Drafted in the fourth round (101st overall) at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by Columbus, forward Jared Boll made his second appearance at the Blue Jackets Rookie Camp in September. The Blue Jackets were part of the Annual NHL Prospects Tournament hosted by the Detroit Red Wings at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Michigan. The Tournament featured the Blue Jackets, Atlanta Thrashers, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Boll had some familiar company at this year's camp as Whalers teammates Tom Sestito, who was drafted by Columbus at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, and James Neal, who was drafted by Dallas at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, also attended the camp. The Blue Jackets rookies won the tournament for the second year in a row with wins over Minnesota, St. Louis, Dallas, and Atlanta. Jared's journal takes a look at the differences in camps, how it was to face his teammate, and what he learned from it all.

September 8-10, 2006...

"My first year I didn’t really know what to expect and I was pretty nervous obviously coming into my first NHL camp. We had a good team and a bunch of good guys, so that made it easier for me. I played with some good players that are actually now playing with Columbus, so that made it easier for me too.

Everything is so structured with the workouts and being out on the ice. We have to act like a professional everywhere we go. It’s the same here with the Whalers, but in Traverse City it is magnified. You just want to do everything right and do everything you can to make the team and stay there.

It was fun to have Tom Sestito at camp with me. It would have helped out last year since I didn’t know anybody, but it was good to have a teammate there. Even though he wasn’t at the camp for too long, it was still good to have him there and be able to play with a guy from my team.

In our first two games of the tournament, I had two fights against Minnesota and St. Louis, so that was pretty good. I was just doing whatever I could to open their eyes and hopefully be there some day."

September 11, 2006...

"It was fun to play against Dallas and James Neal. I think he almost hit, but didn’t because I wouldn’t let that happen. We hung out every single day, so there was a lot of talking going on out on the ice.

When comparing the NHL camp to the OHL camp, obviously there’s the age difference with the guys and how hard everybody works. The bike ride at the NHL camp isn’t like a punishment, but something that you do every day no matter what. It just shows you how hard you have to work to be there and stay in the NHL to have that as your job."

September 12, 2006...

"We played against Atlanta in the championship game. It was a good game, probably my best game of the tournament. The whole team played well. I had an assist and it was a pretty good game of me playing my role, having some good hits and stuff like that.

We won last year and then this year I had a lot more confidence coming into camp since I had been through it before. I knew what I was doing and what to expect, plus I knew a bunch of the guys. I just felt better on the ice. I played better this year and think I had a good tournament. We won it again this year and I think it’s the only time a team has won it twice in a row, so that’s pretty good. It was a great experience and helped prepare me for this season."

-Natalie Shaver, October 11, 2006-
*Special thanks to Bruce Coburn for the photos*