Three days of hard fought and competitive play provided the showcase for the Power Dodge Estevan Bruins fall camp at the Civic Auditorium on the weekend.
Chris Lewgood, head coach and general manager of the Bruins, said the main feature of the camp was parity as most of the incoming players exhibited a level of play that was consistent across the board. He said there were a few surprises, such as forward Kyle Dosanjh and defenceman Matt Leniuk, who showed well despite coming in as somewhat unknowns, but the job now is for everyone to start upping their game.
“We’re going to go to another level here in the exhibition season,” said Lewgood. “We’ve got down to 25 guys, which is a pretty manageable level for now, and everybody is going to have to elevate their game. It is going to be a dog fight for those last couple of spots.”
Isaac Embree, an 18-year-old player looking to crack the forward corps this season, enjoyed an outstanding finish to camp scoring one goal and assisting on two more in the Gerry Aspen Cup on Sunday afternoon.
Embree said the points came from working hard just like everyone was doing in the game and throughout the three-day camp in an effort to earn a spot on the roster. He said the camp featured a lot of talent and character starting with the returning players such as Josh Rieger, Lynnden Pastachak and Jake Fletcher who showed everyone what it is going to take to be an asset for this team.
“The older guys are really nice and they welcomed you like family right off the bat and that is really big for a hockey club,” said Embree, who won a Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) championship with B.C.’s Delta Hockey Academy last season. “You know that maybe at the beginning of the season that everyone will take a bullet for the team and that is how you win championships.”
Three former Alberta Junior Hockey League players joined the many hopefuls looking to enter their first season in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League due to an Aug. 26 trade the Bruins made with the Drayton Valley Thunder. One week before fall camp began the Bruins flipped Nicholas Sutter, who they acquired from the Olds Grizzlys for Landon Gross on Aug. 11, to the Thunder for 20-year-old forwards Matt McNeil and Jason Miller and 17-year-old defenceman Zach Sherburne.
“All three guys played very well and helped set the bar a little higher in camp,” said Lewgood. “Having known Sherburne as a player I saw that he had a really good summer as far as confidence and growing and being stronger. McNeil and Miller are going to add some offensive (punch) right away.”
Lewgood said the club will attempt to get every one of their new and returning players on the same page over the next two weeks with regular morning practices and a four-game pre-season trek scheduled for this weekend. He said it’s a short turnaround from the fall camp to their first regular season game against the Melville Millionaires on Sept. 16, so the focus will be teaching the Bruins’ game to the players right away.
