Kids are going back to school and with that brings the return of junior hockey, as the Melfort Mustangs hosted their annual fall camp.
The Sept. 1-3 camp featured approximately 90 players, which were broken up into six teams and wrapped up with an intrasquad game on Sept. 3.
Camp went well this year, said Trevor Blevins, the head coach and general manager, who noted it was a bit more competitive.
“It was just a lot more of a starting piece for the season and we’re pretty happy with the talent of the veterans and the new faces that came in. It was competitive all-in-all.”
A large part of growth in hockey occurs during the summer and Blevins noted his returning players seemed to take that to heart and, for the most part, came into camp in great shape.
“We’re going to do some fitness testing this week to compliment the exhibition games and see where everyone’s at. It’s all very positive right now.”
The prospects also left a positive impact on Blevins during camp this year, he said, noting they have a great group of 2000, 2001 and 2002 born players, with the 2001s especially making a great impression.
“We’ve got some 16-year-old players on our list that we think they can come in and play at 17. There’s probably a handful that could crack our roster next year so it’s very positive... we think that the 2001s that we have will definitely make an impact in our league.”
The Mustangs head into the exhibition portion of their season with 29 players currently still on the team, and Blevins noted he is excited with what they have left, but said decisions will be made daily on who will stick around.
“It’s just a matter of if we’re happy with the player or happy with the development and what he can bring then we’ll definitely need to have more of a look. It’s just a matter of getting down to that 23-25 players at the start of the regular season.”
Heading into the pre-season, the Mustangs play four games, as they take on the rival Nipawin Hawks in a home-and-home Sept. 4 and 5, starting in Melfort, and the Humboldt Broncos in a home-and-home Sept. 8 and 9, starting in Humboldt.
Heading into those games, Blevins said he is looking for his players to just show their compete level.
“It’s tough to look at system play in that short a time period but you look for the right work habits and you go from there. We want to make sure we’re a team this year that’s older and a little stronger.”
