Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Red Wings open prospects tourney Friday

The Detroit Red Wings play host to eight National Hockey League teams beginning this Friday at their annual NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City. This year’s field promises to be one of the best for fans to see the future of the NHL as 17 first-round draft picks are scheduled to participate.

Red Wings fans can see Detroit’s 2005 first-round pick defenseman Jakub Kindl and the anticipated debut of forward Igor Grigorenko, who was Detroit’s second-round draft pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. Grigorenko’s career was slowed due a serious car accident and the Prosptects Tournament will serve as his first on-ice appearance in North America.

In addition to the Red Wings, teams from the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, Atlanta Thrashers, Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues will compete in the tournament that runs Sept. 7 through Sept. 11.

Beyond the 17 first-rounders, 19 second-round draft picks and 20 third-round selections are on the eight rosters. All totaled, 119 players participating in this week’s camp were selected in the NHL Entry Draft.

The Prospects Tournament and Detroit’s main training camp will be held at the Centre ICE Arena in Traverse City. The veteran players take the ice on Sept. 14 in the first of five sessions at Centre ICE.

Tickets and schedules for training camp in Traverse City are available at www.centreice.org.

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