The Yorkton Terriers held their spring camp on the weekend, the first step in evaluating talent for the 2019-20 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season.
Terrier head coach and general manager Mat Hehr was pleased with what he saw at the camp held at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
“It was really good. I was really impressed with it,” he said, adding he felt the overall talent was the best he has seen in his three seasons with the organization.
“It was the most-skilled spring camp I’ve seen.”
Hehr said the success the Terriers had this past season is paying dividends now.
“The playoff run helped for recruiting,” he said, adding again that was reflected in the talent on display.
With nine players graduating from the most recent edition of the Terriers, there were spots on the team’s play list, and Hehr said the team moved to fill some of those.
“We filled three or four spots from the weekend,” he said, adding other players were definitely invited back for the team’s fall camp.
Hehr said the talent was all over the ice at the camp, suggesting with one spot open in net come fall that “three goalies could probably play Junior ‘A’ next season.”
On the blueline “three or four stood out.”
Up front, the Terriers had Chantz Petruic the team’s leading scorer attend camp, along with a few other veteran players to see how the newcomers compared.
One winger looked good on a line with Petruic, said Hehr, adding they hope they can acquire the player’s rights because the two meshed well “right off the bat.”
Hehr added it helped in planning for the Terriers that the AAA Midget Maulers held their spring camp at the same time, (see related story this issue).
“I was able to watch potential future draft picks, and future Terriers,” he said.
Up next for the Terriers will be the SJHL Bantam Draft May 31, and then league scheduling and meetings June 1 and 2.
