Six Tri-City Americans Will Be in NHL Training Camps this Fall!

It's a testament to the Americans drafting and player development system.

Six different Tri-City Americans will be active roster participants in the NHL training camps of their parent draft clubs this fall.

It's an annual "rite of passage" that sometimes leaves the WHL team a bit shorthanded,  but it reminds us why the Western Hockey League has been - and continues to be - THE #1 source of talent for professional hockey.

According to Americans Marketing and Communications Coordinator Matt Baide:

"Goaltender Eric Comrie, drafted in the second round (59th overall) in the 2013 NHL Draft, will be heading to Winnipeg Jets camp. Newly acquired forward Steven Hodges will be attending Florida Panthers training camp. Hodges was selected in the third round (84th overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft.

Four other Americans players will be traveling to NHL camps. Forwards Parker Bowles, Justin Gutierrez and Jackson Playfair will be attending Toronto Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues and Arizona Coyotes camp respectively, while defenseman Josh Thrower is traveling north to be at Vancouver Canucks camp."

Especially with first-year drafted players,  those in the WHL the season after they're drafted,  they usually are returned to their WHL club in October.  But sometimes they will "stick" for a few extra weeks.   Some players are kept well into the fall,  others sometimes stay up in the NHL for the entire season.

While we certainly want to see these players in an Americans uniform,  we congratulate them for their success, and hope when their WHL careers finish, we will be watching them on TV!