The TC Times’ David Troppens spoke with Red Wings summer development camp try-out Drew DeRidder, discussing the Michigan State University goaltender’s experiences as a free agent try-out at last month’s camp:
“It was a dream come true for me,” DeRidder said. “Of course the Red Wings were my hometown team growing up since I lived in Fenton. It was a dream come true putting on the jersey.”
DeRidder was asked if he wanted to join the camp about a week prior to its start.
“Their goalie coach just called me and said, ‘We’d love to have you at this camp. What do you think?’ Obviously, I said yes,” DeRidder said. “I think it was a little more than a week before the camp.”
The week was spent doing a lot of training and learning a lot of other lessons beyond those on the ice.
“We had workouts and instruction time,” DeRidder said. “They were showing us how to take care of ourselves at the professional level. It was a lot of the same stuff we do at Michigan State. … It’s good to hear information like that from different people. It helps you figure out what works for you.”
