The Warman U18 AAA Wildcats kicked off its hockey season with its fall camp which took place at the Legends Centre August 13 to 15.
The camp featured around 60 players competing for a spot on the team and head coach Courage Bear was impressed with the competitiveness of the camp.
“Overall, we’re very pleased with everything, from the planning to getting the kids on the ice, getting to play a little bit more of regular hockey,” he said.
Going in to the camp there were limited roster spots available as Warman had nine returning players and additional eight players who were committed to the team.
The camp provided a competitive atmosphere for those players to get back to the grind while others were competing to make the team.
“The camp allowed us to shortlist and narrow it down to kind of a more manageable number to compete for those final spots and we’ll make those decisions after our exhibition games next week when we play Battlefords,” said Bear.
At the camp there were four teams of U18 players and after a handful of practices and scrimmages the list of players was whittled down to 30.
Bear said they will take those 30 players to the team’s first two preseason games against the Battlefords Stars, August 25 and 26. After those games, the roster will be trimmed down to 20 players.
With the Wildcats already having a lot players committed to the team, Bear said the camp was a great opportunity to identify some affiliate players for the upcoming season as well.
A majority of the committed players on the team hail from the Warman area, including four rookies who played with the 15U AA Wildcats the past few seasons.
“I think it’s good to create something that kids coming up see a place to play at a high level for the whole area,” said Bear. “We’re very fortunate and we’re very happy that we have many players from the region, and hopefully it’ll show with the support from our fans in the area.”
Last season, the COVID-19 pandemic really affected how the Wildcats organization was able to put a team together, but Bear hopes this season is a different story.
“I think there is a sense of optimism with our program. We hope to build on the groundwork we laid last year and put a competitive team on the ice,” he said.
Bear takes over the head coaching duties from Ryan McDonald, who is now an assistant coach of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders.
As an assistant coach last season, Bear helped build this U18 AAA program in it’s inaugural year and he is excited for this upcoming season.
“I was part of helping set the foundation of what kind of program we wanted. I got to have some input in how things were done and Ryan was really receptive, and we worked good together,” he said. “I’m familiar with the kids, I’m familiar with what we want to do as program, and I really don’t see any big changes from what was started last year.”
The Wildcats will play a total of six preseason games before the start of the season, September 25.
