WILMINGTON, MA – It has only been a week since the Boston Bruins took Colton Hargrove with their seventh round pick at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

“I talked to Scott [Fitzgerald] and they said they were thinking about taking me with their last pick,” said Hargrove. “So, I told my mom and she told everybody, so I got a bunch of calls that day.

"I felt immediate excitement.”

But the power forward is already tearing up the rink.

Hargrove took to the ice at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington, MA for the first time on Thursday with the start of the sixth annual Bruins Development Camp.

“It’s a lot faster paced than I expected and all the guys are really good, they have a lot of skill, it's a great development camp,” said Hargrove after his second day at camp.

The 6-foot-two, 212-pound winger got his start on the pavement, not on the ice.

“I went on the driveway [with my roller skates], broke every window pane out of the garage door and had to replace them with plexiglass,” Hargrove said. “I started on ice the next year and it was up from there.”

Since then, Hargrove has been breaking more than just glass.

His 140 penalty minutes from the 2011-12 season with the Fargo Force earned him a nickname that will stick with him through his career.

“A couple of guys just started calling me ‘hammer’ because I hit a lot, and it’s kind of stuck since my first year at Fargo,” said Hargrove.

While Hargrove might drop the hammer from time to time, he’s looking to pick up his game this week at Development Camp.

"I like to shoot the puck," he said. "So, maybe when I get the puck, just look up, and look for open people and give them the puck instead of trying to take it myself.”

But all in all, Hargrove knows this is just the first step on the long road to the NHL.

“I’ll be back next year and hopefully the year after to develop even more," he said. "It’s just a great experience.”

---Gabrielle Lucivero