No time for rest - Skyhawks back on the ice

Skyhawks head coach Darren Turcotte instructs players at the Skyhawks Spring Mini-Camp at Pete Palangio arena. Photo by Anthony Valade.

By Anthony Valade

It was merely a month ago that the North Bay Skyhawks playoff run ended in a 5-3 defeat to the Soo Indians, yet today, the coaching staff was back on the ice in preparation for next season. This weekend the Skyhawks are holding their summer training camp, and although by the time the weekend is over nothing will be etched in stone, coach Darren Turcotte knows what he is looking for heading into next year.

“We potentially have 16 returning players, so we’re looking for possible upgrades and guys to fill the last five spots,” said Turcotte before the mini camp Saturday morning.

Although the team is returning quite a few players, some Skyhawks supporters worry that the expansion of the GMHL to areas such as; Sturgeon Falls, Temiscaming, Elliot Lake, and Espanola, will thin out the talent pool from which the Skyhawks have to choose from, but coach Turcotte does not foresee that as being a problem.

“It could possibly affect the Skyhawks, but there are enough players to go around. You just have to scout out the top players,” said Turcotte.

With over 40 players already registered for the camp, and more expected for the evening session on Saturday, it certainly seems as though the Skyhawks will not have to worry about the talent pool being empty. Most though are looking at the GMHL as competition for the NOJHL and the Skyhawks, however coach Turcotte and G.M. Guy Blanchard have a different point of view. Blanchard gives his full support to the league.

“I support the teams and the league. Sometimes coming out of midget a player may be a year away from playing Junior, but are too old to go back and play another year in Midget. Therefore they could be lost in the shuffle, but the GMHL gives these players a chance to improve their skills, and then hopefully after a year of playing there they can come and play for the Skyhawks,” said Blanchard.

Turcotte feels that this year especially, a league like the GMHL can be beneficial for North Bay.

“We’re limited to two ‘91's this year and they can have ‘91's and ‘92's on their roster, so for those players it may be beneficial to play Junior A hockey on a younger level,” Turcotte said.

Over the last couple of years there has been some criticism over a lack of local talent on the North Bay Skyhawks and worries that players do not want to play for the team. However Blanchard does not agree with the criticism, and also feels that within the next 5 years you will see more local talent on the team.

“We would love to have 20 local players skating for the Skyhawks but we are not going to do that just to have 20 local players on the team. We are going to sign players who can play at this level. At this point the problem lies with the development of players in Minor Hockey, but this city is now on the right track.”

Blanchard feels that within five years, the new focus on player development will start to affect the Skyhawks in a positive way.

“The development of players has to start at the Tyke level and work its way up. You see this in the Sault and that is why they have so many local players on the Thunderbirds. Once these kids develop at a younger age and start winning championships and gaining confidence, you will see a lot more local talent playing for the Skyhawks. In three to five years you will see how the changes made in the minor hockey system here in North Bay will affect the Skyhawks,” said Blanchard.

There was however no shortage of local talent on the ice this morning. The North Bay Trappers had a total of six players representing the team, a list which included; Nick Huard, Zachary Hunter, Josh Tass, Shawn Bailey, Tyler Hummel, and Jordan Scott.

North Bay Trappers Manager Ted Meggs was on hand for the morning skate, and was pleased to see the amount of Trappers at the event, but knows that the true test will come at the camps in August.

“This is just a skate, they are going to try their best and see what they can do against the other kids that are out there. But it will really come down to how they perform in August and September when they start picking the team. Basically I think the Skyhawks today are just here to see how the players handle the puck, and play with the other players,” said Meggs.

That last statement was a similar sentiment to how coach Turcotte was looking at this weekend’s camp.

“We want to get a look at some guys we haven’t seen in the past, and re-evaluate some players we have seen. We’ll give these guys some summer programs, and then the top guys from this camp; we would like to get them back to our main camp in August.”

The Skyhawks camp is being held at Pete Palangio Arena and included this mornings skate from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., an off ice evaluation from 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., a second skate from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and finally a Sunday session from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.