It was the first time players stretching from Unity to Meadow Lake could attend the bantam AA camp in North Battleford. The reason because those centres have lost their AA team after the Saskatchewan Hockey Association decided to make a province wide bantam AAA league.
Saskatoon spoiled that idea to make it province wide, after choosing not to join the new league, but it is official the Centre Four Bantam AA Hockey League is no more and it could prove to be a big bonus to hockey in the Battlefords. The talent pool at the camp that hosted 50 players was impressive.
"We didn't know what to expect," said head coach Martin Smith. "A lot of the out of town guys we had our eye on from the beginning came to camp so we were happy with that."
There will be no restrictions as to how many players from each centre are aloud on the team meaning the best of the best 1997 and '98-born players will be on the roster.
"I was really happy with the talent level," said Smith who was hired for the position earlier this summer after being the head coach after of the Battlefords Midget Stars for one and a half seasons and an assistant coach one year.
Smith held two days of training camp on the weekend at the Civic Centre and from the 50 players at camp, he has cut the roster down to 33 - five goalies, 10 defencemen and 18 forwards. An inter-squad game is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. at the Civic Centre where he hopes to get another look at his potential roster and cut it down to two goalies, six defencemen and nine forwards.
The new league's scheduling meeting is set for Sept. 10 and that is when Smith says they will know if the league will be divided into division or not and how many games will be played.
Joining Smith on the coaching staff will be former Battlefords North Stars - Jody Reiter, as and assistant, Scott Maunula, as a special assistant coach and Shawn Robinson, as the manager.
