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Good morning all. All eyes in the Avalanche world turned to the Family Sports Center this week for the last organized event before training camp opens, Prospect Development Camp. Unlike past years, the Avs elected to hold some on-ice activities, specifically a 3-day power skating course with consultant Tracy Tutton. Reports from the youngsters found the training to be tough but very much appreciated.
- A breakdown of who was there, and from where:
Pros (5): Martinsen, Bigras, Geertsen, Martin, Will
CHL Prospects(8): Boikov, Nantel, Pepin, Magyar, Baudin, Bleackley, Wood, Meloche
NCAA Prospects (3): Compher, Greer, Storm
European Prospects (4): Westlund, Rantanen, Lindholm, Pajpach
Non-roster invitees (2): Maheux, Hamonic
- The Avs really stepped up the coverage this year. There are interviews with each and every participant from the org on their site along with chats with Skating Consultant Tracy Tutton and Director of Player Development David Oliver. I highly recommend checking them out, especially the Boikov and Martinsen interviews.
- The Player Development Staff has grown from basically a director plus a part-time consultant to a 4-man department now. Director David Oliver now has Brett Clark, Adam Foote and new hire Brian WIllsie (all former Avs players) at his disposal. These four ran this week's camp along with Tutton and Goalie Coach Jean-Ian Filiatrault. It's really fantastic to see the investment Colorado is making in the growth of the prospects right now, jump back 5 years and the thought is absolutely laughable.
- Along with the great recaps from MHH Head Honcho Ryan, which you can find on the front page, check out Dev Camp coverage from our old friends at BSN on their front page and a comprehensive recap from Andi D here.
- In other Avs news, Patrick Roy rounded out his coaching staff with former Ducks/Leafs D coach Dave Farrish and former Sharks Video Coordinator Brett Heimlich. It's worth noting that former Avs D coach Andre Tourigny has been tasked to the offense for his new team in Ottawa. Perhaps having a defensive coach that is used to coaching defense will be as much of an improvement as adding two good defenseman in the offseason. Kinda makes you smile, amirite?
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That's all for now, be on lookout for RFA signings coming up. Last year our 4 RFA signings were announced on the 16th of July. Also Agozzino and Clark have elected arbitration and their hearings, if it comes to that, will happen sometime between the 20th and August 5th. Enjoy, and I'll leave you with this from Keefer:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">And........... In other news........ <a href="https://twitter.com/Avalanche">@Avalanche</a> start in 89 days. Bring it on <a href="https://twitter.com/mnwild">@mnwild</a></p>— Kyle Keefe (@kylekeefetv) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylekeefetv/status/620068234461626368">July 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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