Wheat Kings trio off to NHL camps

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This article was published 07/09/2011 (5452 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Michael Ferland didn’t get much of a chance to impress the Calgary Flames in training camp after being drafted last year.

A knee injury prevented the bruising Brandon Wheat Kings forward from taking part in the NHL team’s 2010 camp, but the 19-year-old Brandonite is ready to roll this year and looking forward to hitting the ice as one of the Flames’ top young prospects.

“I’m getting really excited to get there and start skating with the guys there,” Ferland said prior to practice Tuesday at Westman Place. “Last year I had a knee injury, so I didn’t participate in the rookie tournament in Penticton, but I will be skating this year. I just want to keep playing well and hopefully I score some goals.”

<t-4>Ferland, who flies to Calgary tomorrow, is one of three Wheat Kings heading to NHL camps this week, along with fellow forward Mark Stone and defenceman Jordan Fransoo, who will both attend Ottawa Senators camp. Ferland, a

6-foot-2, 210-pound left-winger who fired two goals in a span of nine seconds in Sunday’s Wheat Kings intrasquad game, is scheduled to skate for the Flames in a five-team NHL rookie tournament in Penticton, B.C., next week. 

Ferland hopes to leave a good impression with the Flames’ brass before returning for his third season in the WHL after firing 23 goals and notching 56 points in 56 games with 110 penalty minutes last season.

“I just want to get my confidence up and just hope to have a good season here this year and hopefully play there next year,” said Ferland, who was selected by Calgary in the fifth round (133rd overall) of the 2010 NHL draft. “I’m sure it will help me out coming back to Brandon and playing here.”

<t-4>For his part, Stone is preparing for his second camp with the Senators, who will compete in a four-team NHL rookie tournament that begins Saturday in Oshawa, Ont. Like Ferland, Stone is likely destined to return to Brandon as a

19-year-old, but wants to make the Senators think about it first. The <t-4.6>6-foot-3, 196-pound right-winger from Winnipeg is coming off a breakout season in which he finished tied for third in WHL scoring with 37 goals and 106 points in 71 games.

“It’s my second time around, so there is obviously more confidence going into this camp than last year and I just want to go there and make a good impression and stay there as long as I can and make a good impression on them and do the best I can to give them a hard decision on sending me back to junior,” said Stone, a 2010 sixth-round draft pick (178th overall) by the Senators who flies out today. “Obviously my goal is to play in the NHL as soon as I can and I want to sign a professional contract as soon as I can, also. So I want to go there and make a good impression and stick there as long as I can … I just want to go in there and show I am a step above where I was last year.”

Stone will be joined by Fransoo, who was the lone Wheat King selected in this year’s draft when he was picked by Ottawa in the seventh round (186th overall). Coming off of a solid rookie season in which he scored six goals and notched 18 points and 72 penalty minutes in 63 games, the 18-year-old Fransoo is just looking to soak up the experience of his first NHL camp.

“I’m real excited to just be playing at that level and just the name, the Ottawa Senators, to wear their jersey is a great honour,” said Fransoo, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound defenceman from North Battleford, Sask. “I hope it really elevates my game and brings me right up to full speed for the season to begin and I hope to impress the organization there. I will be in the youngest age group of players there, but I just have to realize that there is no pressure and just go out and play.”

New Wheat Kings head coach Cory Clouston said all three players should benefit from the NHL exposure.

“It gives them confidence, obviously, being around NHL players,” said Clouston, who began preparing yesterday for this Friday’s WHL pre-season opener against the Moose Jaw Warriors at Westman Place at 7:30 p.m. “You learn from them, you learn how they prepare for games, you learn how they prepare for practices and you get a lot better understanding of the level that you have to play at … For the most part, I think they come back with a lot more knowledge and a lot more confidence and a lot more experience.”

ICINGS: Sophomore Wheat King C Jason Swyripa, 18,and rookie Slovakian C Bruno Mraz, 18, were back at practice Tuesday after sitting out Sunday’s intrasquad game with minor injuries … Sidelined indefinitely are RW Brenden Walker, 19, (concussion) and D Brodie Melnychuk, 20, (broken wrist) … Former Wheat Kings captain Shayne Wiebe, 21, of Brandon will suit up for the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL rookie tournament in Penticton, B.C., next week. Meanwhile, former Brandon C Mark MacKay, 21, is playing overseas in Germany this season and free agent LW David Toews, 21, is hoping to land an NHL/AHL tryout, while former Wheat Kings C Scott Glennie, 20, is off to Dallas Stars training camp … The Kamloops Blazers have re-assigned their 2011 first-round bantam draft pick, D Jordan Thomson, 15, to the Southwest Midget AAA Cougars … The Wheat Kings have now sold 2,442 season tickets and counting, with packages available for pickup this Thursday in the southeast parking lot of the Keystone Centre from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

» jshewaga@brandonsun.com