WILMINGTON, Mass. — Dazzling shootout goals have been all the rage at NHL development camps this summer. On Friday, Jake DeBrusk joined the club.
The Boston Bruins draft pick capped B’s development camp with one of the most impressive shootout performances yet, going behind his back to beat goalie Zane McIntyre.
“(I’ve been practicing the move) for a while,” DeBrusk said after the session. “Just probably during the season, things like that. I’m happy it worked out. The ice was a little choppy, I didn’t think it could work, but I tried it, and I’m happy it went in.”
DeBrusk, whom the Bruins selected 14th overall in last month’s NHL draft, said he felt a bit bad about showing up McIntyre, but that the goaltender was a good sport about it.
“We talked after, and I was like, ‘Hey, sorry man,’ ” the 18-year-old forward said. “And he was like, ‘It’s all good, it’s part of it.’ He’s a really good guy. He took it pretty well.”
The shootout followed a 50-minute, 4-on-4 scrimmage between the three dozen or so prospects in attendance. Team White handed DeBrusk’s Team Black an 8-4 loss (and McIntyre got the better of the young winger during the game, denying a point-blank opportunity late in the first period), but the inauspicious end didn’t overshadow what DeBrusk viewed as a great learning experience.
“I thought it went well,” the Edmonton native said of his first camp with the Bruins. “I was pretty nervous off the start. I kind of got better, I think, as the days went on — just kind of felt the puck and things like that. It’s development camp, so try to learn as much as possible. We had different sources on and off the ice that helped me out, and I think I learned a lot this week.
“I think I ended off pretty good. Team Black didn’t really have the game that we wanted to have, but other than that, I think it was a really good camp overall, and I was happy to be a part of it.”
DeBrusk next month will travel to Calgary for Team Canada’s world junior summer camp before returning to Boston in September for Bruins rookie camp.
