TISDALE — The Tisdale Trojans coaching staff was impressed by the talent and compete level on display at their annual spring camp.
About 85 players, aged 14 to 17, attended the event at the Tisdale RECplex, which ran March 30 to April 1. Players came from all points between Gravelbourg and Prince Albert – including some Tisdale products that competed well – to battle for a spot on the perennially strong Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League team.
“The talent level was probably one of the best ones we’ve ever had,” said Darrell Mann, Tisdale’s head coach. “I thought everybody competed hard for their jobs. It was great to see.
“Every game was close. Every game was hard fought. That’s what you want to see as coaches. You want to see the games and see the kids working hard. I think they really put on a good show for us.”
Last season the Trojans purposely iced a young squad with the hopes of building a strong team for 2018-19 in the event it secured the 2019 Telus Cup West Regionals, which it did. The young Tisdale crew turned heads this season as it finished fourth in the regular season standings.
Mann and his staff are looking to add to last season’s young core. The head coach said the team would like to add a couple of skilled defencemen, some depth up front and some 17-year-olds.
“We went young last year for a reason,” Mann said. “Those guys will be 16 this year. Now we’ve added some 17-year-olds to the mix. We really like our mix of guys and we definitely like the direction our hockey team is going.”
With at least two other SMAAAHL teams holding camp on the same weekend, the Trojans were pleased to draw the players and talent that they did.
“In our recruiting process, we almost had every player we wanted at our camp,” Mann said. “We were really, really happy with what we had for camp.”
The camp was an opportunity to show off the RECplex, the Tisdale Middle & Secondary School, and the community to recruits and families. Dressing room and school tours were held. Newcomers also got a taste of the Trojans’ enthusiastic supporters as Mann said good crowds were on hand to watch.
“It is the first time a lot of these people have been to our rink in Tisdale,” he said. “They are definitely excited about what they saw. It’s great playing in front of our crowd too. Everybody knows when you come to Tisdale, you are playing in front of a full rink every night. That means a lot to a lot of these kids.”
Eleven players from last year’s team competed at the spring camp.
“We wanted to see how everyone stacked up against each other,” Mann said. “I thought our veterans had a really good camp. They obviously pushed the pace for how it was going to be played. I thought our young guys stepped up. You always want to be comparing your new guys to your veteran players. I thought our young guys showed really good promise and we are really excited about the group of guys we are putting together for next season.”
