Lucas Punkari
For Fort Frances hockey players Colton Spicer and Jon Carlson, their recent trips to Ontario Hockey League camps have not only set the tone for their first seasons with the Fort Frances Lakers, but for their goals for the rest of the hockey careers.
After both players came back from the Sudbury Wolves and the Ottawa 67’s training camps last week, both Spicer and Carlson made an immediate impact for the Lakers in their undefeated pre-season slate as they contributed offensively throughout the four games.
“I think going to Sudbury’s camp helped me out a lot and it was also a real eye-opener for me,” Spicer said.
“I thought it helped me get into the speed and the hitting of the game and since coming back from Sudbury I feel that I’ve been able to fit in here right away,” Spicer noted.
“It feels like I have so much more time out here,” Carlson added.
“When you are against those guys at the 67‘s camp they are always on you right away and here you have a little bit more time and that has really helped me out I think into making decisions,” Carlson explained.
After being a late cut in his first appearance at the 67’s camp last season, Carlson, who was selected in the eighth round by Ottawa in the 2010 OHL draft, made his way right down to the bitter end of the camp once again this year before being the last defencemen to be cut.
“They took eight guys on defence this year and I ended up being number nine,” Carlson said.
“I ended up getting the short end of the stick, but it was a good camp overall and I’m already looking forward to heading back there next year,” Carlson stressed.
Despite posting four points in five games, and matching up well against Ottawa’s potent ‘RST’ line of NHL draft picks Ryan Martindale, Shane Prince and Tyler Toffoli, Carlson feels it may have been an injury that led to him not being selected for the 67’s final roster.
“I kind of hurt my shoulder in my first game there so I was not as physical as I would of liked to have been,” Carlson explained.
“That was one of the things that they (the 67’s brass) felt that I could have been better at during the camp, and they said that a year in Junior here will help out with that.
“So during this year, I’m going to be working on getting more grittier and more aggressive, and I guess I’ll just go back there and try out again next year,” Carlson reasoned.
As for Spicer, who made his first appearance at a Sudbury Wolves camp after being selected in the 13th round of this past May’s OHL draft, he was able to make his way onto the roster for the inter-squad Blue & White game at the end of training camp and got a chance to experience the passion that fans in the Nickel City have for their team.
“They are absolutely nuts,” Spicer exclaimed.
“When both teams went out there and everyone was scoring, they were just cheering for pretty much everybody the entire time, so it was just crazy,” Spicer added.
The Fort Frances product also found himself on a pretty potent line during the camp as well, as he was teamed up with Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick Joshua Leivo and San Jose Sharks prospect Michael Sgarbossa.
“Both of those guys are just great players to watch, and to be able to play with both of them in the blue and white game was a pretty cool feeling,” Spicer smiled.
Though the Wolves told Spicer that they felt that he had a very good camp, the fact that the Wolves are planning to have a veteran-laden squad for the 2011/12 campaign meant that Spicer would end up heading back home to prepare for the SIJHL season.
“They were looking for older guys for this year as they are obviously going to have a really good run,” Spicer noted.
“For this year, I’m going to keep getting bigger and stronger while I’m here so that I have a chance to go back and have a shot at making the roster next year,” he added.
