Petes will start season without a captain

Coach Rob Wilson needs a little more time to find someone who can replace Logan DeNoble

The Peterborough Petes will start the 2018-19 season without a captain.

Petes head coach Rob Wilson said he plans to appoint a captain but wants to take his time and do his due diligence before making a decision. The Petes season starts at 7:05 p.m. Thursday when they host the Kingston Frontenacs at the Memorial Centre.

Their 2017-18 captain, Peterborough native Logan DeNoble, has graduated from the OHL and is attending St. Mary’s University in Halifax.

As the club’s new head coach, Wilson said he wants to get to know the players better. Six of the team’s veteran players have been absent for two of the three weeks following training camp attending NHL camps. He said he hasn’t really had a chance to get to know them and see how they interact with teammates.

“We have good leadership but I need to see everybody more,” Wilson said.

“We’ve been missing a bunch of the guys for a while and now. I have some good ideas and some guys have impressed me but I’d like to give it a couple of more weeks before I make the final decision.”

Wilson wants an opportunity to sit down with every player individually and go over expectations he has for them and they have for themselves this season. He said he’s waiting until everyone is back from NHL camps to have those discussions.

“That will be next week and that will give me a good idea of what individuals are thinking and where their minds are at,” Wilson said.

Petes GM Mike Oke supports Wilson’s decision.

“We’re just getting everybody back and Rob is just getting to know the players,” Oke said. “I don’t think there will be any formal announcement of that kind at this time.

“Internally, we’ve talked about what the leadership group is going to look like,” Oke said.

“All players have to be leaders in their own way so we expect leadership from everybody but we’re not at the point where we’re prepared for a formal announcement.”