A positive first skate by the St. Albert Merchants highlighted Tuesday’s tryouts at Akinsdale Arena.
The fast-paced session featured a solid core of returnees leading by example and the emergence of skilled rookies competing for roster spots.
“It’s been nice to see the vets come back with the energy and passion they have shown in the past as it sets a good tone for the rookies,” said head coach Scott Rodda. “Speaking of the rookies, there are certainly some that have clearly shown they can play at this level and it will be fun to help develop their game for this calibre of hockey. There is an adjustment from midget to junior B as you are playing against guys three and four years older. Our team might be one of the younger ones this year in the league but we have a real strong nucleus to build around and some great leadership to help solidify our team.”
The Challenge Cup pennant winners in 2015 (32-6) and 2014 (34-3-1) in the Capital Junior B Hockey League are undergoing one of the largest turnovers of talent in a few years.
“We have six or seven overage (21-year-old) players vying for four spots so some tough decision lie ahead,” Rodda said. “There are another three or four players returning so we’ll be looking to fill several spots.”
Separating the pretenders from the contenders started in Friday’s exhibition against the visiting Spruce Grove Regals. The score was unavailable at press time.
“Hopefully it will be a chance to get a roster full mostly of rookies to see how they compete at this level,” Rodda said. “With the season opener two weeks away there are lots of decisions to be made in terms of the overage players as well as the new players. Although we don’t have an excess number in camp there will still be some hard decisions, which is always a good scenario for coaches. We expect we will still see some players trickling back from other camps and so at this point no one can really rest on their laurels and assume anything.”
Another audition is the Blue/White intersquad game this Friday at 8 p.m.
League play starts Sept. 18, when the Merchants travel to Fort Saskatchewan to play the Hawks at 8 p.m. at JRC Arena.
The home opener is Sept. 20 against the Beverly Warriors at 8 p.m.
The Merchants were eliminated in the fifth and deciding game in the quarterfinal series last season against the Stony Plain Flyers. The Money Men were 17-2 at home in league play before losing all three playoff games at Akinsdale to the host team for the 2015 provincials.
In the season series, the Merchants beat the Flyers (23-12-3) three times in four games.
The Merchants banked nine consecutive wins entering the playoffs while going 19-1 in their last 20 games.
