PhotosProspects

D-Camp Day 5: Scrimmage Photos & Notes

Tom Wilson and Andre Burakovsky are at the center of a hug following the game-winning goal (All Photos Credit: M. Richter)

Six short days after the prospects first took the ice, the 2013 Caps Development Camp has officially come to a close.  In the final scrimmage of the week, Team Red defeated Team White 6-4 in regulation.  While defenseman Steve Oleksy signed autographs on the mezzanine balcony and season ticket holders trickled through the remnants of the equipment sale wearing the complimentary sunglasses distributed by the Red Rockers, the real action was on the ice.

Scrimmage Stats:

Goals & Penalties (Team White info is in Italics, all prospect names are in Bold):

Note: Since official stats aren’t released, these are based on Wes Johnson’s announcements and are regrettably incomplete.

Period 1:  1:24 – Nolan LaPorte (assist Stephane Legault); 5:54 – Taylor Stefishen; 6:54Dalton Young;  16:51 – Stephane Legault; 17:47 – Boston Leier (assists unclear)

Period 2:  3:23 – Travis Boyd (assists Conor MacPhee & Nate Schmidt); 16:07 – Too Many Men (served by Taylor Stefishen); 18:15 – Red Goal (credit unclear)

Period 3:  3:16 – either Boston Leier or Michael Monfredo; 6:27 – Matching Penalties (Blake Heinrich & Stephane Legault) for Unsportsmanlike Conduct; 9:09 – Andre Burakovsky (assist Tom Wilson); 10:25 – Cross-Checking – Zach Sanford; 14:42 – Boarding – Garrett Haar18:24 – White Pulls Clarke Saunders for the Extra Attacker; 19:43 – Chandler Stephenson – Empty Net Goal.

Goalie Notes:

Sergey Kostenko began the game in net for Team White, while Brandon Anderson started for Team Red.  At 9:06 elapsed in the second period, they were relieved by Clarke Saunders and Louis-Philip Guindon, respectively.  Guindon recorded the W.

Plans for the Future:

It was confirmed today that defenseman Garrett Haar (drafted in 2011) will not be returning to the program at the NCAA’s Western Michigan in the fall. Instead, he’ll be shifting to the WHL to play with the Medicine Hat Tigers.  Per GM McPhee, it’s hoped that the increased game schedule will help spark Haar’s development, which had suffered a sophomore slump following a stellar freshman year in 2011-12.

The jury is still out on whether Tom Wilson will be wearing a Capitals sweater come November.  While optimistic, Head Coach Adam Oates expressed a desire to see Wilson in training camp before offering a final verdict on his NHL-readiness.  Should he not break the NHL lineup, he’ll return to the Plymouth Whalers for a final season in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) due to the agreement in place between the NHL and the Canadian Hockey League (the umbrella organization which includes the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL).  While Oates did draw a comparison between Wilson and Eric Lindros at one point in his press conference, it’s important to note that the comparison was strictly in regards to being an NHL-sized player while still playing junior level hockey.

On a similar note, 2013 first round draft pick Andre Burakovsky is not expected to be a contender for a 2013-14 roster slot with the Capitals.  Per McPhee, while the young centreman is quite skilled, he needs to work on his strength before he’s going to be a serious candidate for the NHL level.

On the whole, comments from both McPhee and Oates were consistently positive regarding the prospects.  Oates even went so far as to say that this year’s crop of attendees looked better than last year’s, though the change in camp format may have been a contributing factor.  This year saw fewer scrimmages, and all of them held in the latter half of the week.

M. Richter

Em is a fan of hockey first and individual teams second, with geographical ties that cross the NHL. She was born in the Midwest, raised along the East Coast, and graduated from a university in Western Canada. A firm believer in context above all else, and a card-carrying on-ice official with USA Hockey, she splits her time between the big picture and the details. When not covering the AHL and ECHL for Caps Outsider, her photography can be found on Behance and Flickr. She also occasionally chimes in about the Hershey Bears on the Power Play Post Show.

Related Articles

Check Also
Close
Back to top button