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Brendan Shanahan closes up R&D camp impressed with prospects, hockey minds

2010 NHL Research, Development and Orientation Camp

<> on August 18, 2010 in Toronto, Canada.

Matthew Manor

So the two-day NHL research and development camp wrapped up and - without actually being there - it seems like it was a wise idea for the league.

For one thing, it seems like Gary Bettman is using at least some of the strategies he may have soaked in from being NBA commissioner David Stern’s apprentice. That lesson would be to find ways to keep NHL storylines going even when hockey is in its summertime hibernation. It’s not often that you can encourage banter about pucks in late August, but that’s exactly what this camp did (even if it’s among the hardcore hockey niche audience and that’s it).

Brendan Shanahan ran the camp and came away impressed with the prospects who showed how different rules might look in action ... and also with the fact that they were able to get a bunch of great hockey minds “under one roof.”

“What pleased me the most was the conversations and the dialogue that we had from our managers, our coaches, the fans in attendance, the parents, fans reading up on it and also the players,” he said. “It was really encouraging for me to walk by and overhear the players discussing what they had just done or even between periods what they were going to do and how they were going to try to manipulate certain rules to their advantage. I think any time you can provoke conversation about the game it’s going to help.

“We collected information that could come in handy tomorrow or it could come in handy 5-10 years from now,” he added. “We have built a model that if we ever need to do this again, I think using the 17 year olds in a setting like this with a couple of ice pads -- we now see there is an appetite from the player perspective and there is an appetite from the managers and scouts who want to come and watch. Whatever reason you came here, whether it was for the research and development or to scout these kids, the big thing is we got a lot of really good hockey minds all under one roof talking about the game, which is good.”

Let me leave you with Shanahan’s locker room speech,
also from NHL.com. There might be another story or two about the development camp later tonight or early tomorrow, especially considering the fact that there were so many different rules studied - some practical and others improbable. Stay tuned.