Development Camp: Getting to know you

Traverse City, MI.- Todd Nelson has his hands full.
Nelson, fresh off a Calder Cup championship as the head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, has turned his attention to running Detroit's five-day development camp, which began Friday and runs through Tuesday at the Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City.

It's not that Nelson isn't looking forward to mentoring Detroit's youngest prospects, but with a total of 45 players participating, he needs to study the roster just to keep the players' names straight.
"There's so many new faces, that's why I asked you guys to be sensitive to individuals because I don't know a lot of them and I just spent 45 minutes on the ice with them," Nelson said half-jokingly after Friday's first on-ice session concluded. "It was a good first day. As camp goes on, I think we'll have a better assessment.
"The first day I think they try to soak it all in. It's a process. As we go along in camp, guys will feel more comfortable with us and I think there will be more questions asked. But they're not really asking questions today, just what to do in certain situations, so it's our job to inform them and go from there."
While many were eager to see all the prospects on the ice for the first time as Red Wings, Detroit's officials have stressed this is not a camp where players are competing against one another.
Development camp is about developing bonds with future teammates, learning what is required to becoming a good pro and establishing good habits on and off the ice.
"All this camp is it's a chance to give them a chance at training camp, at the rookie tournament, at main camp, to get them accustomed to pro life," Nelson said. "Years ago, it wasn't like this. You'd go to training camp, you'd be wide-eyed and you wouldn't know what to expect. At least now the kids know what to expect.
"Kenny (Holland) had a great message for them this morning where he told them flat-out what he needs for the organization to be successful. Right now, the kids are getting educated so when they come to training camp they'll be able to adjust better."
Though competition is not part of the equation, certainly improving upon an individual player's deficiencies is addressed and according to Nelson, every player needs to improve in two specific areas.
"Foot speed and agility. Can they do things at a fast pace, skating, moving the puck, shooting, everything has to be at a fast pace," he said. "The game is so quick now that these players have to do things at a high rate of speed in combination."
CHOLOWSKI ON TURNING PRO:Some of the pundits were a bit surprised when the Wings' first-round draft pick, 20th overall, from the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Dennis Cholowski, decided to turn pro after one season at St. Cloud State.
"Basically, after the season Detroit offered the contract, wanted to speed up the development a little bit," Cholowski said. "I wasn't going to turn it down so I was happy to sign it and be here."
In 36 games for the Huskies, Cholowski had one goal (on the power play) and 11 assists for 12 points and accumulated 14 penalty minutes.
After he signed with the Wings, Cholowski was sent to Grand Rapids, where he appeared in one regular season game for the Griffins and was a plus-1.
"It was a lot of fun being in Grand Rapids, obviously they had a great team," he said. "Just getting to be around the guys and see what pro hockey is like a little bit. Played the one game, it was a great experience for me, for sure.
"I just remember being nervous before the game, then once you got on the ice, it was just hockey. Obviously, it's bigger and faster guys but I think I coped pretty well with it."
How quickly Cholowski makes the adjustment to the pro game will determine where he'll end up playing next season. He wants to play pro but he does have the option of going to the Western Hockey League to play for Prince George, which holds his rights, but right now he is concentrating on working on his game.
"They've been stressing getting bigger and stronger this summer and putting some weight on, which I've already done," Cholowski said. "Just continuing to do that and develop a little harder shot and hopefully it all works out.
"Right now, I don't know where I'll be next year. I'm just going to do my best to make whatever team I can. Whether it's Detroit, Grand Rapids or the WHL, I'll play where they want me to play."
TODAY'S NHL FITS SAARIJARVI'S STYLE: Vili Saarijarvi is resigned to the fact that he is 5-foot-10, 172 pounds and that is likely not going to change.
"I'm probably not going to grow that much anymore or get much taller, so I just need to add some power so I can be ready to battle and move quickly in every way," Saarijarvi said. "I think the game has gotten quicker but at the same time there are still guys that play hard and strong, I can play a quick game, I have to improve my strength and get stronger."
Drafted by the Wings in the third round, 73rd overall, in the 2015 Entry Draft, Saarijarvi is skilled offensively. In 34 games for Mississauga of the Ontario Hockey League, he had 11 goals and 31 total points.
He may want to bulk up and improve his strength, but Saarijarvi understands the NHL is conducive to his game, so he's trying to find a balance where he becomes a solid two-way rearguard.
"I think the offensive side of my game is my better side and I have to improve my defensive zone game, just keep getting stronger and killing the cycle when big guys are going in the corners," he said. "Just being patient and being smart in the D zone, I think are big for me. The better I can play both ways, the better I can make myself."
LINDSTROM A QUICK STUDY?:When the Red Wings drafted Gustav Lindstrom in the second round, 38th overall, in last month's draft in Chicago, many were surprised that Detroit would use a second-round pick on a player many believed would last longer than the second round.
Lindstrom didn't post impressive numbers playing for Almtuna in Sweden's HockeyAllsvenskan, which is a tier below Sweden's top men's league, but what the Wings saw was the dramatic improvement he made from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
Lindstrom's improvement was so impressive that many NHL teams told the Wings they thought they could draft him in a later round because he was written off by many teams because of his subpar start.
"My start of the season was not so good. I didn't play as much as I wanted." Lindstrom said. "Then after the Christmas break I started playing more and we changed coach, too, so that was good for me. I start playing more after the Christmas break and get more ice time and more comfortable."
Perhaps it was all the time on the bench early in the season that motivated him to seize the opportunity when he was given more playing time.
Whatever it was, the Wings believe that Lindstrom showed the character to not sulk when things were not going his way, convincing Detroit that his upside was too great to pass up.
Yet Lindstrom knows he needs to keep improving if he wants to be a Red Wing in the future.
"I want to improve everything but some things that I want to do most is my skating," Lindstrom said. "I want to get faster and more mobile on the blue line and all over the rink."
And for those of you wondering, he said he has never met Nick Lidstrom.