One Month to Hurricanes Training Camp

Well, it is the dog days of summer and not a whole heck of a lot going on hockey-wise for the Lethbridge Hurricanes, but the team is gearing up for training camp which is just a couple of weeks away!

I took some time this week to sit down with Canes' Head Coach and G.M. Rich Preston to get an idea on the team's preparation for camp which opens at the Adams Ice Centre the first week of September. It appears that Preston will be heading into camp with a good portion of the same team that ended the season last year, with the exception of course of the three overagers who graduated.

Pat: Coach, the spring and summer have gone by and now roughly four weeks left until camp starts. Everyone excited?

Preston: "Well, we are certainly getting that itch Pat. There's great anticipation for camp this year. Just to look at the young guys that we drafted and those who are knocking at the door who are a little older, but also just to see the competition we'll have at this camp. That's one thing as an organization that I think is really important to have is that internal competition for jobs and we're going to have that this year....big time! We have seven returning defencemen and 11 returning forwards and a bunch of young kids knocking at the door."

Pat: Will this be a younger team again this year?

Preston: "Our situation this year is quite different than it was last year as this time. It's not like we are currently, actively looking for something that we have a need for. I think with the returnees we have and with a year of experience the young guys have gained, I can't see us getting any younger. With the experience we've gained, starting on the back end and in net with Brandon Anderson, he's going to be a much better goalie. We will have a big, strong and tough defence and then we've got some changes up front. A guy like Graham Hood should score a lot goals for us this year....Berglund, Braes, Fyten......all those guys had good years last year and should be even better this season. I really believe we'll be a much better team and the biggest thing will be that experience."

Pat: No question Brandon Anderson will be the go-to guy in goal for this team, who's going to be the back-up?

Preston: "Well, we've got Dylan Tait who came in for us last year when we had all those injuries, he'll be here. We've also invited a couple of more goalies, 16 year old Tanner Kovacs who had a good camp with us last year. We drafted a goalie this year in the Bantam Draft, Ryan Ferguson from Calgary. We've got a couple of other goalies coming to camp too, so we'll see. Dylan Tait is a local kid who's played some games in our league and in Junior "A". He's 19 and he's worked really hard this off-season and he's a guy that can step in and be a tandem with Brandon."

Pat: Mitch Maxwell broke a bone in his hand playing baseball with the Lethbridge Bulls this summer. How do you think that will impact him heading into camp?

Preston: "He's going to be fine. He got into a fight late last season and injured a small bone in one of his hands. We thought with time it would get better. It was an aggravating thing for him so we decided to get an expert opinion for it. It's not really a big deal. Mitch has got the injury in a splint for three weeks and then they'll reassess it. He should be fine by camp."

Pat: With camp only a month or so away, how close in contact have you been with the players during this off-season?

Preston: "Well, the players will be in Lethbridge around the 28th of August and camp begins September 2nd. The coaches and myself have been in constant contact with the players and they're excited, they can't wait to get back at it! They all know how competitive it's going to be at this camp and like I said before, that's exactly what we want."

Pat: Do you think some of the young kids like Balog and Sofillas have a good shot at making this team?

Preston: "They do. They will have every opportunity. We have six exhibition games. Those 16 and 17 year olds are going to play a lot and that'll sort itself out through the pre-season."

Thanks,
Pat

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