In what has become a Fourth of July weekend tradition, the Ducks today held their annual prospect development camp scrimmage at THE RINKS- Anaheim ICE in front of a capacity crowd. The scrimmage was split into two 25-minute halves with a 15-minute intermission in between. In the end, it was Team White coming out with an unusually low-scoring 1-0 victory over Team Black. Free agent signee Giovanni Fiore scored the scrimmage's lone goal, which came with five minutes remaining in the first half.

Among those on the ice were all five of Anaheim's draft picks from a few weeks ago, including Maxime Comtois and Antoine Morand - close friends since childhood and drafted 50th and 60th overall, respectively, at United Center in Chicago. Comtois is the bigger of the two, standing 6-2 and weighing 200 pounds, though he looks much bigger. Morand, on the other hand, is 5-10 and weighs 178, and showed craftiness and agility centering a line with left wing Comtois and right wing Michal Stinil (college invite).
"It was a good opportunity to show yourself and what you can do, but also to see the level of the game," said Morand, who had a 74-point season with Acadie-Bathurst of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2016-17. "I learned a lot from the older guys. It's a great organization and they take care of the players. It was nice to have a first taste."
Development camp came at a good time, according to Troy Terry, who centered a line with college invite Eric Robinson and free agent signee Austin Ortega for Team Black. Terry, of course, won gold with Team USA at the World Juniors and then a national championship with the University of Denver in April. "The season has been over long enough now where you're already missing it and itching to get back," he said. "To have a full speed game like that, it was pretty special to have that type of experience in July."
Though it was evident both sides were showing a bit of rust, as expected, considering this is the first time many of them have played at this pace since last season, the scrimmage wasn't without its share of scoring chances (or physical play, which we'll get to later). But it was Fiore who was able to break the scoreless tie off a rebound chance in the slot. Sam Steel took the initial shot off a strong drive to the net, and it was his rebound that landed in Fiore's wheelhouse. Steel, drafted 30th overall in 2016, is coming off an incredible season with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. The 19-year-old center won the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL's player of the year for his 50-goal, 131-point season, which ultimately ended in a six-game defeat to Seattle in the WHL championship.
A fight between free agent signee left wing Zach Saar (Team White) and college invite defenseman Jared Wilson (Team Black) highlighted the second half. Normally you don't see fights during these scrimmages, but this one showcased two guys with considerable size - Saar (6-4, 236) and Wilson (6-3, 200).
The final minutes of the second half featured a 6-on-5 for Team Black, which pulled goaltender Olle Eriksson-Ek (5th round, 153rd overall in 2017) for an extra attacker. Despite a frantic last-minute attempt at tying the game, Team Black was unable to beat Garrett Metcalf (6th round, 179th overall in 2015), thus giving Team White a 1-0 victory.
Once the scrimmage ended, both sides took part in a handshake before saluting the fans as they exited the ice.
In the coming days, these players will go their separate ways for the rest of the summer, but many of them will be back in September for main camp. Comtois was all business after the scrimmage, and has his focus on the big picture. "You have to put that behind," he said, when asked about his draft day and development camp experience. "As soon as you get drafted, you have to go back to work. You have to focus on the present and the future. That's what I did. I came here to work. Now that the draft and development camp are done, I'm focusing on the next one."
Line Combinations
Team White
Jack Kamrass^-Sam Steel\-Giovanni Fiore&
Max Jones\-Tyler Soy\-Nikita Korostelev#
Alex Dostie\-Mitch Hults&-Teddy Hart^
Zach Saar&-Brett Stapley^-Brent Gates, Jr.\
Turner Ottenbreit#-Josh Mahura\
Corson Green^-Jack St. Ivany^
Matthew Abt^-Brady Lyle#
Team Black
Jack Kopacka\-Julius Nattinen\-Deven Sideroff*
Eric Robinson^-Troy Terry\-Austin Ortega&
Maxime Comtois\-Antoine Morand\-Michal Stinil^
Alex Limoges^-Jack Badini\-Kyle Olson\
Marcus Pettersson\-Rob Michel^
Chris Forney^-Scott Moldenhauer^
Jared Wilson^-Mathieu Charlebois#
* Ducks draft pick

^ College invite

Junior invite

& Free agent signee
Team White Coaches
Dallas Eakins, Marty Wilford, Brett Ferguson
Team Black Coaches
Mark Morrison, Scott Niedermayer, Larry Barron