The Dauphin Kings took the first step towards defending their Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) championship when the reigning Turnbull Cup titlists hosted a rookie camp, this past weekend.
About 50 players hit the ice at Credit Union Place, hoping to impress the coaching staff enough to earn and invitation to this weekend’s main camp.
According to Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley, the team limited the number of players at the camp to include their list players and draft picks, as well as mostly local players.
Hedley like what he saw on the ice.
“I liked the work ethic, I liked the compete, I liked the speed. They’re working hard,” he said, adding Carter Zalischuk had a great camp and some of the local players such as Cohen Smigelsky and Sam Swanton also had good camps. “We’ve got a good cycle of good talent coming up through the ranks in the Parkland and we’re hoping these guys can end up wearing our crest sooner or later,” Hedley said.
About 16 players will join the team’s main camp, which will be held, Sept. 2 to 4, culminating with the JoFo Cup intrasquad game. Hedley said there will be similar numbers at the main camp, enough for three teams.
“It should be some great competition and should make for some great speed and some good entertainment next weekend,” he added.
Some players, such as local products Kyan Grouette and Zalischuk, will be notably absent from the main camp because they will be attending Western Hockey League camps.
“It’s going to be interesting, because main camp could be totally different two or three weeks down the road depending on who returns and who doesn’t,” Hedley said. “But I know we have some good talent coming in. Some good imports coming in and some good kids from Manitoba, so it should make for some good entertainment next weekend.”
A lot of focus will be on the Kings as defending MJHL champions. With the bar set at a high level, Hedley wants it to stay there.
“People look around and say we’re going to be in tough this year. But at the same time, we thought that last year. We lost some real good players the year before with (Grady) Hobbs and (Kolby) Morrisseau. And our top six guys were all gone,” he pointed out. “And the guys came in and filled in and did a great job.”
Hedley feels the defence will be a strength like it was last year, led by Owen Wareham, who turns 20 in October. After the experience of playing at last season’s Centennial Cup, Dauphin’s coaching staff saw what it takes to compete at that level.
“Speed is your key ingredient. You have to be able to skate, you have to move the puck. Playing fast. So we want that in our main camp,” Hedley said. “We’re going to talk to our guys before we start. The compete level and the speed and just the ability to move the puck as fast as you can and to get to hard places as fast as you can is going to be key. And that’s what we’re going to focus on in main camp.”
The Kings will play four preseason games this year, the first coming, Sept. 6, in Swan River against the Stampeders at 7 p.m., followed by a game, Sept. 7, when the Kings host the Superior International Junior Hockey League’s Wisconsin Lumberjacks at 7:30 p.m.
Dauphin will then travel west to face the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Melville Millionaires, Sept. 10, and the Yorkton Terriers, Sept. 11, with both games in Melville.
