Michigan State University’s pro camp is taking place this week at Munn Ice Arena, and Michigan Hockey’s Michael Caples spoke with Taro Hirose and Justin Abdelkader regarding their preparations for the upcoming season.
“It’s always good coming back,” Abdelkader said following Monday’s opening day. “I always look forward to this week, getting back here to Munn and seeing all the familiar faces and Newts does such a great job, he’s done it for so many years. Obviously the guys out here have changed over the years, now I’m one of the old veteran guys out with some of these younger ones, but it’s great, I always look forward to coming back here, to Munn, to East Lansing, being on campus.”
One of those fresh faces is Abdelkader’s new teammate, Taro Hirose. The reigning Big Ten scoring champion and Red Wings signee at the conclusion of the NCAA season is taking part in his first MSU pro camp, after spending the summer training in Metro Detroit.
“It feels really good to be back with some of the guys I played with when I was a freshman, get to see them again and catch up on old stories,” Hirose said. “It was sort of a windstorm there [in April], a lot going on with signing and leaving and playing in the NHL, it was exciting but I’m definitely going to miss this place.”
Abdelkader delved into his expectations for the Wings’ performance as well…
