Chicago, Ill.-The Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks will send a team to compete in the 2010 Toronto Maple Leafs Rookie Tournament, beginning on Saturday, Sept. 11 at John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario. A roster of Blackhawks prospects, featuring three first-round draft picks and nine players selected in the first two rounds of the National Hockey League Entry Draft, will compete in three games against rookie teams from the Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Blackhawks squad will be highlighted by 2008 first-round selection Kyle Beach, who led the Western Hockey League with 52 goals last season, and defenseman Shawn Lalonde, who paced the Ontario Hockey League’s Belleville Bulls with a career-high 56 points in 2009-10.
They will be joined by Jeremy Morin, who potted 47 goals for the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers and won a Gold Medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championships during the 2009-10 campaign, recent Chicago signees Nick Leddy and Brandon Pirri, as well as Chris DiDomenico and Phillipe Paradis, who were acquired from Toronto this summer by the Blackhawks.
Other skaters participating in the tournament include goalies Alec Richards and Joe Palmer, defensemen Jonathan Carlsson, Brian Connelly, Simon Danis-Pepin and Ryan Stanton, forwards Brandon Bollig, David Gilbert and Ben Smith, all of whom played for the Rockford IceHogs in 2009-10.
2010 Chicago Blackhawks Toronto Rookie Tournament Schedule
Date Event Venue Time (Central)
Sat, Sept. 11 Practice John Labatt Centre 9:30 A.M.
CHICAGO vs. Toronto John Labatt Centre 6:00 P.M.
Sun, Sept. 12 CHICAGO vs. Ottawa John Labatt Centre 1:00 P.M.
Tues, Sept. 14 CHICAGO vs. Pittsburgh John Labatt Centre 1:00 P.M.