Curt Fraser on Wings’ Prospect Camp

From Bob Duff at the Windsor Star:

Curt Fraser, coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, ran the Detroit Red Wings prospect camp than concluded on Friday at Joe Louis Arena. Thirty-two NHL hopefuls showed up for camp, including Jordan Pearce, newest addition to the young goaltending logjam.

“They expect a lot from you right from Day One. That’s why it’s such a great place to play. All the tradition and the history. They treat their players well as long as they’re producing.”—Jordan Pearce

Fraser believes that Daniel Larsson just may be the goalie of the future that Detroit has hoped to produce. “He’s the real deal, but he’s skinny as a rake,” Fraser said. “When you see him walking around, he looks like a rake wearing a hat.” The ability to develop a marquee goalie has historically been one the failing of the Red Wing organ-i-zation, but it would appear that the future seems bright.

Fraser went on to talk about watching his guys from Grand Rapids grow into NHL caliber players:

“It was great. The guys, they earned their chance. They played very well for us in Grand Rapids, grew properly. All of those kids - it’s amazing how talented the Detroit Red Wings are as a group, but they’re all real, real good guys. Everybody sticks together and they have one goal and that’s to win hockey games. There’s nothing else that matters and in Grand Rapids, it’s the same thing. The kids are terrific, they work hard, they show up every day with their hard hats on. Hopefully, next year, we can get another four or five ready. If we can do that, we’re doing things right down there for the Wings.”

He goes into more detail with specific players:

“Oulahen had a really good year. Ritola is going to be a very good hockey player. Pare, Tardif, McGrath - there’s lots of guys down there that are going to get their opportunity to develop and step up. Hopefully, we’ll have another wave of guys come through this year that will be able to help Detroit when they need them.”