Early Thoughts on Training Camp - Day 1

Man it felt good to be at the rink! There was an unmistakable buzz in the air as the players, coaches, trainers and yes, even broadcasters arrived at the Civic Center for the dawning of the 09-10 Training Camp for the Battlefords North Stars.

First, before we get too far into things. Here are the two veteran lists of players that are currently participating at camp. Bear in mind, that several players from last year are excluded, because they are currently attending WHL camps:

TEAM 5 - Black

G - Coleman Young (91)
G - Brennan Smith (92)
D - Coleman Brodbin (89)
D - Zach Wourms (91)
D - Brody Malek (89)
D - Andrew Peeaychew (92)
D - Dillon Forbes (93)
F - Alex Leclerc (89)
F - Skyler Dunser (91)
F - Colton Graf (90)
F - Blake Peake (89)
F - Mitch Wall (89)
F - Troy Watt (89)
F - Matt Brown (92)
F - Jeremy Smith (91)
F - Tanner Schwab (91)
F - Derek Hoium (92)
F - Drew Tkatchuk (92)
F - Brett Penner (92)
F - Nathan Tomac (91)


TEAM 6 - White

G - Spencer Laycock (91)
G - Patrick Johnson (93)
D - Brandon Ambros (93)
D - Jesse Lebreton (89)
D - Dusty Iron (91)
D - Devon Spiess (91)
D - Logan Gloeden (90)
F - Boyd Wakelin (91)
F - Ryan Anderson (90)
F - Matt Luster (90)
F - Michael Pylypow (90)
F - Ward Szucki (90)
F - Ryan Toporowski (89)
F - Josh Daley (90)
F - Tony Oak (90)
F - Mitchell Gartner (92)
F - Blake Tatchell (91)
F - Chad Tichkowsky (92)
F - Tanner Sobkowicz (92)
F - Ben Morgan (91)

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I guess I can start with naming the players that really impressed me during Day 1.

For the BLACK team I really have to hand it to the vets:

Coleman Brodbin seemed to be skating better than last year. Blake Peake showed some tremendous speed, and puck control, and Brody Malek, Troy Watt, Alex Leclerc, Mitch Wall and Colton Graf definitely did not dissapoint. As far as the nubies are concerned, I liked what I saw from Tanner Schwab. Defenceman Zach Wourms clearly has a ton of height, and now it's just a question of whether he can use it effectively or not.


As for the younger WHITE team, I was particularly impressed with a few of the rooks:

Josh Daley never eemed to miss a shot. Devon Spiess showed the exact poise that coach Ken Pearson raved about, and Blake Tatchell seemed so comfortable out there. Cody Nickolet, Matt Ryan and I also agreed that Forward Ben Morgan (Midget AA, Calgary last season) showed a lot of talent.

As for the veterans, all of them seemed to lead by example, and I couldn't find any real fault with anybody.

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Tomorrow will be a great day, as scrimmages will really give the coaches a better idea of what to expect.

The first pre-season game is only three days away!

But don't forget that the Annual Black and White game is taking place at 2:00 on Sunday afternoon at the Civic Center.

Trent Cey is coaching one team, I'm coaching the other. We've got a case of the "good stuff" riding on the game, and I'm looking forward to a tough coaching battle!

See you at the rink.

Thanks for reading.

- Dano