The 2015/'16 season is officially underway for the Cold Lake Ice, as the Jr. B team welcomes a number of young, talented players to their roster following training camp.
A mix of returning and new players turned up at Imperial Oil Place from Sept. 11-13 to show what they had to offer. While the numbers weren't as high as hoped, there was no lack of talent and work ethic from those that came out.
“The guys that did show up worked hard all weekend and there were guys that impressed,” said head coach Scott Hood.
Joining the Ice roster this season is former midget goaltender for the Lac La Biche Clippers Dahlin Supernault. The 18-year-old was put on Hood's radar over the summer and is a welcome addition to the Ice's current goaltending situation.
“He's been out with us for about a month now and he looks pretty sharp,” said Hood. “He'll be a nice compliment to (Cody) Janzen.”
There was no lack of local talent at the training camp. Six of the Ice hopefuls were hometown kids from Cold Lake, coming up through the local minor hockey system. Former Cold Lake Panthers players Brae Howatt, Dillion Kalinski and Donavan Bibeau will be making a return to the Ice after serving as APs for the team last season. Jared Jorgenson, Braden Carr and one of the latest players to come out from the Panthers, 16-year-old defenseman Jacob Bartman will also be showing up on the 2015/'16 Ice roster.
Making up the remaining rookie spots are Kale Berlinger from Goodsoil, SK and Vermillion's Colton Katuski.
Hood said along with his assistant coaches, they're looking forward to helping develop the incoming players.
Joining this season's rookies are the Ice veterans, including Taylor Anshelm who is returning to the local Jr. B team after spending time in the Bonnyville Pontiacs Jr. A training camp, along with conditioning at the Calgary Hitmen's camp. Hood said the extra ice time showed over the course of training camp.
“You could tell he's been skating longer than these other guys and once these other guys get in shape and skate as long they'll be right with him. He looked good out there.”
The roster isn't quite firmed up yet, though. There is the possibly that some more players from last year's team could be making a return within the next couple of weeks.
“There's potential that a few other guys will come back. When we first talked they weren't interested but now that it's getting close to the season they want to come back, so we're working on a few guys that way,” explained Hood.
Heading into the season in less than a month, conditioning is going to be a main focus for the Cold Lake Ice. With five championship titles already in the bag, Hood said he's ready to win a sixth but wants to change things up in the process.
“I think (what we're going to work on most) is getting in shape and changing the culture here. The last four or five years, it's been a good culture and obviously they've won, but I've got a few different philosophies and a few different things I want to work on and we'll go from there.”
The Cold Lake Jr. B Ice will be starting their season off with an exhibition game against Lloydminster in Wainwright this Friday, Sept. 18. Their season officially starts on Oct. 2 in St. Paul.
