From the Detroit Red Wings:
2019 NHL Prospect Tournament and Training Camp return to Traverse City
21st Annual Prospect Tournament set for Sept. 6-10; Training Camp will run Sept. 13-16
DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today announced that the team will return to Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich., to host their annual NHL Prospect Tournament and Training Camp, as well as the 21st Annual Training Camp Golf Classic at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Acme, Mich.
NHL PROSPECT TOURNAMENT
The NHL Prospect Tournament returns to Traverse City for its 21st season, running from Friday, Sept. 6 through Tuesday, Sept. 10. The eight-team field consists of prospects from the Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, the defending tournament-champion Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs, who will participate in the tournament for the first time, replacing the Carolina Hurricanes.
Over the tournament’s history, over 600 players have moved on to play in at least one NHL game, including 23 of the 38 players who played for the Red Wings in 2018-19: Justin Abdelkader, Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi, Jake Chelios, Dennis Cholowski, Christoffer Ehn, Jonathan Ericsson, Martin Frk, Kaden Fulcher, Darren Helm, Joe Hicketts, Jimmy Howard, Filip Hronek, Niklas Kronwall, Dylan Larkin, Brian Lashoff, Anthony Mantha, Dylan McIlrath, Gustav Nyquist, Michael Rasmussen, Libor Sulak, Dominic Turgeon and Filip Zadina.
The tournament will be divided into two four-team divisions, and teams will play each team in their division in a round-robin format before a crossover on the final day of the tournament. The first-place finishers in each division will meet for the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup on Tuesday, Sept. 10. The tournament’s championship trophy was renamed in 2015 to honor Wuest, known for his work on the salary cap-tracking website CapGeek.com as well as his exclusive coverage and statistical archiving of the NHL Prospect Tournament on RedWingsCentral.com, spanning back to the inaugural tournament in 1998. Wuest passed away in March 2015 after succumbing to a two-year battle with colon cancer.
TRAINING CAMP GOLF CLASSIC
The Red Wings will open their annual NHL Training Camp with the 21st Training Camp Golf Classic, presented by Eitel Dahm Motor Group, on Thursday, Sept. 12, at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa. Proceeds from the tournament benefit Involved Citizens Enterprises (I.C.E.), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization providing affordable skating programs to Northern Michigan.
Golf participants will enjoy a pre-round lunch before teaming up with a member of the Red Wings roster, coaching staff or management team for a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start on one of the resort’s pristine golf courses. Following the round, attendees will have dinner at the resort at a table with their Red Wings teammate and have the opportunity to bid on unique auction packages, including the opportunity to travel with the Red Wings on Red Bird III to a select road game during the 2019-20 preseason. The silent and live auctions will also include sports memorabilia, vacation packages and much more.
RED WINGS TRAINING CAMP
The 2019-20 Red Wings hit the ice for the first time the morning of Friday, Sept. 13, and continue daily through Monday, Sept. 16. Red Wings players, prospects and tryouts will be divided into teams that will practice and scrimmage throughout camp, including the annual Red and White Game on Sunday, Sept. 15 at 12 p.m. The team will hold one more practice on Monday, Sept. 16 prior to breaking camp to begin their preseason schedule at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday, Sept. 17 vs. Chicago. A full camp roster and the complete training camp schedule will be announced at a later date.
RED WINGS ALUMNI & GUNS N’ HOSES
The Training Camp Alumni and Celebrity Game will also return for a seventh-consecutive season on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 6 p.m., in which two teams comprised of Red Wings alumni and players from Guns N’ Hoses, a team of local Traverse City police and fire departments, will face off. Guns N’ Hoses is a non-profit organization created to assist individuals and families in need in the Grand Traverse community.
One lucky fan can win the opportunity to skate alongside former Red Wings greats, as Centre Ice Arena is auctioning off a roster spot for the 2019 Training Camp Alumni and Celebrity Game. Past Red Wings alumni participants have included members of “The Grind Line” in Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Darren McCarty; Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Mark Howe; Red Wings player development staff Shawn Horcoff and Dan Cleary; 2008 Stanley Cup champion and Traverse City resident Dallas Drake; and Red Wings television analyst Mickey Redmond. A full roster will be announced at a later date. Fans can visit www.centreice.org for information on the roster spot auction.
