The first cuts of the season have been made by the Bruins, who finalized their main training camp roster on Thursday afternoon.
As expected, the bulk of the participants of this week’s rookie camp will get to move on the main camp, but five players were released.
All five were rookie-camp invites that had not been drafted or signed by the Bruins. Forwards Dylan Hood, Adam Presizniuk and Conor Stokes, defenseman Charlie Dodero and goalie Jared DeMichiel are the players who will not advance to the main camp from the rookie group.
Defenseman Kevan Miller, a University of Vermont product who engaged in the third of three fights in the opening five seconds of Tuesday’s second rookie game against the Islanders, is the lone unsigned invite advancing to the main camp. Forwards Kyle MacKinnon, a Providence College product, and Calle Ridderwall, a native of Sweden who attended Notre Dame, also will join the main camp. MacKinnon and Ridderwall are not Boston property, but did sign AHL deals with the Bruins’ affiliate in Providence this summer.
The other rookies, including 2011 first-round pick Dougie Hamilton, will join the veterans at the Garden on Friday, with the youngsters getting in one final practice as a group while the vets undergo physicals and fitness testing. The groups will then be merged on Saturday with the start of regular camp practices.
In all, the Bruins will have 54 players attending their main camp, with 33 forwards, 17 defensemen and four goaltenders. Chris Clark, 35, a South Windsor, Conn., native and veteran of 11 NHL seasons with Calgary, Washington and Columbus, is the lone veteran invited on a tryout basis.
There won’t be many spots open for those players with the bulk of Boston’s Stanley Cup-winning lineup returning, but there’s sure to be some intense competition for the few jobs that are up for grabs.
The camp will be split into two groups until cut down to a more manageable size. The first on-ice sessions of the main camp begin on Saturday at the Garden and will be open to the public. Group A takes the ice first at 10 a.m., followed by Group B at 12:30 p.m. The order is reversed for Sunday, with Group B at 10 a.m. and Group A at 12:30 p.m. Friday’s testing and rookie sessions are not open to the public.
Bruins 2011-12 Training Camp Roster
Forwards: Jamie Arniel, Patrice Bergeron, Anthony Camara, Gregory Campbell, Carter Camper, Jordan Caron, Stefan Chaput, Chris Clark, Craig Cunningham, Zach Hamill, Josh Hennessy, Nathan Horton, Chris Kelly, Alexander Khokhlachev, Jared Knight, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Lane MacDermid, Kirk MacDonald, Kyle MacKinnon, Brad Marchand, Daniel Paille, Rich Peverley, Benoit Pouliot, Tyler Randell, Calle Ridderwall, Yannick Riendeau, Max Sauve, Tyler Seguin, Ryan Spooner, Jamie Tardif, Shawn Thornton, Trent Whitfield.
Defensemen: Matt Bartkowski, Andrew Bodnarchuk, Johnny Boychuk, Ryan Button, Marc Cantin, Zdeno Chara, Colby Cohen, Joe Corvo, Andrew Ference, Dougie Hamilton, Steven Kampfer, Nathan McIver, Zach McKelvie, Adam McQuaid, Kevan Miller, Dennis Seidenberg, David Warsofsky.
Goaltenders: Michael Hutchinson, Anton Khudobin, Tuukka Rask, Tim Thomas
Group A
Forwards: Arniel, Bergeron, Campbell, Horton, Khokhlachev, MacDermid, MacDonald, MacKinnon, Paille, Pouliot, Ridderwall, Riendeau, Seguin, Tardif, Thornton, Whitfield.
Defensemen: Bartkowski, Boychuk, Cohen, Ference, Kampfer, McIver, McKelvie, Seidenberg.
Goaltenders: Khudobin, Thomas.
Group B
Forwards: Camara, Camper, Caron, Chaput, Clark, Cunningham, Hamill, Hennessy, Kelly, Knight, Krejci, Lucic, Marchand, Peverley, Randell, Sauve, Spooner.
Defensemen: Bodnarchuk, Button, Cantin, Chara, Corvo, Hamilton, McQuaid, Miller, Warsofsky.
Goaltenders: Hutchinson, Rask.