Joey Payeur
A three-day summer getaway in International Falls just doesn’t have the appeal it used to for prospective Junior ‘A’ hockey players.
Fort Frances Lakers’ head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan announced yesterday the team’s annual summer tryout camp, scheduled for July 15-17 at Bronco Arena in the Falls, has been cancelled due to not enough player interest.
Instead, the camp now will be run in conjunction with the team’s main camp next month at the Memorial Sports Centre here.
“We were expecting 40 skaters and five goaltenders and, in the end, we had about 29 committed players,” Strachan noted in an e-mail statement.
“Many of our early prospects that were committed to coming have either signed elsewhere, decided to return to their team of last season, or are in NAHL main camps in hopes of making it with them,” he added.
This marks the second-straight year the Lakers’ summer camp has fallen by the wayside.
“This time of year is not a favourable time to host a prospect camp we are finding out,” Strachan conceded.
“What is most disheartening to have to do this is this [was] the best response we have had of local kids for a camp the Lakers have hosted, which was good to see,” he remarked.
“We need to look to earlier in the summer when players are not as focused on making one team,” Strachan said.
“Where and how we can do this is up in the air.
“Either we need a commitment from a local arena to keep ice in for more than August to May or we will have to look at a different venue somewhere, which may not be favourable to our budget we run on,” he added.
Strachan said the main focus of summer camp was to get a look at players the team had not had the opportunity to see, as well as draw talent from throughout Northwestern Ontario to come out to be evaluated to see who would be good candidates to attend the main camp and have a shot at making the Lakers this fall.
“Everybody seems to knock our league but look at what our team has done the last five seasons,” Strachan said, referring to the Lakers winning the past three SIJHL titles and being ranked in the CJHL’s top 10 on a consistent basis.
“Many players we have brought in, or local players we have brought home, say we run a top-notch program and we feel the results prove this.
“Players want to go here and there, or have aspirations to play at a higher level,” he noted.
“What needs to be realized is the Lakers’ program and what we offer can help them start to reach for or obtain their goals.”
Strachan said not having the summer camp last year didn’t hurt the organization too much, but maintained the bigger problem is the bad reputation he feels the SIJHL has been unfairly given by other Junior ‘A’ leagues that are in competition for recruits.
“These are leagues that don’t know a thing about the SIJHL or its level of play—leagues that make false promises to players and suck them in for substantial money out of their own pockets,” he charged.
“I know recruiting is a process and you have to sell yourself, but we do not lower ourselves to lying to players or bad-mouthing other teams and leagues,” he stressed.
“We sell our program and our success rate on and off the ice, and the number of players that do move on to play at higher levels.”
The summer camp looked promising when it came to those who had committed to come as part of the Lakers’ search to help fill the positional holes they’re experiencing after losing a majority of players from last year’s squad.
“Obviously, we have our eye on other players that live a substantial distance away from Fort Frances, so it makes it tough to ask them to come to both camps,” reasoned Strachan.
“But I definitely would have liked the opportunity to see a few of the players on the ice, and had the opportunity to sit with them and sell our program to them and why they should play here.
“We feel we return a solid goaltender, our defensive corps will round into shape, and up front, we have returning players that can fill some of the void we are losing,” he noted.
“We have many offers out to quality players that could make us a very good team,” Strachan added.
“We just have to make them realize this is the place they should be.”
Two players in agreement with that sentiment are forwards Jack Bernie and Matt Tustin, both of whom made it official that they’ll be back in black-and-red this coming season.
Bernie, a 19-year-old native of Kenora, played three games with the Lakers in 2014-15 and had one assist after coming over from the Midget ‘AAA’ Kenora Thistles.
He became a full-fledged Laker last season—collecting 10 goals and 11 assists in 49 regular-season games while adding one assist in seven playoff games.
“Jack joined our team in early October of last season and provided a strong work ethic, energy to our lineup, and contributed in both ends of the ice,” lauded Strachan.
“He had stints all through our forward lines in which he played many different roles.
“We will look for Jack to improve his game from last year in order for us to continue to have success in the SIJHL,” he added.
Strachan described Bernie as “a player of strong character, he listens well, and responds to what we are trying to teach in our program.
“It’s good to have Jack back in the fold and we look forward to seeing him back in a Lakers’ uniform.”
Tustin, who turns 20 on Sept. 6, was a mid-season addition last season from the OJHL’s Lindsay Muskies.
The speedy forward netted four goals and seven assists in 25 regular-season contests, then chipped in one assist in nine post-season ones.
“Matt is a fast, skilled player who has potential to break out offensively for us this season,” noted Strachan.
“He is a guy we brought here to help our stretch run last season.”
Tustin played mainly a top-nine role up front who can chip in offensively to help the scoring attack.
“Matt being a 20-year-old will be looked to for leadership, and a player that we can trust to help lead and help the new players learn our systems and the Lakers’ way,” Strachan added.
