LAC LA BICHE - When the Portage College Voyageurs men’s hockey team returns to the ice in October, the team’s roster will include a mixture of veterans and new faces.
According to Jim Knight, the manager of Athletics and Recreation for Portage College, currently, there are 16 players returning from last year and 10 new recruits coming in. These returning players, he said, know the league, feel comfortable, and are going to be key pieces of the Voyageurs’ success moving forward as a team.
“We have a good mix of returning players and to see them grow in new responsibilities and knowing the league it’s easier to get started,” he told Lakeland This Week.
Shaye Sommerfeld, along with Nick Gidney and Thomas Colter are a few of the vets that the team leaned on during this past season who won’t be returning for the 2024-2025 season. However, Knight added, the group that is returning is very good as well.
Right now, preparation for the 2024-25 season is going well. Knight explained that coaches are always in contact with their players to ensure everyone is ready for arrival. During these calls, coaching staff chat about school, housing, and schedules with those players who will be making up the team’s roster for this season.
“Our equipment is all ordered, regular season and exhibition games scheduled, and recruiting is in its final stages,” he said.
End of August skate
The Voyageurs will be hosting captains practices from Aug. 28-30 to skate and “get some of the rust off.” Coaches will start practicing with the team on Sept. 3. From there, the Voyageurs will be practicing four to five days a week until the season begins, and then four days the rest of the season.
This year, the regular season starts on Oct. 18, with the team’s home opener against the visiting Concordia University of Edmonton set for 7 p.m. on Oct. 19. The Regular season schedule runs this year from Oct. 18-Nov. 30 then Jan. 10-Feb. 22. Playoffs start Feb. 28, March 1 weekend.
Prior to the start of the regular season, the Voyageurs are scheduled to participate in an exhibition series with the Augustana Vikings on Sept. 20-21, with the first game taking place in Lac La Biche. From Oct. 4-5, the Voyageurs will be playing an exhibition series against Concordia. The Oct. 5 will take place at the Bold Centre.
The Portage College Voyageurs men’s hockey team finished the regular season in February at the bottom of their seven-team Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) North Division, having failed to clinch a playoff spot.
Knight said 2023-2024 was a season of learning for the team, adding that there were seven returning players and 17 rookies.
“When you compete in the ACAC on most occasions a school would bring in 6-8 new guys a year, we had 17,” he stated. “It took our group time to learn the league, gel as a team and gain confidence.”
The second half of our season, Knight said, was good. Even though the Voyageurs roster was young, the players competed and didn’t quit. He added that the team was very hard to play against as they were a better team than what their record showed.
Regarding the game plan for the Voyageurs to have a successful 2024-2025 season, Knight said that involves staying healthy.
During the last season, he continued, the team lost players to a season-ending knee injury, three concussions, a shoulder injury and other injuries that took guys out of the lineup for a very long time. When this happens, he said, it hurts a team’s group development.
“When you start in September and don’t have playoffs until end of February the goal is to gel as a team, continue to play hard every night and stay healthy,” he stated.
