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Amazing atmosphere in Houston coming into training camp!
After a very good day at the 2009 Entry Draft, the Spirit saw a few changes in their team during the summer. Goaltender Wade Dubielewicz, Defensemen Mark Eaton, Aaron Dawson, Frank Rediker and Jean-Michel Bolduc as well as Forwards Daniel Winnik and Chris Porter were let go as unrestricted free agents.
Meanwhile, the team signed two veterans to add depth to the team:
33 years old defenseman Radek Martinek who spent the last season as a callup between the Philadelphia Flyers and their farm club, the Phantoms, as well as 37 years old winger Mikko Eloranta who comes in for a last year before retiring after winning two consecutive Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The camp started recently with 50 players invited. The atmosphere at camp is amazing and the team seems convinced that they can finally make it to the playoffs. Here's the list of players in camp:
30 Danny Battochio G
31 Sebastien Caron G
32 Aapo Nousiainen G
39 Pierre-Olivier Pelletier G
2 Mike Commodore D
5 Noah Welch D
3 Adrian Aucoin D
65 Logan Stephenson D
8 Ville Skriko D
6 Ivan Majesky D
24 Radek Martinek D
52 Patrick Coulombe D
12 Lance Ward D
56 Bryan Rodney D
54 Reid Cashman D
77 Martin Smith D
43 David Driver D
72 Niclas Andersén D
27 Matej Trojovsky D
55 Nicolas Langdeau D
63 Carl DeWolf D
79 Chris Summers D
7 Ivan Novoseltsev LW
83 Vitali Khromchinkov LW
50 Jordan Krestanovich LW
71 Chad Kolarik LW
81 Dmitri Pestunov LW
10 Trevor Gordon LW
91 Vassili Tchelychev LW
29 Brad Winchester LW
42 Mikko Eloranta LW
58 Kerri Cautero C
19 Marty Reasoner C
84 Alexei Ivanov C
88 Jamie Tardif C
14 Paul Gaustad C
16 Michael Wagner C
78 Mikhail Mazhorins C
25 Robert Sandler C
28 Milan Kraft C
44 Byron Bytz RW
97 Maxime Boisclair RW
48 Sasha Golin RW
61 Chris Collins RW
59 Jonathan Shank RW
23 Kirill Boldin RW
37 Jarkko Ruutu RW
74 Roman Tomanek RW
57 Alexandre Bolduc RW
Among spots open, there is the backup goaltender which is expected to go to Pierre-Olivier Pelletier who won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender last season. Danny Battochio could still have a shot at this roster spot if he has a very good camp.
There's also the 5th, 6th and 7th defensemen spots who should be fought between Bryan Rodney, Ivan Majesky, Radek Martinek, Chris Summers, Niclas Andersén, Carl DeWolf and Nicolas Langdeau. The rest of them could all get a spot but are considered long shots.
Finally, although the roster seems pretty set at forward, a few rookies and veteran are going to try and make an impression on the team to keep them in Houston for the regular season.
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