Depth. Competition. Battles for jobs.
These are elements that had long disappeared from Canmore Eagles training camps in years past, as the team eked out consecutive sub-.500 seasons.
But this year, as of two days before the beginning of the season (Sept. 4), the Canmore Eagles still hadn’t made final cuts in a testament to the battles waged over the past two weeks.
“It’s our best year in decision making to date. The players have put our staff through our paces. There are a lot of really good players here this year,” said head coach and general manager Andrew Milne.
The Eagles swept a mini-tournament in Calgary against the Mustangs, Canucks and Olds Grizzlys, and are poised for their first game of the season on Friday (Sept. 6) against the Drumheller Dragons at Alex Kaleta Arena. Currently, they’re still carrying 16 forwards and eight defenceman, and want to get that number wittled down by Friday.
“We’ll be bigger than last year. We put ourselves in a position to handle the rough and tumble play against some of the– bigger teams, and we got quicker,” said Milne. “Drumheller will play a hard-fought game. They’re physical and we expect them to come after us.”
They’ll host the Dragons with two of their biggest bodies out of the lineup. Nils Moser was suspended for his role in a pre-season fight, while defenceman John Stevens is out with injury.
“I can’t say for sure yet, but we’ll have at least 11 veteran forwards dressed and four or five defencemen against Drumheller,” Milne said.
It’s a good bet defencemen Ryley Risling will be a new face in the lineup, as will Lane Olsen. Canmorite Roman Meltzer is also in the mix, which could bring the number of hometown talent on the Eagles to seven.
“Meltzer will be here. We’ve been really impressed with him. All of the local players have looked good. Simon Philp and Moser are coming off bad seasons and we’ll see more from them. Simpson is playing with confidence and, playing with Jordan Revie and Brett Radford, he’s looked strong.”
Simpson could be an elite scorer in the league this year, coming off of a 26 goal campaign, while Trey Phillips will be an offensive force on defence. Milne said he’d be shocked if Phillips doesn’t lead the league in defensive scoring this year. Last year, he had 32 points in 54 games.
“Trey has been awesome. He sees the ice so well,” Milne said.
The biggest obstacle for the team will be believing in themselves.
“Mentally, we have to get a better winning attitude. Confidence gives us such a good chance to succeed and it’s something we have to look for,” Milne said.
Cam Barnes has won the team’s goaltending job. He’ll be backed up by rookie goaltender Ryan Ferguson. The team is also in talks with goaltender coach Ian Gordon to help the team this year. Gordon was named the Seattle Thunderbirds’ goaltending coach earlier this year, and should be able to split his duties in Canmore. A friend of assistant coach and general manager Jeremy Reich, he was in the running for the Winnipeg Jets’ goaltending coach job last year. He played more than 700 games in the German Elite league after playing in the AHL, IHL and WHL.
The puck drops Friday at 7 p.m. at the Rec Centre. A barbecue will take place before the game sponsored by Shoppers Drug Mart. The Eagles also play Saturday (Sept. 7) night at home against the Calgary Canucks.
