[url]http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=442501[/url]

Pens To Hold Prospect Conditioning Camp
Jul 13, 2009, 9:56 AM EDT

The Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins will hold a prospect conditioning camp July 20-26 at Mellon Arena and the Iceoplex at Southpointe. Among those players scheduled to attend are Eric Tangradi and the Penguins’ first-round selection in the recent NHL Entry Draft, Simon Despres.

The group of rookies and prospects will be in Pittsburgh taking part in on-ice practice and scrimmage sessions at Southpointe, undergoing medical and fitness testing at the UPMC Sports Medicine complex on the South Side, and attending meetings and seminars at Mellon Arena. The instructors will be Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Todd Reirden, Penguins assistant to the GM Tom Fitzgerald, Robert Morris University head coach Derek Schooley and Penguins strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar.

Tangradi, a former second-round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks, was acquired in the trade that also brought Chris Kunitz from Anaheim. The left winger finished eighth in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with 38 goals and 88 points in 55 games for Belleville Bulls in 2008-09. He added eight goals and 21 points in 16 playoff games before being sidelined with a hand injury.

Depres, a defenseman who was the Penguins’ first round pick (30th overall), leads the members of the 2009 draft class who are scheduled to attend. Also at the camp will be Ben Hanowski (Round 3, 63rd overall), Nicholas Petersen (Round 4, 121st overall), Alex Velischek (Round 5, 123rd overall) and Andy Bathgate (Round 5, 151st overall).

Other prospects in the Penguins’ system scheduled to be in Pittsburgh include; forwards Luca Caputi, Joey Haddad, Dustin Jeffrey, Nick Johnson, Nathan Longpre, Nathan Moon, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Zack Sill, Keven Veilleux and Joe Vitale; defensemen Robert Bortuzzo, Lane Caffaro, Nicholas D’Agostino, Jonathan D’Aversa, Alex Grant, Carl Sneep, Brian Strait and Denny Urban; and goaltenders Patrick Killeen and Brad Thiessen.

A complete camp schedule will be released in the near future.