The Power Dodge Estevan Bruins begin their push for a 2017 Canalta Cup championship this weekend at the Civic Auditorium with a fall camp that is expected to be one of their most challenging in recent memory.
“It’s going to be physical,” said Lynnden Pastachak, one of only eight returnees to the team from last season. “That’s how we always play. These young guys are going to come in, they’re going to see that and hopefully they pick up on that and they start giving it back. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Chris Lewgood, head coach and general manager of the Bruins, said about 45 to 55 kids will be at the Bruins camp this weekend competing for five or six open spots on defence, about eight forward positions and at least one more place in goal. He said their returning core of forwards Zach Goberis, Kaelan Holt, Pastachak, Levi Barnstable and Jake Fletcher, defencemen Josh Rieger and Tyler Hengen and goaltender Nathan Alalouf have an inside edge on retaining their positions with the team this year, but those spots could also go to younger players if they get beat out for their job.
“I think we’ll have a very competitive camp where all the guys coming are going to be fighting for spots and there is enough available that they’re playing for a job,” said Lewgood. “Our veteran players are going to be pushing the pace and setting the tone for what’s (going) to be a hardworking and tenacious group, so I think it’ll be a very good camp. I’m really looking forward to seeing these guys in this setting and even more so getting going into some pre-season and regular season (games) with this group.”
Lewgood said this season is not being considered the first year of a long-term turnaround for the club. He said the young group coming to the team may need a little bit of time to adjust to junior A hockey, but the belief is this incoming talent along with the veteran core will come together as a team and compete this year.
“We made sure we’re going to move forward with high-end people and as a result we expect (our veterans) to share what they understand about junior A hockey and what it takes to be successful with the young guys,” said Lewgood. “With a group of rookies as large as we have, yeah, they’re going to have to take an increased role both on and off the ice compared to most teams and when we recruited these players we recruited players who we felt were capable of taking on those increased roles and guys with high character who we thought would mesh well with the guys we have returning.”
Barnstable, who is heading into his third season with the Bruins, said the inflow of so many new players onto the roster should make for an interesting camp and a pre-season that might be a little tough in terms of the players getting adjusted to each other, but he is confident that the team will eventually come together and showcase a quality product on the ice.
“We’re going to have a hard working team for sure,” said Barnstable. “We’ve got some skilled guys coming in, but we’re definitely going to need to work a lot harder and playing in the Civic it’ll be lots of fun in a small rink with lots of crashing and banging.”
Lewgood said the Bruins fall camp will begin on Friday morning with off-ice physical testing to see how each of the players have progressed as far as their fitness and athleticism since the club’s spring camp in late April. He said from there they’ll get together to do a bit of video or shop talk on the white board to give the players an idea of what is expected of them before they head into on-ice practices followed by some scrimmages on Saturday and the annual Gerry Aspen Cup black and white game on Sunday.
“As a staff we’ve determined that we’ll be willing to release as many players early on as we feel needed,” said Lewgood. “We want guys who are competitive for this year’s club and young guys who are carving out a future with the Estevan Bruins. We want to make sure they are fitting in because this is a very competitive camp, so we could make cuts as early as day one or it could be that we carry a bunch of these guys in through to the pre-season.”
The Bruins will play five pre-season games, starting with a rookie and prospects match against the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox on Sept. 5, before they open the regular season with a home and home series on Sept. 16 and 17 with the Melville Millionaires. The team will begin the regular season at the Civic Auditorium, due to the damage caused to the Affinity Place ice plant during an early July flooding, and it is still unknown how long it will be before the club will be able to move into their regular home.
“We’re prepared to play there for as long as it takes whether it be sometime in October or Christmas or whatever it may be,” said Lewgood. “We have no way to know right now what the timelines are, so we’re just focused on the first couple of games and the start of the season and as we know more we’ll adjust.”
Pastachak said the boards are different, it’s different bounces on the ice and once you cross the blue line you’re practically on top of the goalie already when playing at the Civic. He said the play will be fast and rough while they’re at the smaller rink, but if they have a physical team that can gel quickly it should give them a chance to ice a winning squad.
“We’re going to have a good young team (with) a lot of skill coming in,” said Pastachak. “For the older guys even we’ve got a lot of skill, a lot of guys who are willing to put in the work. I’m hoping to finish in the top half of the league that’s for sure.”
