Wild development camp: Day 2 quiet at X, frantic outside

Is the calendar right? Was Wedneday really July 13?

Seemed much more like Jan. 13 with all the breaking hockey news. Not at Wild development camp. It was relatively quiet there. No signings, two routine on-ice practices.

But the college hockey world was buzzing. Six teams, five from the WCHA, annouced they were forming a new conference called the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. It will not start until the 2013-14, but it already has a twitter account with 500-plus followers hours after the league named was announced. Go to @TheNCHC. It doesn't have a logo yet, though.

The reason: You can't do important things like that in haste. Uh, the league came together in less than four months after the Big Ten Conference announced it would start play in 2013-14.

The other big news, at least locally, in college hockey, was the U of M re-hiring Mike Guentzel. The former Gophers assistant will be the associate head coach, starting Wednesday.

At the Wild camp, the Green team practiced from 9:30 to about 10:30 a.m. No, these practices are not open to the public, just to privileged media members like me. You don't know what you are missing.

When forwards Zach Phillips and Taylor Peters score back to back during a breakaway drill, the other players watching cheer. The poor goalies hardly ever get any recognition. Heck, they don't even have their names on the back of their jerseys like the skaters.

One goalie is Matt Hackett of London, Ontario, the other is Stephen Michalek of Hartford, Conn. Both are 6-2 and are four pounds apart in weight. Not even a carny professional who guesses people's weights could tell Matt and Steve apart.

There are three players from NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth in camp and one Bulldogs recruit, defenseman Derik Johnson who played for the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League last season. Johnson is a 6-0, 195-pound invitee to camp. One of 13.

Two other invitees are UMD forwards Jack Connolly, who will be a senior this season, and J.T. Brown, who will be a sophomore. Theye were paired on the same line with Kris Foucault, drafted in 2009, in one drill where all three simulate a rush.

The first time, they go in 3-on-0 (no defensemen against them), then 3-on-1, then 3-on-2.

Houston Aeros coach John Torchetti, who is choreographing everything on the ice, often yells advice or mildly scolds players. "You don't need three guys at the net," he said one time. "We need rebound guys."

Meaning? Somebody has to stay back, in case the goalie kicks out a shot.

Early in the week, I have tried to talk to Minnesota-developed players at camp. This day I chatted with Mike Kramer, who graduated from Princeton this year. He kept the big words to a minimum, which I appreciated.

Kramer played high school hockey at St. Paul Como Park. He is one of three players from the city school to ever play Division I hockey. He is an ex-wrestler with a well-built upper body. I talked with him in the locker room and he had his shirt off. He had 13 goals and 18 assists for Princeton as a senior.

I'll write more about him later and also more about 6-6 defenseman Kyle Medvec, who graduated from Vermont this year. This is his sixth -- that's right -- sixth Wild development camp. The Wild drafted him out of Apple Valley High School in 2006 and signed him on July 1. He expects to play for the Aeros of the American Hockey League this coming season.

He had two goals and four assists for Vermont this past season. He better be a defensive defenseman and Medvec says he is.

Torchetti compliments the goalies after one drill and asks the skaters to do 25 push-ups. Somebody starts but Torchetti and his assistants don't like that. They ask the players to do the push-ups together and to count from 1 to 25 while doing them.

One assistant puts a stick on player's derriere. Pretty gently. But the message was clear: Keep your body straighter.

The White team practices for an hour after the Green team is done. During their practice, the Guentzel news breaks. Didn't see much of the practice.

Staying a bit longer, and going off last is ex-Gopher defenseman Sam Lofquist, another invitee.

Practices Thursday also will be in the morning, 9 and 10:30 a.m.

If you are salivating to see these future Wild stars -- OK, that's oversells the prospects camp -- your time is coming. The prospects will hold two scrimmages this weekend, both at 11 a.m. The first one will be Saturday, the second Sunday.

By then there could be a couple more changes in who is playing in what college hockey conference (Northern Michigan is the team to watch), the WCHA should make a decision on whether to talk to the CCHA about their futures, and the Final Five could be set for the X for two to five more years.

This is the hockey offseason?