Every year, National Hockey Leauge (NHL) teams hold a rookie/development camp with various players across the world in attendance.  Each year since 2007, the NCAA men’s hockey team has had at least one representative at a camp, with this year being no different.

This summer, freshman forward, David Friedmann received an invitation to the New Jersey Devils camp, while sophomore defenseman, Tyson Wilson, joined 2012 graduate, Brooks Ostergard, at the Washington Capitals camp.

“It was nice to have a familiar face there and someone to give you feedback on how you were playing,” said Wilson.

Wilson learned of his invite in January, while Friedmann’s invite occurred closer to camp.

“I was talking to my family advisor and he was trying to get me into a couple of teams camps, and nothing came about,” Friedmann said.  “Then I randomly got a call about a week before the Devils camp from their head of player development and scouting David Conte inviting me to the camp.”

At their respective camps, both participated in various on and off-ice drills to better their skills.

“As far as on-ice drills went, it was a lot of skill development with skating, shooting, and passing,” said Friedmann. “With the off-ice it was a lot of working out every day but no fitness testing, and they showed us different ways to exercise.”

Both were going up against players that had been drafted by their respective NHL teams, and they saw this as an opportunity to measure their skills.

Wilson believes he gained a great deal of confidence during his time at the Capitals development camp.

“I didn’t feel out of place at all. In fact I gained a lot of confidence from the camp knowing that I can compete with these top level players,” Wilson said. “I got great feedback and I am looking forward to a successful season with the team.”

For Friedmann, this was his second time at a development camp.  Last summer, he attended the Los Angeles Kings camp, so he felt more at ease this time around.

“I went in just wanting to work hard, and wanting to show my skills in the scrimmages, and I think I did really well when comparing myself to other college players and their signed players.”

Overall, both players enjoyed their time at the camps, and felt as if it was a good look into the life of a professional hockey player.

“It was a great experience.  I specifically watched guys out of college to see what they did and how they went about doing things,”Friedmann said. “It was pretty interesting to see how they handled college and where they are right now.”

Going into the 2012-2013 season, both players know that they can use information that they learned at the camps to better not only themselves, but their teammates as well.

“I can transfer some of the knowledge from the camp this summer into my game this year, and the confidence aspect should play a large role,” said Wilson.