Blades make good first impression
The Saskatoon Blades are making a good first impression on first-year head coach Dean Brockman.
“Well, I’m happy,” Brockman was saying after a pair of afternoon sessions and the morning fitness testing.
“Guys have come to compete and play real hard. We’ve kind of mandated that you come in and compete for jobs. We’re trying to create that competition.
“We had the fitness testing and it was a competition. We did some drills out here and it was a competition. It’s all about winning and we started off on the right foot today.”
The Blades have 55 players in camp divided into three teams, named after ex-Blades Wendel Clark, Braden Holtby and Mike Green.
“You want guys to make that impression and make it early, whether it’s good or bad,” said Brockman, a former assistant who takes over the head coach position from Bob Woods.
“For us, we’ve got a lot of returning guys and we want to push them as much as we can. At the end of the day, we know who our veterans are and certainly we want them to be at the best and, really, it’s not just about camp — it’s about being themselves and identifying themselves as who they want to be.”
TEAM CLARK TOPS IN FITNESS
The Blades opened camp with fitness testing Thursday morning in Martensville, where Team Clark ran away with the win.
Veteran forward Ryan Graham led the way with the fastest time in the agility run to spark Team Clark.
The team competition also included pushups, sit-ups and jumping. Team Holtby finished as the runner-up.
When it comes to personal stats, in terms of height and weight, the Blades got measured Wednesday during registration. The tallest player in camp is rookie Brett Arnet, who played for the Comox Bantam A squad last season. Arnet stands 6-foot-4 ½. Chance Patterson stands a little over 6-foot-2.
Rookie Kirby Dach, Colton Lancaster and Josh Paterson are next, all at 6-foot-2.
And who’s the heaviest? That would be veteran forward Luke Gingras, who weighs 209 pounds and stands just under six feet tall.
MINI-TOURNAMENT STARTS FRIDAY
Training camp continues Friday with the start of a three-day minitournament between Team Clark, Team Holtby and Team Green.
“It creates competition and a little bit of bragging rights and some fun with it,” says Brockman. “Any time you can see your guys under competitive situations, who’s going to win those battles, it means something to win the game. Any time you have a chance to win something, I think it’s really important.”
Brockman says there is “definitely room” for new faces in the lineup.
“If we can add to the depth, that’s something we’ve been lacking over the last couple of years,” he said. “You can never have too many good players. If guys come out and do their best, maybe that gives us more options.”
LAST-CHANCE CLUB
For Chance Patterson, it may be the last opportunity to stick with a WHL club.
The 19-year-old veteran D-man was released by the Edmonton Oil Kings after seeing limited action with them over the past two seasons.
The Blades are giving Patterson — a native of Foam Lake — a look as a possible reclamation project on the blue line, which features holdovers Libor Hajek, Bryton Sayers, Nolan Reid and Anthony Bishop, as well as promising youngsters like Russian import Mark Rubinchik and Jantzen Leslie.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Patterson — a former captain of the Saskatoon Midget AAA Blazers — saw action in 30 games last season, registering a goal and assist. He dressed for 28 games as a 17-yearold rookie. Blades bits: A couple of veterans have not returned to the Blades this season. Terrell Draude has decided to attend university, while Dustin Perillat has retired. Draude, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound forward, and Perillat, a defenceman, both have two years of junior eligibility remaining.