Before the last AHL season, then-rookie forward Jordy Bellerive approached then-head coach Mike Vellucci with a simple question.
He said, "I don't want to go back to juniors and I don't want to go to the Coast. What do I have to do to stay here?" Vellucci recalled to me after the season ended.
Vellucci said that he told Bellerive to "practice like every practice could be your last one, and build a season from there."
Bellerive heeded Vellucci's advice, and as a result, was the only Wilkes-Barre/Scranton rookie forward coming out of juniors who didn't get sent down to Wheeling at any point during the season, a feat given the forward depth Wilkes-Barre had last season. He primarily played a bottom-six role during the year, and led all Wilkes-Barre rookies in scoring with 12 goals and 10 assists in 53 games.
"He had the best pro attitude off the hop," Vellucci told me at the time.
Wilkes-Barre opened training camp on Friday -- a bit later than expected due to coronavirus concerns -- and Bellerive took the ice looking to build upon his strong rookie campaign.
"I'm definitely a lot more confident," Bellerive said. "I think toward the end of the year last year I built up a lot of confidence, and even more over the summer here. I come in knowing what to expect, knowing the staff around here, and just coming in with a whole new mindset. I'm really excited for it."
Bellerive said that his confidence in both the offensive and defensive zones increased in the second half of last season, and that's one of the keys to an increased role in his sophomore professional season.
"If I can bring that 200-foot game, it's going to put me in more key situations," he said. "I want to be a guy that they can lean on in all situations. ... Now I just want to improve on every aspect from last season -- Chip in offensively, and also be a really dependable shutdown guy."
I asked head coach J.D. Forrest which area of Bellerive's game he believes he need to improve upon the most to take the next step in his development. And Forrest said that even just in camp, they've seen growth.
"We've already seen what we were kind of hoping to see. It looks like he's taken advantage of this long offseason, and he's picked up a step," Forrest said. "He definitely looks quicker out there, and just more confident with the puck. And I've already told him that, that as a staff, we've noticed that. And we're really happy with what we're seeing, at least from the eyeball test of how he looks this early part of the year."
Bellerive told me that with the extended offseason, he was able to devote a lot of time to speed and strength work. He spends his offseasons in the Vancouver area, where he was able to work out in the gyms and skate in small groups that included Justin Almeida and other pro players only after only about a month into the offseason. And it sounds like the work paid off.
"Without a doubt, this is the fastest I've ever been in my career," he said. "I'm really excited about that."
MORE FROM WILKES-BARRE CAMP
• Day 1: Wilkes-Barre opens camp motivated, even with AHL's postseason plans unknown
• Day 1: Jordan Nolan hopes to make Penguins make 'tough decision' on NHL deal
• Day 2: Wilkes-Barre preparing for 'ramped-up' rivalries
