 3rd Jersey, but also a mascot. All the 3rd jersey concepts had a green jersey, and the mascot looked like a Berenstain Bear.