Luckily the players wore jerseys that had a name as well as a number on the back off the jersey so I got to take a pretty good look at some of the "new guys" in the system or on a tryout. Not many in attendance at the Monday morning practice but I did see some local news stations and local writers on hand.
After the jump, a look at all the guys who participated and where they stand in terms of being under contract or strictly here on a tryout basis.
Familar Faces
Forwards (9) - Paul Thompson, Zach Sill, Brandon DeFazio, Geoff Walker, Bryan Lerg, Brian Gibbons, Keven Veilleux, Ryan Schnell, Ben Street
Defensemen (5) - Carl Sneep, Alex Grant, Simon Despres, Joey Mormina, Phillip Samuelsson
Goalies (1) - Patrick Killeen
The New Guys - (T) = Strictly here on tryout
Forwards (7) - Martin Moucha (T) , Cody Chupp (T), Brian Day, Devin DiDiomete (T), Denver Manderson (T), Zach Torquato (T), Chris Barton (T)
Defenseman (4) - Andrew Hotham, Nick Plastino(T), Chad Langlais (T), Cody Wild (T)
Goalies (1) - Alex Kangas (T)
Day 1 Insights
A lot of new faces of guys I haven't seen play before so today was very interesting. I got to watch guys battle in the corner on a 3-on-3 drill, a nice display of passing and skating and some impressive shots.
A few guys who I think stood out today for one reason or another included Simon Despres, Carl Sneep, Ben Street, Ryan Schnell and Devin DiDiomete.
Despres looked pretty comfortable in the Black & Gold game last Monday, so I was interested to see how he would look after being in the first round of cuts from Pittsburgh.
To be honest, I didn't see Despres without a smile on his face throughout the 2 hour session. He looks solid, seems to be good at making decisions and is a fluid skater. One question I have about him is how he will adjust from being the go-to guy in junior hockey to playing a lesser role against much better competition.
Sneep, Street and Schnell, three guys who played a smaller role in the AHL last year, looked much improved from last season and right now look poised to battle for a regular spot in Wilkes-Barre's lineup.
DiDiomete, a scrappy forward who spent time with the Connecticut Whale last season, racked up over 30 fights and 300 penalty minutes. Both stats were in the top 3 in the AHL in 2010-11. He put some good hits on people today and I'm looking forward to seeing all of the guys and how they are playing.
I will also be attending Day 2 of the WBS Penguins training camp with live updates on Twitter. Any questions or comments feel free. Glad to be watching live hockey again. Training Camp is exciting at any level to me, the level of competition is impressive. A look at the full roster I was able to gather today. I'll get the rest of the jersey numbers in order tomorrow. That is if they keep the same numbers.
The Roster
Forwards
9 Martin Moucha
10 Paul Thompson
11 Zach Sill
12 Brandon DeFazio
13 Cody Chupp
17 Geoff Walker
19 Bryan Lerg
23 Brian Gibbons
24 Devin DiDiomete
26 Denver Manderson
41 Brian Day
44 Keven Veilleux
49 Zach Torquato
54 Ryan Schnell
Ben Street
Chris Barton
Defensemen
4 Carl Sneep
5 Cody Wild
20 Alex Grant
34 Simon Despres
36 Joey Mormina
55 Phillip Samuelsson
Nick Plastino
Andrew Hotham
Chad Langlais
Goalies
1 Patrick Killeen
Alex Kangas
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