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Caitskee
(Been Here Awhile)
USA
620 Posts |
 Posted - 08/22/2008 : 10:20:56 AM
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http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/sports/article/392011
MONCTON - It's a puckstopper's paradise.
Marc Denis and Cedrick Desjardins highlight the list of names who will be attending an elite five-day goaltending camp, which begins today in Moncton. Denis is a National Hockey League veteran, who signed this summer with the Montreal Canadiens and Desjardins is a promising prospect in the Habs farm system.
Desjardins helped lead the Cincinnati Cyclones - Montreal's affiliate - to the East Coast Hockey League championship last season as a sophomore. Many believe the Edmundston native will play next season for the Canadiens' top farm club, the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League.
This goaltending camp at the Tim Hortons 4-Ice Centre will feature on-ice workouts from 9-11 a.m. today, Friday, Sunday and Monday. Saturday is an off day. There will also be a daily off-ice workout.
"We only wanted a maximum of nine guys,'' said Pro Tek Hockey co-owner Frantz Bergevin-Jean, whose company has organized the camp. "Most of the guys are going to NHL camps. Some of them are already in the pros.
"All the guys are junior level or above. We started talking about putting on this camp earlier in the summer and guys quickly showed interest in coming to Moncton to work with us and really get their game ready for training camp.''
The nine goalies in the Moncton camp also include: Robert Mayer and Troy Passingham of the Saint John Sea Dogs, Nicola Riopel of the Moncton Wildcats, Kim St. Pierre of the Canadian women's Olympic team, Miramichi's Nathan Dunnett of the Drummondville Voltigeurs and Moncton natives Wendell Vye and Matt Cooling.
Riopel and Mayer attended Montreal's development camp on a free agent invitation in July. The NHL club has invited both of back for its rookie camp, which opens on Sept. 15.
"One of our missions at Pro Tek Hockey is to give opportunities to local guys to experience this level of hockey and kind of grow into it,'' said Bergevin-Jean, who's the Wildcats goaltending coach.
"We don't have the opportunity to see pros on the ice every day in Moncton. When we have the chance to bring in guys like Marc Denis and Cedrick Desjardins we like the local guys -- the guys on the verge of going that extra step in their career -- to be exposed to them and see what being a pro is all about,'' Bergevin-Jean said, adding it's important for those in this goaltending camp to have a good time.
"That's why we're just training in the morning and Saturday is an off day,'' he said. "We want the guys to have some time to go to restaurants, see some local landmarks and enjoy the community.
"We want them to spread the word so that next year when we try to organize this there will be more NHL guys that want to come here and train for a week and enjoy the area.''
The camp instructors are Bergevin-Jean, Montreal goaltending coach Rollie Melanson of Shediac and former Wildcats goaltender Jean-Francois Damphousse. Damphousse is a former first-round NHL draft pick who had a five-year pro career.
"We want to keep it a fairly small group,'' said Bergevin-Jean. "We want a good instructor to goalie ratio in this camp. The work is done better that way. You can really pay attention to the guys and spend more time working on their weaknesses. We'll probably never go over 12 guys.''
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~IN CHUCK WE TRUST~ |
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