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North Stars shaking off the rust at camp

Sep 1, 2017 | 8:43 AM

Each of the four teams in North Stars training camp now have two games under their belt following what was a very long Thursday at the Civic Centre for players and staff.

Head coach Brandon Heck is pleased with the progression he has seen.

“The games were more emotional as they went on, so that’s a good sign and the vets are doing a good job of leading the way,” Heck said on Thursday evening after the last of four games on the day. “There’s been a few surprises good and bad. You’re going to have to come to the intra-squad game [on Saturday] to pick them out yourself, but it’s early on so we’re not going to panic about anything or get too excited.”

For some players, including returning forwards Troy Gerein and Connor McIntosh, there was no denying there was some rust to shake off.

“I think everybody can say it was pretty rusty,” McIntosh said after his first game in the morning. “Our intensity level probably wasn’t quite there but it was our first skate. We’ve got three more skates with this group and then black and white game so we’re just going to progressively get better and I think that’s everybody’s mindset right now.”

“It was different [for me] because it’s the first time getting back into the physical side of things and that’s kind of what I base my game off of,” Gerein added. “So I felt a little bit slow out there but a couple more games I should be fine.”

Heck preferred not to call it rust, because he knows it will be gone soon.

“You can see who put some extra work in in the summer and it’s paying off so I wouldn’t really call it rust,” Heck said. “I would just say notcing who put in the extra work [and who didn’t].”

New addition Michael Fradette, a 1998-born defenceman acquired from the Kirland Lake Gold Miners of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League this summer, stood out to Heck, as did Matthew Fletcher, a 1999-born d-man who played with the Saskatoon Blazers last season.

The two are both skating on team blue.

“I hope to bring a two-way defenceman game,” Fradette said following his second scrimmage of the day. “Rush the puck if there’s no one open and play solid defence, and create offensive opportunities as well.”

 

Other than those two, Heck was quiet on specifics.

“There’s a few young forwards that we’re pleased to see so far too,” he said.

MacGregor Sinclair has been centreing Layne Young, also on team blue, which Heck said was ‘luck of the draw’ and doesn’t necessarily mean that will be the case to start the season.

“They have had nice chemistry so it worked out well that way,” Heck said.

On Friday morning, each of the four squads will play their final scrimmage together. Then, significant cuts will be made, as the roster will be trimmed to 40 in time for Saturday’s intra-squad game.

But because the North Stars play so many exhibition games (seven in eight days), they will still have a fairly large roster for the pre-season. Additional cuts will be made after the black versus white game on Saturday, but not all the way down to 25, which is what teams need to get down to by Dec. 1.

“It’s definitely a lot more competition [with four teams],” Gerein said. “More so for the young guys rather than returning players I think but definitely challenges the returning guys too.

“Every game is going to be a battle, there’s a lot fresher guys and you’ve got to show the young guys what it’s like, so you’ve got to put in your best effort.”

Heck added that there’s no rush to name a captain, as he probably won’t do so until after the pre-season wraps up on Sept. 10.

“I’m still getting to know these guys,” he said. “To be honest, there are too many candidates now. I dont think I could make a bad choice so I might as well take my time.”

On Wednesday, he said he was impressed by the leadership group, specifically Taryn Kotchorek and Connor Manegre, but he said on Thursday that he’s “too traditional” to give Kotchorek, a goaltender, a letter.

The battle for the backup goaltending spot behind Kotchorek (assuming Joel Grzybowski sticks with the Saskatoon Blades) is also still “wide open.”

There are six goalies at camp other than Kotchorek: Corbin Christianson, Jake Davidson, Austin Prior, Dawson Rodin, Jake Taylor, and Noah Wiens.

 

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11