Colt Conrad is back in Kalamazoo Michigan, using the tips and skills he's learned at New York Rangers development camp to prepare for the upcoming hockey season.

"It's amazing to be recognized for doing what you love to do and at that high of a level," said Conrad who took part in his first NHL development camp from June 26th to June 30th. "I can't say how thankful I am that the Rangers invited me. It was a great experience."

It was a week filled with on and off ice sessions, and classroom sessions.

Sunday the players checked in with the medical staff. Monday and Tuesday featured on/off-ice testing, skills, and weight training. The Rangers then hosted some five-on-five scrimmages and taught the players about nutrition and how important sleep is. During the week Conrad noted they were also able to go tour Madison Square Garde (MSG) and sight see New York.

"Honestly, I think it's going to be the classroom stuff. I learned a lot. They were talking to me about things I didn't know," explained the St. Alphonse native. "Mostly about nutrition, sleep before and after games, eating right a couple of days in advance or the day of. I have it all written down. I took notes on my phone. I didn't want that to go to waste. I'm going to try it out this season and see how it goes."

This was Conrad's first taste of the NHL after playing a pair of seasons of NCAA Division 1 hockey with the Western Michigan University Bronco's, where he's tallied 21 goals and 45 points in 73 games in two seasons.

"It was definitely it was a faster pace than what I was expecting. All of the players there were really good," said Conrad. "At that time and place, everyone is trying to impress and going as hard as they can to impress the right people. I was pushing myself like that in general. I felt like I kept up with the other guys pretty well. I've been playing Division 1 hockey and it's a great league in the NCHC. There are some great players in the league. How many players sign into the NHL after they play in the NCHC is astonishing. My freshmen year we played against Jake Guentzel and he was setting records in the NHL playoffs. I didn't feel too out of place and I think that's a big part of it. I liked being there and it was good challenge, but I feel I held my own pretty well."

After the camp was over the players had the chance to meet with the coaching staff in a camp exit type of setting.

"Throughout the week they liked what they saw and were happy that I wasn't backing down from the bigger players and getting into the corners and getting to the dirty areas where you could potentially get hurt. I think that was what they were most impressed by, because I'm not the biggest guy, but at the same time I don't think of myself being smaller than other players out there. "I try to put my nose down, get to work, and not worry about anything that could potentially go wrong," said the 5'11'' forward.

"They told me they were going to for sure watch me this upcoming season and going to be talking to me. I'm happy for that," said Conrad, who will be playing with the Bronco's during the 2017-18 hockey season.