Sign up for the battlefordsNOW newsletter

North Stars training camp officially underway with fitness testing

Aug 30, 2017 | 11:13 PM

There’s a reason fitness testing at Battlefords North Stars training camp begins with cardio; it drains you.

On Wednesday afternoon, four groups of roughly twenty players set out to the track behind Beaver Lions Stadium one at a time to begin 2017 fitness testing with a one-mile run.

Four laps in less than six minutes was the goal.

“It’s hard to crack the six-minute mark but you’ve just got to just push through it,” North Stars defensive prospect Matthew Fletcher said after his group had completed all the exercises. “The toughest part of fitness testing would probably be the one-mile run.”

Following the run, players did push-ups, sit-ups, the plank, flexibility testing, and the bench press.

Fletcher lasted longer than anyone in his group for the plank, going longer than four minutes.

He even bit fitness freak Connor Manegre.

“I got a five dollar fine credit for beating [Manegre] so can’t complain about that,” Fletcher said with a smile, while a couple of veterans tried to distract him during his interview by putting fake microphones up to his face.

“All the guys around me were encouraging me to keep going.”

The 18-year-old defenceman is one of many new faces at training camp this year, although he’s not completely new.

Fletcher was acquired from the Humboldt Broncos at last year’s trade deadline in a deal that sent Brett Horn to Humboldt. The right-shooting defenceman then spent a couple road trips at the end of the season travelling and practicing with the team, so he’s familiar with the returning players.

“I’m pretty familiar with them and it’s easy to be around here,” Fletcher said. “I’m just ready to get the season going. If I make the squad or not, just ready to get er’ going and have a good time.”

With captain Kendall Fransoo and assistant captain Connor Sych now gone, there is room on the North Stars blue line for a younger defenceman like Fletcher to step in to a bottom-pairing role. But it will be very competitive with several others in the mix, including Austin Wieler, who is the same age as Fletcher and played in one regular season game last year for the North Stars.

 

 

Seventy-seven total playes have registered for camp, which did not charge those attending.

New head coach and general manager Brandon Heck said it’s not a problem having so many guys.

“We had a lot of players come to us and we’re not going to shun players away because we don’t want to leave any stones unturned,” Heck said. “I’m hoping to see hard-nosed play, the leaders and players from last year step up and continue the culture that was left behind, [and] show some of the young guys. With a few open spots, I think we have too many quality junior players so I expect camp to be very copmpetitive.

“We’ve got a lot of exhibition games so we’re comfortable taking more players than perhaps in other scenarios.”

The North Stars will play a total of seven exhibition games in eight days, beginning on Sunday.

Before exhibition games begin, cuts need to be made. The first round of cuts will be made halfway through the day on Friday, after each of the four teams has had three scrimmages.

Then on Saturday, there will be practices in the morning followed by a final black vs. white game.

Manegre, who may have lost to Fletcher in the plank but impressed in pretty much all the other exercises. He got 26 reps in the bench press when the max was supposed to be 20 and is back for his second season. He has already been skating on the ice for the last little while.

“Been skating out on it – I think the ice has been in for two weeks now – so it feels awesome to be back,” Manegre, another right-shooting defenceman, said. “There is a lot of new faces, that’s good though…It’s always nice playing with new people. I’m really excited.”

Heck said he was particularly impressed with the leadership of Manegre and third-year goaltender Taryn Kotchorek.

The perfect example was when both of them went back to finish the one-mile run with another player who was lagging behind, after they had already finished the race themselves.

“Their leadershiop quality weas real impressive,” Heck said. “They were great to all the players, young and old, and I was very impressed by that.”

Another player who will surely be taking on a leadership role yet again this season is top-line winger Layne Young, back for his third season.

Young is the only returning member of last year’s top-six forwards, and scored 27 goals, a career-high.

“‘It’s very exciting to be back and hopefully go back-to-back – another championship,” Young said. “We’ve got a good core group of guys coming back and a lot of young guys that are here to fill roles and step up.

“[I’m] coming back in and kind of doing the same thing as last year: being in a leadership role to help the young guys out and hopefully get things going right off the bat here.”

 

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11