While the Battlefords North Stars’ organization is still searching for their next head coach and general manager to replace Brandon Heck, the future of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League club was on full display this weekend in Saskatoon.
A group of 119 players were invited to take to the ice over the course of three days at the Agriplace Ice Sports Arena as the team held their annual spring prospects camp for players born between the years of 1999 and 2004.
“There’s always confidence in what the hockey staff is able to bring in for recruits, but you never really know how things will go until the camp begins,” North Stars assistant coach Boyd Wakelin said.
“As a whole, I thought it was a really good weekend from everyone here. I especially thought the bantam age group had some really intense games, as there was a lot of hard hitting and highly skilled hockey all weekend.”
Wakelin, assistant general manager Wylie Riendeau and goaltending coach Travis Harrington kept a close eye on the action over the weekend, with some help from a number of neutral observers along the way.
“Bryden Serafini, Les Trach, Blake Tatchell and Martin Smith were all here and it was great to have them here as they all have a high hockey IQ and we can bounce ideas off one another when it comes to scouting players,” Wakelin said.
Having been held in town last year during the middle of the North Stars’ run to the Canalta Cup championship, the decision was made to move the prospects camp into May this season, which also meant that it would be taking place outside of North Battleford as the ice is taken out of the Civic Centre in the middle of April ahead of the annual Kinsmen Indoor Rodeo.
“I think the biggest reason that we did it in Saskatoon is the fact that it’s a more centralized location for everyone,” Riendeau said. “When you have players flying in or driving in from out of the province, it just makes things easier for everyone to arrive.
“Plus, the later date gives us a better opportunity to see more players that we may not have had a chance to see, as many leagues are finishing up in April. Due to those reasons, I think that’s why our numbers were up for this year’s camp.”
While the majority of the roster came from Saskatchewan, a variety of players from North America turned out to impress the North Stars brass.
“The crop of kids from Alberta was strong and we were really pleased to see the number of players that we had here from British Columbia, as we often don’t see guys from there until the main camp,” Riendeau said.
“We also had guys here from Alaska, Ohio and Wisconsin, and those are players that had been watched at different showcases throughout the year or that reached out to us and said that they wanted to come here.”
Following three days of scrimmages, the camp wrapped up Sunday with a game between two bantam age teams and a contest between the top 40 players from the weekend that are eligible to play in the SJHL next season.
“We’re looking to see who stands out from the guys that we’ve kept an eye out for throughout the season and how they match up against tough competition,” Wakelin said. “It’s not just for putting together a roster for next season, but also to see those who will be coming up for the next few years.
“Plus, this is the first time for many players that they’ve been on the ice since their season ended, so it’s good to see which guys have been keeping their training up and which players have been sitting on the couch.”
Players from this weekend’s camp will be invited to the North Stars’ training camp in late August, with an exact date to be determined once a new head coach and general manager is hired.
Meanwhile, the bantam-aged players have a chance to be selected by the team during the SJHL’s Bantam Draft next month.
A date for this year’s draft, which has usually taken place during the league’s annual meeting in early June, has yet to be announced.
