WILMINGTON, Mass. — Don Sweeney is an old hand at this by now, but he's still learning new tricks every year.
The Bruins assistant general manager was the driving force behind establishing the club's inaugural development camp back in 2007, and he's run each edition of the camp since. The fifth such gathering of the organization's top prospects got underway Thursday at Ristuccia Arena, where hundreds of fans were on hand for their first glimpse of 2011 first-round pick Dougie Hamilton and 23 other Bruins youngsters.
Past editions of the camp have helped prepare the likes of David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin for NHL action, and Sweeney can't help but marvel at how far the annual camp has come.
"We didn't have any idea what it was going to be," Sweeney said of the first camp in 2007. "I mean, I've picked the brains of some of the people that run camps at the National Hockey League level, but it was a trial and error situation for sure and we've learned from it. We've tweaked it each and every year and try and continue to find ways to challenge the kids as well as challenge ourselves and I think we've all learned from it."
One thing Sweeney learned quickly was the importance of creating an atmosphere where the youngsters can get acclimated to professional hockey without the pressure of trying to win a job or the intimidation of having to go up against the veterans in the main training camp.
"I wanted all of the kids to feel really comfortable," Sweeney said. "We've had players make our hockey club coming out of the development camp, and going to the rookie camp and going to the training camp. And I want everybody to realize they get to know the staff and they just feel comfortable when they come back, they're part of this organization now."
Judging from the initial reaction of the prospects on hand, that goal seems well on its way to being met.
"This is a great week," forward Tyler Randell said. "Development camps are always great. You get to come in, get to know the coaching staff a lot better. It's definitely great to get a little more comfortable. You're in the atmosphere you're going to be in for the main camp, so you're more comfortable going into the main camp and can just play your game and try to impress."
Randell is one of the veterans in Wilmington this week, as he's participating in his third development camp since being drafted in the sixth round in 2009. Part of the challenge for Sweeney and his instructors is forging some chemistry between those veterans and the newcomers experience the camp for the first time, and having players like Randell and defensemen Tommy Cross and Ryan Button take on leadership roles helps with that process.
"We have fresh faces in here, we have some older guys who are returning, you hope that you blend that together right away," Sweeney said. "And maybe some of the older guys kind of give them a little heads-up because some of these kids are coming in here wide-eyed and they don't have any idea [what to expect]."
"I don't think that's anything that's force-fed, I think that's something that's a natural progression," Sweeney added. "I would expect Tommy Cross and Ryan Button, just two guys off the top of my head, have been here, Ryan was down in Providence, Tommy exhibited that in the last couple of years. And he's been facing some challenges, injury-wise that I would think that, he's been around more an [observational] role two years ago, and then last year was full bore, so I think he's been through some trials and tribulations that he can share with some guys."
Cross has attended all five of the camps since being drafted in the second round in 2007, but was unable to participate in several due to injuries. Avoiding further injuries is of primary importance in this camp, though the Bruins had a bit of a scare in the first on-ice workout on Thursday.
Forward Jared Knight barreled over goalie Michael Hutchinson in the crease during one drill. Hutchinson was shaken up and skated off the ice with a trainer. He did not return, but Sweeney reported the netminder was fine after the practice.
"Well your hopes are that everybody gets away healthy, first of all," Sweeney said. "I mean, obviously Jared drives to the net and it's probably typical [of his style of play]. I was talking, actually, to Doug [Hamilton] and Marc Cantin, two guys in the OHL, it wasn't any surprise to them that it was [Knight] who ran into Hutch. But Mike's fine and Jared's not going to change his game."
The Bruins aren't looking for the players to change their games. After all, they were drafted, signed or invited to camp for a reason. But Sweeney and Co. do want the prospects to get an idea of how to do things the Bruins way and what to expect when things get more serious and jobs are on the line in the main training camp in September.
"I've always said, the Bruins are here to learn about you, you're here to learn about the Bruins and how we do things, and then learn about yourself and where you need to go between now and in September, when you come back here or you go to college or back to your USHL [team] or the OHL, wherever you're going to go play," Sweeney said of his message to the prospects. "And be a sponge throughout the course of the week because there are a lot of teaching moments that happen throughout the course of this week that you should really file away and learn from."
