September has begun, so that means that hockey season is upon us. Before we can get to the highly anticipated, and potentially highly competitive, training camp, management will host a rookie camp that involves 24 Boston Bruins prospects. For a list of the 24 invitees, and the rookie camp schedule, follow this link to the Boston Bruins website.
Puck Prose
Highlighting this year’s rookie camp is the inclusion of eight of the 2015 draft picks by the Boston Bruins. These eight players are the historical three first round picks Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk, and Zachary Senyshyn, along with second round picks Brandon Carlo, Jeremy Lauzon, third round pick Daniel Vladar, and fifth round pick Jesse Gabrielle.
Another player to watch during this rookie camp is Joonas Kemppainen, who arguably has the best chance out of any of these rookies to make it to the NHL this year. He was signed by GM Don Sweeney as a hopeful third line center replacement of Carl Soderberg, but will need time to get use to the North American ice before he can be trusted with any kind of large responsibility.
Zane McIntyre is most likely the only other player that will have a chance to play for the Boston Bruins this year. When training camp starts, he will be in a three horse race for the backup position, behind Tuukka Rask, with two of last season’s Providence Bruins goalies, Jeremy Smith and Malcolm Subban. For now, McIntyre will act as one of the more experienced leaders of this rookie group and will likely get the most starts at the Rookie Tournament in Buffalo.
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One thing that has been nice to see is the number of rookies who have taken it upon themselves to start being a Bruin as quickly as possible. Noel Acciari showed up on the first day of the Boston Bruins Captain’s Practice, so that shows what kind of drive and devotion he has to the training camp process. Anton Blidh, Colton Hargrove and Frank Vatrano showed up on day two of the Captain’s Practice again showing what kind of young players the Boston Bruins have in their system. It is one thing to be a talented, strong, player, but when you are also showing up to things that others may consider optional, it is a true testament of what kind of player you really are.
Seeing this list of rookies along with seeing the Captain’s Practice starting up, with still more than month to go before opening night, makes the wait for hockey games that much easier. It is going to be a very interesting September this year.
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