There’s no shortage of young hockey players aspiring to play in the British Columbia Hockey League. Not according to the speed with which registrations came in for this weekend’s Merritt Centennials’ spring camp and where the players are coming from.
A capacity 88 players, ranging in age from 16 to 19 and hailing from all parts of North America, are signed up to take part in the three-day Cents’ evaluation camp that runs from Friday to Sunday at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. A second camp is scheduled for Abbotsford on the June 12 to 14 weekend.
Incoming players will be assigned to one of five teams that will take part in a series of scrimmages with each other, commencing at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and continuing through to 1:15 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
Breaking down the numbers, a total of 10 goalies will be at the spring camp, along with 30 defencemen and 48 forwards.
According to their year of birth, the largest contingent of players is 1997-born (34), followed by 1998 (31), 1999 (17), 1996 (5) and 1995 (1).
Not surprisingly, given the time of year and the fact that schools are still in session, the largest group of participants in this weekend’s camp are from B.C. (71). Eight players are from Alberta and another nine from various parts of the United States, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington State.
Of the 88 players registered to attend, 42 played some level of midget hockey this past season, from Tier 3 to major midget, while another 22 were involved in hockey academy programs such as Pursuit of Excellence in Kelowna and OHA in Penticton.
Sixteen players are coming to camp with at least one year of Junior B experience, and one having played Junior A. Two American-born players competed for their high school teams.
Merritt and area is well-represented at the camp with six invitees. Goaltender Kritstian Stead spent this past season playing for the 100 Mile House Wranglers of the KIJHL, while fellow puckstopper Sam Suzuki toiled between the pipes for the local Jr. Centennials midget squad. Suzuki’s teammate Grady Musgrave is the lone defenceman at the Cents’ camp with ties to the Nicola Valley. The hometown forwards include Marcelo Bose and Logan Lake’s Eric Lalonde (both played for the Merritt midgets), Riley Barnes (Golden Rockets, KIJHL) and Sunil Sahota (Thompson Blazers, BCMML).
Some of the players expected to be here this weekend have interesting connections to Centennials past and present. Current Cents’ forward Nick Fidanza will have his younger brother Michael at camp, skating with Jovin Kaila, a distant cousin of Centennials’ defenceman Malik Kaila.
The Michigan trio of Hunter Kero, Mitchell Kalleward and Cale Markham are all related to former Merritt goalie Devin Kero, who played one season (2013-14) for the Cents before earning a scholarship to Michigan Tech.
Brothers Rory and Hunter Garlasco, from Mahwah, New Jersey, came to the attention of Cents’ assistant coach Joe Martin through long-time friend Peter Goulet from Kingston, Ont. who coached Rory in Nepean (outside Ottawa) this past season.
Martin is pleased with the talent that has signed up for this year’s first evaluation camp, especially considering all that’s going on still hockey-wise.
“It’s actually not the best weekend,” Martin said. “The Cyclone Cup (provincial Jr. B championship) is taking place at the same time in Kimberley, as well as the B.C.-Alberta major midget finals involving the North East Chiefs from Vancouver. This past weekend, 16 teams were busy with the U.S. midget championships. It’s unlikely we’d see any of those players.”
While on paper the Centennials have 14 players eligible to return next season, Martin is anticipating the number will be more like nine or 10, leaving plenty of spots open for new additions.
Expected to return and contend for their place on the team are defencemen Malik Kaila, Tyrell Buckley, Cole Arcuri and Matt Foley, forwards Gavin Gould, Colin Grannary, Nick Fidanza, Brandon Duhaime and Zac Bowles, along with goaltender Anthony Pupplo.
Question marks when it comes to returning to Merritt are forward Devin Oakes (expected to retire following season-ending shoulder surgery), forwards Cole Chorney and Stephan Seeger (both expected to try and return to major Junior), and forward James Neil (out with long-term concussion symptoms).
Martin said that both he and head coach and GM Luke Pierce know exactly what they’re looking for going into the spring camps.
“Stability and maturity both on and off the ice,” Martin said. “Character kids that can play in any situation, and are using their time at the rink every day to get better.”
Martin said that he really likes the returning group of core players for next season, but the team is intent upon finding players who will push those returnees for ice time each and every day.
