Training camp for the Eagle Drilling Estevan Bruins wrapped up on Sunday evening with the annual Black vs. Gold inter-squad game. Camp started on Friday afternoon with physical testing followed by scrimmages on Friday night and all day Saturday.Over 80 Bruin hopefuls were on hand trying to impress coaches and scouts over the weekend, but by the time Sunday rolled around, the majority of those players were sent home and those remaining took part in what turned out to be a very competitive inter-squad game.In the end, team Gold came out on top by a score of 3-2. Justin Waskewitch, Tanner Froese and Michael Hengen found the net for team Gold, while Dylan Smith and Ryan Ostertag replied for team Black.Bruins head coach Karry Biette watched and analyzed the game from the stands and when the game was over he admitted he liked what he saw."I was impressed, it was like a hockey game, not an inter-squad game. I thought up until tonight, we had a bit of a friendly camp but they amped it up tonight and battled," said Biette.Thanks to some off-season transactions, the Bruins had 22 junior A veterans listed heading into camp, which made for one of the best camps the team has seen in recent memory. In fact, due to all of those junior A tested players, it would be "unfair" to compare this year's camp to those in the past few seasons. "Being that we stocked the cupboards last year, there's really no comparison, " said Biette. "I said told teams that if I took three guys off gold and added them to black or three guys from black and added them to gold, they'd be better than my hockey team that I finished last year with."With such a veteran presence on the ice, younger players had to be very impressive if they hoped to have a shot at making the team, and according to Biette, a few 17-year-olds were just that. "There has been a couple -some '93s have made me hesitate - Froese, Benny Johnstone, and Taylor Reich to name three guys that I thought had an outside chance but have played pretty well," said Biette.Twenty-year-old Joel Danyluk was anointed the club's starting goaltender before camp, so Shea Cooper or Alex Sirard - both of whom are 19 - will battle it out for the back-up spot. Each put forth excellent performances in the Black vs. Gold game and according to Biette, both will be given the opportunity to make a case for themselves throughout exhibition play."I know what Danyluk can do. We'll have a chat this week and we'll and see how much time he needs to prepare himself to get going in the season, but time will tell with the two 19-year-olds," said Biette. "I've got a lot of time for Sirard, he came here last year and worked hard, and Cooper is as advertised, he played excellent. It's a good problem to have."As for the rest of the team, there are still a few decisions to be made on defence and up front at forward but Biette says the roster is starting to take shape. At the end of the day the best players will make the team, regardless of their age. The Bruins have four pre-season games left before the final roster will be announced and the coaching staff will use those games to gauge how certain players, as well as the team as a whole, measures up against other clubs in the league.It's one thing to have a strong training camp but until actual games are played, it's tough to tell just how good you're going to be. Biette says he'll be looking for the players to step up their intensity in the pre-season."We've got a pretty good hockey club but the one thing we have to be very aware of is, we're not going to show up and win just because we have a good team on paper," he said. "We have to really prepare ourselves and be ready to play every game and that starts in exhibition."The Bruins played their first of five pre-season games in Notre Dame on Monday afternoon. In a game that featured all rookies, the Bruins fell to the Hounds 4-3 in a shootout. Cole Olson had a pair of goals for Estevan, while Ryan Ostertag added the other.Next up for the Bruins is a date in Weyburn tonight at 7:30.
