Oil Kings sport younger look at training camp
WHL team optimistic despite losing a lot of scoring punch from last year
FORT SASKATCHEWAN The Edmonton Oil Kings took the ice for the opening day of training camp at the Dow Centennial Centre on Monday, optimistic for the upcoming WHL season.
That’s true despite the fact a number of high-end players are gone from last year’s playoff squad.
The Oil Kings will have a youthful look to them this season as they expect to fill the void offensively with first and second-year players.
“It’s well-documented we lost more scoring again, so there is going to be a need, especially up front,” said Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton. “We’re probably going to be younger up front than we’ve been in years. There are some guys up front that maybe have a year or two under their belts that are still in that 16-, 17-year-old age group that will probably be facing some opportunity in minutes that haven’t been there before.
“That’s exciting for them and reflective in how they’ve come to camp prepared. There is opportunity and they want to make the most of it.”
Among those gone this season is leading scorer Brett Pollock, who is expected to play in the Calgary Flames system, graduates Brandon Baddock, Ben Carroll, Luke Bertolucci and Dysin Mayo, who signed with the Arizona Coyotes.
The Oil Kings are losing at least 202 points from last year’s team, but were encouraged by what they saw at rookie camp this past weekend leading into main camp.
“We were very pleased with the quality and pace of the camp, it was pretty evident that the kids came into camp in good shape,” Hamilton said. “It was a lot of hockey in a short amount of time, but I thought guys were able to sustain that throughout the couple of days on the ice.
“It was not only our listed and drafted players that were where we expected them to be, but there were a number of free-agent players that rose to the occasion and that’s exactly what you want.”
The Oil Kings invited a handful of 15-year-olds from their rookie camp to main camp in order to give them exposure to the WHL. They currently have more than 60 players in attendance, which will be cut down to roughly 40 for their Red vs. White game Wednesday (7 p.m.) to conclude training camp.
“When you’re in that 2001 age group, you’re not eligible to play in the league, so it’s an important experience because it can set the table for down the road,” Hamilton said. “We feel it was a good crop of 2001s here, not only our drafted players, but we felt there were some guys here who put themselves squarely on the radar. That’s not only a positive, but also a credit to those players.
“If we can have them come through, for whatever length of time makes sense in terms of numbers, and if they create their opportunity, we want to try to reward them for as long as we possibly can. We feel the quality of our main camp is very high this year. That’s the goal of rookie camp, is to graduate guys into main camp and keep the quality very high.”
The Oil Kings begin their pre-season schedule Friday on the road, against the Red Deer Rebels. They’ll then face the Prince George Cougars in Red Deer the following night.
The team will begin taking shape by the time they play a home-and-home series with the Calgary Hitmen the following week.
“There will be some young guys playing, some of those signed guys from that 2001 group — (goaltender) Boston Bilous, Liam Keeler, Matt Robertson — we’ll, hopefully, give those guys an opportunity in the exhibition season,” Hamilton said. “After that, it’s time to get down to battling for some jobs and making some tough decisions.”
The Oil Kings end their exhibition schedule in St. Albert against the Saskatoon Blades before opening the 2016-17 season at Red Deer Sept. 23. The following night, they’ll open Rogers Place against the Rebels in a game expected to sell out.
“I look at our 16- and 17-year-old guys who have come into camp this year in great shape and are ready to go,” Hamilton said. “They know there’s legitimate opportunity in front of them and they want to take advantage of it.”