A small army of hockey players invaded the Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt from September 7-9, all hoping to make the cut to become Humboldt Broncos.
"It went really well," said Dean Brockman, head coach and general manager of the Humboldt Broncos Junior A hockey club, on September 10.
A total of 200 players attended the camp this year - about double the usual amount at the Broncos fall camp - and Brockman actually had to turn away many more who wanted to come to camp, simply because they had no more room.
The interest is unexpected, at least to Brockman.
"I thought it'd be smaller," he laughed. "They just kept coming."
Those 200 kids were split into 10 teams - six teams of older players and four of younger ones.
"We easily could have had six more teams," Brockman said of the interest shown in the camp. "I've turned away kids left and right."
Though 200 is a lot of players to have at a camp, Brockman didn't feel right making cuts without seeing them play first. Doing that, he noted, you could end up sending just the kid you need away.
The numbers of players wanting to be a Bronco is something unprecedented in recent years.
"We've never had 200 (at camp) as long as I've been here," Brockman remarked.
The 200 players at camp were in addition to the 11 veterans coming back for this season - Matt Hrynkiw in goal, defencemen Kameron Ballas, Logan Sproule, Cody Pettapiece and David Stumborg, and forwards Adam Zbitniff, Neil Landry, David Miazga, Adam Antkowiak, John Lawrence and Rhett Blackmuir.
At the start of camp, there wasn't even room on the teams for the veterans to get out on the ice.
"One team had five lines, six D and three goalies," Brockman said as an example.
But as some players stopped showing up over the weekend, some of the veterans got to get out on the ice.
Why there was such interest in the Broncos this year is something Brockman couldn't pin down.
"It could be a combination of things," he said.
First, they stayed away from the long weekend this year - the usual date for the camp for the past few years.
Second, school is back in session already, so families aren't in holiday mode any more.
Third, there are a lot of open spots on the team this year.
"That makes sense," Brockman said.
Plus, other teams in other provinces have already held their camps and made cuts, so there were perhaps more players looking for somewhere to play hockey.
It could also have something to do with the stellar season the Broncos played last year. Though as the host team, they were going to play in the 2012 RBC Cup, the national Junior A championships, no matter what, they still won their way there, picking up the SJHL Canalta Cup and the ANAVET Cup along the way.
Even at the RBC Cup, the Broncos were all anyone could talk about. They won all four of their round robin games and were in first place heading into the semifinals. Then their lost their semifinal in overtime to the Woodstock Slammers, locking them out of the final.
It was a heart-breaking loss to a great season.
But that was then. And this is now.
Despite the huge number of players, things ran smoothly at the weekend-long fall camp.
"Obviously we had a great deal of kids to deal with," Brockman said. "But there was an abundance of talent at all levels."
Brockman was looking, as he usually does, for a good mix on the ice.
"We need some guys up front and we need some guys on the back end," he said. "I want guys to separate themselves at the camp and the exhibition games," he explained.
"We're going to try some kids out that work extremely hard and want to be here and want to make an impact on our team."
The decisions come from the players, Brockman noted.
"They do the job for us, whether they step up and try to make the hockey club (or don't and go home)," he said.
Brockman hasn't set any goals, aspirations or benchmarks for the season yet.
Only one thing is clear about what the 2012-13 season will hold.
