Nashville Predators fans should get their first chance to check out Seth Jones in a Nashville uniform next week at Centennial Sportsplex at the 2013 Development Camp from July 9-13, in which Preds draftees will work out with the team’s coaching staff and scrimmage against each other. It will also be our first chance to see Scott Nichol in a coaching role, as he’ll ride herd over the kids as the team’s new player development guru.
Given the rave reviews Nashville has received for picking Jones at #4, and David Poile’s recent comments about Jones and Filip Forsberg potentially making the team straight out of training camp this fall, I’m guessing this will be the most-scrutinized Development Camp in Predators history. The full roster for this camp will be released later this week.
The Preds’ press release follows:
Many of the Nashville Predators top prospects – including 2013 fourth overall selection Seth Jones and 2012 11th overall selection Filip Forsberg – will be on hand when the team’s 2013 Development Camp officially opens on Tuesday, July 9 at Centennial Sportsplex. The first group of skaters will hit the ice at 8:30 a.m., and players will be available to the media at the conclusion of their respective on-ice session (see schedule for breakdown). The camp continues through Saturday, July 13 with four on-ice sessions coming Tuesday, July 9; Wednesday, July 10; Friday, July 12 and Saturday, July 13. Players will also participate in community relations activities on Thursday afternoon; a full release with times and locations will be available in the coming days.
The purpose of the camp is to educate and direct players in their pro development and conditioning programs, and the week’s events will be presided over by the Predators coaching and hockey operations staff, including new Director of Player Development Scott Nichol and Assistant Coach Phil Housley. The Nashville Predators and Milwaukee Admirals (AHL Affiliate) coaching staffs, will lead the scheduled training regimen, which includes a variety of dry-land activities and workouts, on-ice fundamentals work, off-ice testing, media and nutrition education, and team-building activities. The players will also receive instruction on training principles such as sport-specific power and strength enhancement, flexibility and off-ice conditioning.
Many Predators prospects dating back to the 2009 Entry Draft will be in attendance, in addition to several from last weekend’s 2013 draft.
All on-ice workouts at Centennial Sportsplex are open to the public. On-ice sessions are currently scheduled for:
TUESDAY, July 9 8:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, July 10 8:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
FRIDAY, July 12 8:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
SATURDAY, July 13 8:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.