Mitch Calvert
Emo native Luke Judson will be wearing a black-and-teal jersey this fall.
Despite not being selected in the NHL’s entry draft back on June 27 in Montreal, a silver lining to that disappointment for the 18-year-old came in the form of a rookie camp invite from the San Jose Sharks.
“It was a long day and there was a chance that [being drafted] could happen and a good chance that it wouldn’t,” Judson noted.
“So I came in prepared for both, so it wasn’t too much of a letdown when it didn’t,” he insisted.
“I got a call right after the draft from [player development scout] Bryan Marchment with San Jose, and he gave me an invite to their [rookie] camp in September,” he added.
“There’s more to look forward to knowing I’m going to the camp, and it should be a good experience and a stepping stone to lead into the season.”
Judson suited up for all but one of the Belleville Bulls’ 68 regular-season games, plus all 17 in the playoffs last season.
He recorded 10 goals and 14 assists in his first full regular season in the OHL while adding six assists in the post-season.
The Bulls made another good run through two rounds of the playoffs before falling to a strong Brampton Battalion team in the Eastern Conference final.
Judson had spent the 2007-08 season with the Thunder Bay Bearcats of the SIJHL, recording 18 goals and 20 assists in 37 regular-season games before tallying four goals and two assists in eight playoff games.
Judson was ranked 129th among 210 North American skaters listed in the NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s player rankings released prior to this year’s draft, and had generated interest from several teams prior to the selection process.
He’s heading to Thunder Bay at the end of the month to train with Jeff and Gary Ricciardi.
The Ricciardi’s Core Hockey Camp is well-respected in these parts, with area NHL pros like the Staal brothers and Patrick Sharp using it to prepare for the rigours of a pro hockey season.
Judson will train there through August, then head to Belleville’s camp in the fall.
“Halfway through our camp, I go to San Jose’s rookie tournament, and out of that if you do well and they think you deserve to move on, then you go to main camp,” he explained.
The Sharks’ rookie camp likely will run a week before the main one gets underway in mid-September, giving prospects the chance to get the ice to themselves for a week of drills and scrimmages under watchful eyes.
