Bruin Don Sweeney wraps up team's first development camp

It wasn't easy for Don Sweeney (5-foot-10, 184 pounds) to reach the National Hockey League and stay there for 1,115 games. It took untold hours of work on the ice, in weight rooms, and from seats in arenas or in front of TV monitors.
And it took some luck, too.
While at Harvard University, Sweeney spent summers working at the school and skating where and when he could. An eighth-round draft pick of the Boston Bruins in 1984, he was in the perfect environment: There were plenty of other pro and college players in the area, and a good number of leagues and camps in which to participate.
On Saturday, Sweeney wraps up the Bruins' first development camp, a six-day program during which the team's prospects (none had played more than one pro season) skated, scrimmaged, trained, toured, bonded, and then hopefully departed with a better idea of it will take to play in the NHL someday.
The camp, in a sense, completed a full-season cycle for Sweeney, who was hired as Boston's Director of Player Development on June 21 last year. Logistical issues prevented a camp from being held last summer, but Sweeney put the year to good use.
The planning and execution of the camp was far from the only task Sweeney undertook in the last 13 months. Essentially, he inherited a group of prospects -- some already signed to contracts, some still playing in junior, U.S. college or European leagues -- and went about the business of getting to know as much as he could about each player and his game.
Only retired since 2003-2004 (he played in Dallas -- the only year of a 16-year career spent outside the Bruins organization), Sweeney visited Boston's American Hockey League affiliate in Providence weekly, working with the players and coaching staff during practices. He was also on the ice during development camp, helping with drills, speaking with players and coaches.
Sweeney didn't invent the concept of a development camp. Several NHL teams have held them -- including Ottawa, where current Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli, a Harvard teammate of Sweeney's, was assistant GM before being hired on in Boston.
But Sweeney never forgot how it felt to have gone through various summer camps and leagues locally, or how it felt to see Jean Ratelle, a Bruins scout after his playing career ended in Boston, at his games at Harvard. He knew that, no matter where he was playing, someone in the organization was keeping tabs, and he felt fortunate that some future Bruins teammates were in the area during the off-season. He wasn't as disoriented as many prospects who came to their first training camps.
Development camp may be the last major event of Sweeney's first year-plus on the job, but it doesn't mean his "season" is finished. The B's, after all, drafted six new players last month, and will probably sign some young free agents before the 2007-2008 season begins.
"Overall, I think I have a better handle on where are young guys are," he said, "but there's always an influx of newer guys.
"So, do I think the cycle ever really ends? No. I've found that in this job you're always re-evaluating, always re-assessing."

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[patriotledger]

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[baroose67]

Yeah he does. He spend a lot of time out to his parents cottage in Digdeguash.

[oehieze]

yeah.. the kentucky bruins! :)

[365wright]

i could make the brunins

[anthonyguitar159]

good video

[thatgorillaguy]

don never comes home to his home town st.stephen