Canes' Camp Day Three: The Intrasquad Tourney

Hurricanes training camp is well underway and wraps up Sunday.

Saturday was highlighted by an intrasquad tournament which saw fans treated to four games at the Adams Ice Centre. A complete wrap and full game summaries can be found at http://www.lethbridgehurricanes.com/.

In the first game of the day, Mark Reners scored twice as did Shane Brolly as Team 1 beat Team 2 by an 8-3 score. Jacob Berglund had a pair of assists in the win.

Game two featured Team 3 vs. Team 4. It was the debut of Russian Alex Kuvaev as Team 3 won a high scoring affair 8-7 in a shootout. Sam McKechnie scored a hatrick in the win. Brody Sutter had a strong game with two goals an assist for Team 3.

Game three Saturday was a rematch between Teams 1 & 2. Brady Bakke scored twice and had one assist as Team 2 won 6-4. Jacob Berglund had one goal and one assist as well.

The final intrasquad game of the day had Teams 3 & 4 going head-to-head again. Alex Kuvaev had the insurance marker as Team 4 got by with an 8-6 victory. Brody Sutter had another strong showing with three goals. Josh Kluck notched a pair for the winning team.

The Hurricanes 2010 camp wraps up Sunday with the intrasquad tournament finals. Team 1 & Team 3 play at 9am. Teams 2 & 4 will play in the championship game at 12:30. All donations will go to the Lethbridge United Way.

I had a chance to speak with goalie Brandon Anderson during camp this weekend. Anderson: "I'm pretty excited this year. This is a different situation than camp last year knowing I'm going to be the guy (in goal), but at the same time I want to come here and prove to everyone that I can be the starting goalie and play a lot of games this year. The past few months, I did a lot of reviewing of last season and working in the gym and on the ice with my goalie coach back home doing a lot of technical work. I'm looking forward to getting my feet wet in some exhibition games and then hopefully have a good start to the regular season on the road. We also have seven returning d-men this year, so there will be no shortage of a veteran presence in front of me. There should be a solid group on the back end."

Assistant G.M. & Director of Player Personnel Brad Robson took a few minutes to chat too. He's got high expectations for this year's team. Robson: "We have been very impressed with our veterans returning from last year. They all look in really good shape...bigger, stronger, and quicker. That'll certainly help out our depth. With losing our three overagers from last year, there are at least three to five spots to fill with our hockey club and we're watching everyone closely. It's been a good camp so far. Lots of competition this year. We've gone from three teams to four teams in camp this year, so there is more ice time for the players. As for the Russian, Alex Kuvaev is a big player. I've watched video of him and talked to pro scouts about him. He's 6 foot 3 and 200 pounds. He works hard and goes to the net. We expect him to come in here and be in our top nine forwards. There's going to be a huge adjustment for him, just with coming to a new country, the language barrier, and playing in a different league. We have to give him time to figure things out, but I think after 10 or 15 games, he'll fit in just nicely with our hockey club."

Thanks,
Pat

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