New Battlefords AAA Sharks head coach Gary Berggren found himself with a good problem to have over the weekend at the Civic Center.
With a total of 61 players taking part in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League team’s camp, Berggren and the rest of his coaching staff were forced to make some tough cuts for Sunday’s inter-squad game and in setting the roster for the 2016-17 season.
“It was a super competitive weekend,” Berggren said. “There was a lot more talent than what we were expecting and that was great to see.
“There were quite a few players that could have been in the game on Sunday that are just not quite there yet. However, I’m sure they will be right in that mix next year and we’re excited to see how those players develop over the course of this season.”
Coming off of a tough 3-23 campaign last season that saw the Sharks finish at the bottom of the eight-team loop, there’s nowhere to go but up for the team.
Going into this weekend, Berggren had a good idea of what he was looking for when building this year’s squad.
“I really wanted to stress that we wanted girls who really wanted to be here and who wanted to play at this level,” Berggren said.
“We’re looking to raise the skill level from the previous years. In past seasons we've had hard-working players but they didn’t have quite enough skill to play at the AAA level. Our goal was to find players who had strong skills this year.”
That skill level was noticeable in the inter-squad game Sunday afternoon as a number of players came flying down the wings and found the back of the net.
“Going into this season we have four strong lines and any of them could play in the top spot for us,” Berggren said.
“Obviously there have been a few players that have played better than others during the camp, but we’re a really even team on offence. Any of the four lines can score for us.”
The Sharks’ defence will have a different look than in the past with Berggren going for a more dynamic approach.
“We’ve gone more to players that can skate and think the game and I think we will do really well with that mindset,” Berggren said.
However, it will be a young group trying to slow down the other teams in the league. Three of the defenceman and both goaltenders are bantam-aged players.
“It will take a few games for them to figure things out playing at a higher level, but I expect they will be on top of things pretty quickly,” Berggren said.
The Sharks will now prepare for their first tournament of the season. They will be in Portage la Prairie, Man. from Sept. 23-25 for the Central Plains Capitals Tournament.
“We were there last year and the field consisted of teams from Manitoba and Saskatchewan,” Berggren said.
“The schedule there worked out very well for us last year as we played a lot of teams that we had never played before or that weren’t in our league. It’s a great tournament and we’re excited about going back.”
That tournament will also be a golden opportunity for a young Sharks team to get their legs underneath them before they go out on the road Oct. 15 to begin their league campaign against the Melville Prairie Fire.
“The speed and the size of the players are going to be the biggest differences that the girls will face,” Berggren said. “When we had the inter-squad game we saw that for some of the girls that the speed factor was something they needed to adjust to, and then there were some girls where that wasn’t an issue at all.
“I expect that to be the same thing once the regular season begins as they should be able to jump right in and adjust to that speed. However, the AAA league is a little more physical so they will have to get used to that right away.”
