Norm Johnston was grinning from ear-to-ear at the Civic Centre Sunday afternoon.
That’s because the head coach of the Battlefords Stars was thrilled with the level of play that he saw over the weekend during the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League team’s annual spring camp.
“We’ve always had around four to six teams at camps for teams that I’ve coached in the past, but the competiveness for this camp across the six teams we had here was excellent,” Johnston said.
“We had kids from Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert, La Ronge and Onion Lake come here and that’s because we had a lot of open spots up for grabs. You could see how much players wanted to be a part of this team with the battles that they had.”
The tight competition made some extremely tough choices for the Stars staff, as they have set their roster already for the 2017-18 season.
“I don’t believe in having another camp during the fall just so we can make more money off of the players,” Johnston said. “They came and paid once. I want them to go home and have fun during the summer before we come back on Sept. 3 to start work for the new season.
“There were a number of guys that can play at the Midget AAA level and I’ll be calling other teams that have open spots for them to play, as we only have one spot now that’s open that we’ll set before the start of the year.”
Johnston, who took over the coaching duties on a full time basis last month after coming in as an interim head coach at the end of the regular season, had been busy on the phones since February to bring in players for the spring camp.
“I didn’t want to come back into a coaching job because I wasn’t keen on doing the recruiting again,” Johnston said. “For the last two months, I’ve been on the phone with players to bring them here, so my wife’s been asking me if I’m having fun yet.
“It’s been fine so far though. I decided to come back for a year and see what it’s like and we’re giving it a go.”
Two forwards were among the standout players of the weekend for Johnston, as Adam Beckman and Ty Mosimann were dangerous any time they stepped on the ice.
Beckman, who is from Saskatoon and was a fifth round pick by the Spokane Chiefs in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, led the Stars in scoring last year with 41 points.
Mosimann, who lives in Edam, has spent the last two seasons with the Prince Albert Mintos and was fifth in team scoring with 38 points.
“The only struggle that the younger guys had was trying to keep up with Adam,” Johnston said. “He’s a heck of a hockey player.
“Ty’s got a couple of years of experience with the Mintos and we are pretty happy to see him on our team.”
The Stars also wrapped up their 2016-17 season Saturday night as they held their annual awards banquet.
Goaltender Lance Alm received the most dedicated and MVP awards, while Beckman won the rookie of the year and top scorer accolades.
Luke Reid also won multiple awards as he received the top defenceman and best plus minus honours.
Also coming away with hardware were Matthew Flodell (most underrated), Dylan Esau (most improved), Tyson Meyers (coaches award) and Donovan Beatty (the Welykochy Award which combines hockey, school and citizenship).
