By Robb Fenton
The Lloydminster Universal Heat definitely like what they see.
After opening their training camp a week ago, the Heat went through a week of skates and finished with their red-white game Friday evening and if it was any indication of how the season is going to go, the Heat are in a good position.
“I’m extremely impressed. Over the three skates during the week we were debating what we would be like in the intra-squad game, what we were going to get out of the kids and all 40 of the kids playing had a really good game and made it extremely tough for us as coaches to make our decisions and we’re still debating,” Heat head coach Kyle Mulligan said. “They’ve made it hard on us and that’s what you want a camp to be like.”
One of the biggest things the coaching staff noticed was how the players progressed from that opening skate, all through the week and into the final game Friday.
“The nerves are obviously out of them now. They’re playing with some confidence. Now into the game and into their fourth skate, they’re starting to look like the hockey players they need to look like,” Mulligan said.
The coaching staff – Mulligan, Shawn Coulter and Dean Moisan – have a plan in place in terms of when they want to have their final roster set and throughout this week, they will practice with the remaining 25 kids then take to the ice on the weekend, finally narrowing the number down following the pair of games against Red Deer.
“We’ll practice during the week, play exhibition games against Red Deer on the weekend and we’ll make our final cuts after Sunday’s game,” Mulligan said. The roster still has to be ironed out and spots need to be filled, but Mulligan is very excited about the pieces he has to fit into his team.
“We’ve got size, speed, guys who can score, we have guys who have done a good job on our backend – I’m very happy with our defence and we’ve got kids who can stop the puck in net,” Mulligan said of the good group he has vying for spots on the team. “We’ve got all the mixture out here of a good hockey team. There’s a lot of tools, there’s kids from Wainwright, Bonnyville, Vermilion, Mannville, all those places and now our job as coaches is to bring these kids together.”
While the team is based out of Lloydminster, Mulligan has said before that the key to success is bringing in kids from the surrounding areas and creating a zone team.
“If it was an all Lloydminster team, the team couldn’t compete in this league. You need to have the kids in from Bonnyville, Wainwright and those smaller towns because a couple of the best kids from those places make a very solid hockey team in the zone,” Mulligan said.
While the team isn’t solidified just yet, it’s no secret how important the two returning players will be.
In more ways than one, Tyler Busch and Keaton Golinowski will be counted on heavily.
“Early they are going to be counted on to be leaders on and off the ice. Especially in the dressing room, getting kids acclimatized to the league and getting kids feeling comfortable with one another,” Mulligan said of his veteran players. “They went through it last year and definitely they’re going to be counted on.”
The Heat play a home and home series against Red Deer Black this weekend, travelling to Red Deer Saturday before returning home to host the Rebels Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the Servus Sports Centre.