Another exciting season of Merritt Centennials hockey officially gets underway on Monday of next week with the start of training camp at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena.
An estimated 40-45 players will be on hand for the Cents’ main camp, hoping to land one of 22 coveted positions on the British Columbia Hockey League team’s roster for the 2013-14 season.
“We have players coming to camp who have shown every indication that they’re willing and ready to make our team,” Cents head coach and GM Luke Pierce said on Tuesday of this week.
Much like one year ago, the Centennials have 11 returning players from the team that finished a strong third in the BCHL’s highly-competitive Interior Division in 2012-13, three points behind second-place West Kelowna and just five points back of Penticton.
The returning group of Centennials includes goaltender Russell Sanderson (94), defencemen Tyler Martin (93), John Saunders (94) and Dane Birks (95), along with forwards Payton Schaefer (93), Sebastien Pare (93), Scott Patterson (93), Sam Johnson (94), Bennett Huber (94), Jeff Wight (95), and Diego Cuglietta (95).
Nine of the 11 Merritt returnees have just one season of experience with the Centennials; for eight of the 11, last season was their first in the BCHL.
Gone from last year’s Cents team are graduated 20-year-olds Brent Fletcher (University of Alabama-Huntsville), Richard Sabourin (NAIT), Silvan Harper, Sean Maktaak (TRU) and Derek Huisman (Mount Royal).
Also departed from last season’s club are scholarship athletes Tyler Steel (Brown Univ.), Kevin Lohan (Michigan), Charlie Donlin (St. Thomas) and Regan Soquila (University of Alabama-Huntsville), as well as Brendan Lamont (traded to the Trail Smoke Eaters) and Dylan Chanter (USHL).
The Lamont deal in July brought to the Centennials 19-year-old defenceman and Kamloops native Shane Poulsen. The six-foot four-inch, 190-pound Poulson played the last two BCHL seasons with the Smokies.
The Centennials made one more addition to their roster in the days leading up to training camp, acquiring 18-year-old forward James Neil from the Powell River Kings for future considerations. The White Rock native stands six-foot two-inches and weighs 195 pounds. In 105 career games with the Kings, Neil scored 12 goals and added 22 assists for 34 points.
“We are excited to add James to our roster this season,” Pierce said. “He has great size and has proven in the past that he can be an elite scorer. Getting players like James and Shane gives us that added experience that’s so valuable in this league.”
The other thirty-or-so players (who will be attempting to earn one of the nine remaining places on this year’s Centennials team) are coming to Merritt from across North America. They include no fewer than seven Americans (from as far away as Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. and Hollywood, Cal.), two Albertans and a Newfoundlander.
The list of training camp candidates also includes Rhett Willcox (younger brother of former Centennial and Philadelphia Flyers draft pick Reese Willcox), Carter Huber (younger brother of current Centennial Bennett Huber) and Daniel Nachbaur (son of former NHLer and current Spokane Chiefs head coach Don Nachbaur).
From a local standpoint, Cents’ fans will be pleased to see the return of Merritt minor hockey products Sanderson, Schaefer and Birks for another BCHL season. They can also look forward to watching the tryout efforts of hometown boys Nolan Prowal, Griffin Baillie and Kristian Stead.
Pierce admits that four to five spots on this year’s Cents roster are all but locked up by incoming rookies, but that there are still three to four spots “that are wide open for people to compete for.”
At the goaltending position, Sanderson will be pushed by the likes of Baillie, Stead and Jack Burguart, who had an outstanding camp one year ago and wound up playing for the Princeton Posse of the KIJHL last season.
Pierce is not the least bit concerned about the lack of an established number-1 netminder.
“There’ll be a lot [of talent] out there later on if we feel we need to continue the search. We’re certainly not panicking.”
Pierce feels that defence could be one of his team’s real strengths this season.
“I think that we’ve done more work to ensure there’s depth on the blueline. Once they’re up and running, I think that they’ll be a solid group. There’ll be some serious competition for minutes.”
The Cents head coach said that offence is a real priority in determining the final selections to this year’s Cents squad.
“In the past, we’ve really focused on complete-game players, which has served us well. But, in order to take our success to the next level, we need to find players who can consistently put the puck in the net.
“We’ll probably start out with a fairly tight, controlled system of play, but as the season progresses, the plan is to ‘loosen the reins a bit’ and become more offensive. I’m excited for it. I think it’s going to be fun – something new.”
Following an orientation session on Monday at noon, there will be Team Red and Team White practices in the afternoon followed by full-on games Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
The Cents play their first exhibition game on Thursday, at home against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, starting at 7 p.m. They play their second pre-season game on Sunday, Aug. 25 in Prince George.
“We hope to be down to almost roster size (22) after the first two exhibition games,” Pierce said. “Then we can have a good week of practices prior to our final two exhibition games at home on Aug. 30 (Trail) and 31 (Prince George).
