It had chaotic moments, impressive moments, and even a handful of funny moments, but the opening evening of Wheat Kings camp didn’t have a lot of slow moments.
The pace was up right out of the gate for a Wheat Kings’ camp that staff expect to be fiercely competitive. The four teams divided into two ice times for practices on the opening evening and wasted no time diving right into competitive drills.
“This is always one of the funnest days of the year,” said head coach and GM Marty Murray. “Through the summer there’s a lot of admin stuff, a lot of preparation to get ready that doesn’t always show up on the ice, so to get back on the ice and see the kids, the kind of summer they had, it gets you excited for the season.”
Wearing both the head coach and general manager’s hats for the Wheat Kings, Murray will be plenty busy over the next few days. In the first night alone, he and his scouting staff had to keep track of 35 skaters per ice session
“We had to put some thought into it this morning on how we were going to run practice,” said Murray. “Mark (Derlago), Riley (Dudar), and Tyler (Dittmer) did a good job. We want everybody moving, and we tried to have at least six guys moving at the same time. It was busy out there, but we accomplished what we set out to do.”
Among those players were plenty of 2010-born players, drafted and invited alike, who were going through their first WHL camp. In fact, quite a few of the older players were having the same experience. Murray and his staff had some specific advice for them.
“Do what got you here,” Murray said. “Whether you’re a drafted player or a free agent, you did something that caught our scouts’ eyes. Rely on your strengths and learn from the older guys. There are veteran guys spread throughout the teams, so lean on those guys a little bit and ask questions.”
As much as young guys are encouraged to ask older players for help, that doesn’t mean they should expect the veterans to take it easy on them With competitiveness such a theme of this year’s camp, it will be the voices of experience on the Wheat Kings who set the tempo.
“The veteran players dictate that,” said Murray. “One of the things we talked about in our veterans meeting this morning is for them to come out and not be too buddy-buddy on the ice. Come out and set the tone, compete hard, and we can laugh and joke about it later. Let’s set the tone for camp and raise the bar as far as intensity goes.”
The very earliest signs of that intensity showed in the practices, but it will be most prominently displayed in the games. And starting tomorrow morning, there are a long string of games to help the scouts see the players in a more reflective light.
“You have practices, but nothing beats a game situation,” Murray said. “Seeing kids in that competitive model and making plays in small areas, the games are the most enjoyable part. It was a good touch to start this camp off with practices and get some rust out and get the nerves out a little bit.”
The game schedule begins at 10:00 AM on Friday at ACU Place and continues all through the day until the final game at 6:15.
