2024 Pats Development Camp

Before the players stepped foot on the ice, the Pats' top picks from both the US Priority Draft and Prospects Draft put pen to paper. Forward Braden Hordichuk and defenceman Aiden Wagner signed WHL Scholarship and Development Agreements. 


I must say it was nice to be back at the rink. First impressions from Friday: seeing some bigger players out on the ice was refreshing. Although there are a few smaller guys, the average size seems to be somewhat bigger. Judging by the heights and weights listed, they have some very light guys, but we all know that as they get older, they should fill out and get bigger.

The first three sessions consisted of about 45 minutes of drills before the ice was flooded, and the teams had a scrimmage for the final 30 or so minutes (followed by a shootout of various lengths). It was nice to see the players in actual game-type action against their peers.

As with most camps, there are a lot of things going on, so it was hard to focus on any particular player (or players). I can say that no one looked out of place.

The final on-ice activity was a "scrimmage" on Saturday night. When the dust cleared, Team Blue scored with seconds left to take a 4-3 victory.

The scrimmage started with a 20-minute stop-time period where Team White took a 2-0 lead on goals by Carter Haney and Cohen Klassen. Braden Smith and Wyatt Stinton added assists. Team Blue led 10-9 on the shot clock.

This is where everything got switched up.

The second "period" consisted of a five-minute 3-on-3 session. Maddox Malmquist scored to pull Team Blue to within one at 2-1, with Hudson Brehaut picking up the assist. Team Blue had a 6-1 shot advantage in this segment.

The third "period" saw Team White on a powerplay for two minutes. Neither team was able to dent the twine, and Team White had the lone shot.

In the fourth "period," they switched teams, and Team Blue had the man advantage for two minutes. Team Blue notched a pair of shots to Team White's one, but neither team found the back of the net.

The fifth "period" was a five-minute 4-on-4 session. Connor Makowski made it 3-1 for Team White as Jack Bissoon picked up the helper. Before the end of the session, Kohen Volk pulled Team Blue back to within one at 3-2, with the assist going to Camden Zaporzan.

Team Blue was given a two-minute 5-on-3 period for session six. They were unable to score but had five shots, and Cruz Chase made a couple of nice saves to keep Team Blue at bay.

The final session was a 10-minute straight time session. Malmquist scored his second of the scrimmage on an assist to Cohen Handby early in the frame. Just before time expired, Handby got his first of the scrimmage to seal the 4-3 comeback for Team Blue. Team Blue controlled the play as they outshot Team White 11-3 and 39-19 overall.

Seeing that there were only three goaltenders, they rotated through. Drake Mooney stopped 15/16 shots (.938 sv%), Kai Zurowski stopped 15/18 (.833) and Cruz Chase made 21 stops on 24 shots (.875).

A quick note from the Saturday evening scrimmage: Braden Hordichuk and Zach Lansard did not participate. There was no reason given.

PATS ALUMNI IN THE HOUSE

During the afternoon session on Friday, someone was working with the goalies. It was hard to tell who it was but after asking I found out that it was Max Paddock helping out with the youngsters.



SPRING CAMP MEDIA
You may have already seen the media that the Pats put out on their socials, but here is all of it in one place.

Braden Hordichuk
Aiden Wagner
Dayton Deschamps
Drake Mooney
Cohen Handby
Mathis Paull
Sam Failler
Maddox Malmquist


FINAL THOUGHTS
If you read this far, thank you. 

You'll notice that for each and every player interview the only media was Pats Cast. Although Chris or I never asked any questions (we let Dante do that) we were there trying our best to support the kids. I know that things have changed, but I don't get it. I know, money, time, etc. are reasons that there is no coverage. There were four sessions, it would have been nice to see at least one or two media people there, but it is what it is.

Anyway, on to my thoughts, I'm still a bit uncertain about how things will go or how long the rebuild/re-tooling will take, but after seeing the on-ice product of the kids they have in their prospect pool, I'm actually pretty optimistic about the club's future. Don't get me wrong, the next couple of seasons will probably be on the rough side, but it feels like the team is trending in the right direction, and as a lifelong supporter, that makes me happy to trust in the process.
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