Over 100 of the top prospects available in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft are in Toronto to take part in the league's Combine. The players are taking part in physical testing and most have a series of interviews set up with representatives from NHL clubs.TSN is at the combine, and will file reports on the various activities throughout the day in their Combine Blog. This article is running live today and two DU recruits popped up on the radar early in the workouts.
9:39 - The NHL annual meat market is already well underway with one group having completed the physical testing portion. The prospects are all wearing heart monitors so their heartbeats can be tracked during the workouts.
The most interesting test so far is the anaerobic test on the bike. Not only do they see how high a player's heart rate gets, they also see how quickly it recovers to a normal range. University of Minnesota recruit Aaron Ness, ranked number 27 in North America by NHL Central Scouting, had a really quick recovery. He is obviously in great shape.
Two players in the first testing group that seemed to have a harder time with recovery were DU recruits Joe Colborne of Camrose in the AJHL (ranked 28th by CSB) and David Carle (60th), the younger brother of Sharks defenceman Matt Carle.
10:41 - We've got a new star at the combine - it's Colin Wilson of Boston University. He was ranked 10th in North America by CSB, but that might be going up because NHL types certainly took notice of him today. To put it bluntly, he is ripped. Before he even did anything, Wilson looked NHL-ready with a big, strong body. Then he got on the bench and blew everyone else away. Unofficially, previously mentioned strongman John Carlson did 16 reps on the bench press. Wilson did 21.
Most of the time, the GMs don't pay much attention to this stuff, they are mostly here for the interviews, but many were seen taking notice of Wilson's efforts.
Brandon Burlon (ranked 41st and going to the University of Michigan next year) also looked good on the bench and on the bike.
It's an interesting second group with the bruisers mixed in with some tall, skinny kids that still need to fill out - including Derek Grant (40th) and Jimmy Hayes (63rd).
Former Team USA teammates Wilson and Hayes took turns cheering each other on during testing, a rare dynamic in a normally tense and reserved atmosphere. That looked like a good example of leadership to some observers.
A list of NHL front office types seen in attendance: George McPhee (Washington), Dale Tallon (Chicago), Doug Wilson (San Jose), Jim Nill (Detroit), Dean Lombardi (Los Angeles), Don Maloney (Phoenix) and Scott Mellanby (Vancouver).
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