The fruits from the big moves made last season have put on a Calgary Hitmen jersey for the first time.
All 10 picks from the most recent Western Hockey League Bantam Draft are in attendance for the annual rookie camp, along with five picks from the 2017 draft, to go with all the other listed players.
The likelihood of any of these 39 players born in 2002 or 2003 cracking the Opening Night roster is an uphill battle, but that is none of their main concerns this week.
“It’s been really cool and a great experience so far. The competition has been good and it’s been fun to meet all the new guys and some of the players from last year’s team,” said Tyson Galloway, the 25th overall pick from the recent WHL Bantam Draft.
Galloway was the first of three second-round picks the Hitmen possessed this year, stemming from trades with the Swift Current Broncos and the Tri-City Americans. Galloway was the Hitmen’s natural pick, while Tristan Zandee (2, 36) came courtesy of the Broncos and Zach Funk (2, 43) came from the Americans.
The 15- and 16-year-olds have been split up and divided into their own camp separate from the main camp. Luke Prokop and Ryder Korzcak are the only two 16-year-olds that are in main camp.
Rookie camp opened Friday with strength testing at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Evan Toth, a sixth-round pick from 2017 in his second rookie camp with the Hitmen cranked out the most reps (40) during the 115-pound bench press test. Syprus Ives, a listed player from Lethbridge set the rookie camp high with 19 reps at the body-weight chin-up compeition. The Hitmen’s top pick from the 2018 draft Sean Tschigerl leaped the farthest in the standing broad jump with a distance of 274 centimetres. The Hitmen’s seventh round pick this spring, Rylan Jockims, was the fastest in the 300-yard shuttle run at 58.4 seconds.
With the dry-land testing taken care of, the top prospects strapped on the skates for the first time the next morning as members of Team Moran and Team Stone.
Returning to rookie camp this year from the 2017 draft was Cameron Newson (Surrey, B.C., defenceman, ninth round), Sheldon Kwiatkowski (Grande Prairie, Alta., forward, third round), Brayden Peters (Taber, Alta., goaltender, fifth round), Hale Schoneck, (Calgary, defenceman, sixth round) and Luc Benedictson (Winnipeg, Man., forward, eighth round), along with Toth (Winnipeg, defence man, sixth round).
The two rookie squads began working with the coaching staff early Saturday morning on certain breakout patterns, skill development and basic structure in preparation for the first rookie game of camp.
Tschigerl didn’t disappoint in his first action in a Hitmen sweater. He led Team Moran with two goals and two assists, while Funk matched his two goals and added an assist of his own in the 8-2 victory at the Kyle Stuart Memorial Arena Saturday evening.
“I found the speed of the game to be quite fast, I just had to adjust. The more I play at this speed, the easier I’ll adjust and hopefully be better because of it,” said Tschigerl.
While Tschigerl, Zandee, Galloway and Funk were drawing most of the eyeballs, not everyone on the ice was a highly scouted player at the bantam level.
Completing the full circle North American journey was Cole Wheaton, a Calgarian born and Texan raised goaltender.
Wheaton has stopped pucks all over North America, as his dad moved around for his oil and gas engineering career.
His dad moved the family to California when Wheaton was three. At the age of nine, his family packed up shop for Dallas, where he played Tier 1 hockey for five years.
Passed over in the WHL Draft, Wheaton took his career in his own hands and emailed a handful of WHL teams, looking for an invite to camp.
He was playing for the Gentry Academy in St. Paul, Minn., when he received a response from the Hitmen and an invite to camp.
“It’s pretty crazy to be back in Calgary. It kind of ties everything together. This has been a pretty crazy experience,” said Wheaton, who also wanted to play in the WHL and follow in his idol Carey Price’s footsteps.
The three other goalies in rookie camp are all brought in under different circumstances.
Peters was in camp last year. Ethan Hein is the only player in rookie camp that came to the Hitmen via trade. Hein was a third round pick by the Broncos in 2017 and came over in the Beck Malenstyn and Matteo Gennaro blockbuster.
The fourth and final netminder at camp is a local product and fulfilling a childhood dream.
“When I saw my name come up on the screen during the draft, I couldn’t believe it. I thought I was seeing things,” said Marek Pocherewny, who grew up in Lake Bonavista. “Playing for your hometown junior team is the most ideal situation I could have asked for.”
Pocherewny helped backstop Team Moran with more than 20 saves in the opening game, but couldn’t duplicate the same performance again tonight, as Team Stone got their revenge with a 5-2 win at the Kyle Stuart Memorial Arena.
Jackson Bzeta powered Team Stone with a goal and an assist, while Funk, Rory Neill, Rhys Bentham and Brandon McCartney added singles.
All of this work over the first few days of rookie camp is leading to the Young Guns Game tomorrow afternoon.
Jumping from rookie camp to the 23-man roster is challenging for most 16-year-olds and impossible for the 15-year-olds for a full time basis. Instead, the top prospects are hoping to put their best foot forward in hopes to get and invite to the Young Guns Game Monday afternoon and a possible return to camp next year.
For the most part, players will depart to their local midget or prep team for another year of seasoning before their important 17-year-old campaign.
That being said, making the jump to the WHL is achievable for some. Last year, through injuries, trades and national team requirements, 10 players debuted for the Hitmen that were worked out in the rookie camp, with Connor Brock and Ryan Shostak being the exceptions. Both are now competing for spots with the main camp.
After missing the playoffs for the first time in seven years, the Hitmen endured the rebuilding year necessary to get back to championship contention. Now that the hockey season is underway, the Hitmen staff is already getting a good look at the pieces in what they hope could structure the next Hitmen championship run.
