Updated Information About Predators Training Camp Released

With the opening of the official training camp set for Friday morning, the Nashville Predators have updated the team roster and practice schedule. We will keep the latest versions on the page that you can reach  at the link under our masthead above.

They also released a breakdown of the 55 players that were invited to camp. It reveals that the team has the youngest average age in the past five years. Twenty-five players are from Canada, 17 are from the U.S., five are from Finland, four from Sweden, and one each from Belarus, Czech Republic, Germany & Switzerland.

The roster includes nine sections from the third round of the NHL Entry Draft, Eight from the first, second, and seventh rounds, nine who went undrafted, and the rest from other rounds.

Make the jump for the full release from the Predators...


2011 NASHVILLE PREDATORS TRAINING CAMP OPENS TOMORROW
- First day on the ice is Saturday, first preseason games come at Florida on Monday -

Nashville, Tenn. (September 15, 2011) – Nashville Predators 2011 Training Camp will open with both on- and off-ice testing, physicals and meetings tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 16 at Centennial Sportsplex. The team’s first on-ice practice sessions will be on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 10 a.m. at Centennial Sportsplex.  A complete training camp roster and schedule (with availability times) are attached.  Dates, times and roster are subject to change.

The majority of the Predators’ 13th training camp will be conducted at Centennial Sportsplex from Sept. 16-29.  The 55 players in camp will be divided into groups for the first week of camp, with the team’s first three preseason outings – a doubleheader at Florida on Sept. 19 (2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.), and the Baltimore Hockey Classic vs. Washington on Sept. 20 (6 p.m.) – coming after just two on-ice sessions. The Florida games mark the first doubleheader in franchise history, and kick-off an eight-game exhibition slate, the most played by the Predators since the 2002-03 campaign.

All practices at the Sportsplex are free and open to the public.


2011 Training Camp Breakdown – 55 Players

Average Age: 24 years, 3 months (2010: 24 years, 10 months 2009: 24 years, 8 months; 2008: 25 years, 6 months; 2007: 25 years, 4 months)

Oldest Player: Francis Bouillon (35 years, 333 days)

Youngest Player: Brent Andrews (18 years, 240 days)

Average Height: 6-1 (2010: 6-1, 2009: 6-1; 2008: 6-1; 2007: 6-0)

Tallest Player: Anders Lindback (6-6)

Shortest Player: Francis Bouillon (5-8)

Average Weight: 199.8 (2010: 198.8 pounds, 2009: 201.6; 2008: 199.8; 2007: 198.9)

Heaviest Player: Shea Weber (232)

Lightest Player: Jeremy Smith (173)

Shoots/Glove:

Left: 29
Right: 26

Birthplace

Canada: 25 (Ontario: 12, British Columbia: 4, Quebec: 3, Alberta & Saskatchewan: 1 each, , New Brunswick, P.E.I. & Nova Scotia: 5)

United States: 17 (Michigan: 4, Minnesota: 3, Wisconsin, New York, California: 2 each and Connecticut, Florida, North Dakota, Illinois: 1)

Finland: 5

Sweden: 4

Belarus, Czech Republic, Germany & Switzerland: 1

Draft Breakdown:

1st Round: 8 (Bergfors, Blum, Ellis, Legwand, Pickard, Suter, Watson & C. Wilson)
2nd Round: 8 (Fisher, Geoffrion, Josi, Klein, Roussel, J. Smith, Spaling & Weber)
3rd Round: 9 (Aronson, Beck, Dupont, Laakso, Latta, Shalla, Stortini &Thang)
4th Round: 4 (Ekholm, Halischuk, Ryan, C. Smith & Tootoo)
5th Round: 4 (Bourque, Champagne, O’Reilly & Puustinen)
6th Round: 3 (Flynn, Foss & Valentine)
7th Round: 8 (Andrews, Elsner, Engren, Erat, Hornqvist, Kostitsyn, Lajunen & Lindback)
8th Round: 1 (Rinne)
9th Round: 1 (K. Wilson)
Not Drafted: 9 (Bartley, Bouillon, Ford, Hillen, Mueller, Slaney, Sloan, Smithson &Van Guilder)

League played in last season (majority of games):

NHL: 22
AHL: 12
CHL: 10 (OHL: 6, QMJHL: 3, WHL: 1)

NCAA: 3 (WCHA: 1, CCHA: 1, ECAC: 1)
Finland: 3
ECHL & Sweden: 2 each
Germany: 1


More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass