Bob Tory enters his 19th season as general manager and 15th as governor of the Tri-City Americans. His Americans are coming off their third straight playoff appearance and 34 wins.
As is often the case, Tory is ready to soak in the preseason and take a look at the 15- and 16-year-old prospects in game situations against WHL opponents. His team brought six players 16 and younger to the preseason tournament in Everett.
“Training camp went well. We didn’t have a lot of kids. We kept our number down. Preseason is just starting for us. Our focus is looking at our young kids and our kids who are on the bubble. We are not going to dress some of our older players a lot by design. It’s an evaluation process in the preseason and not about the result,” Tory said.
Strong group of ’99s
Like many WHL teams, Tri-City had some key players age out of the league. Parker AuCoin and Nolan Yaremko both have played their last WHL games and thus two of Tri-City’s top three scorers are absent.
That just means it’s time for the next leadership group to step up though and Tri-City has that in team captain Kyle Olson.
“He’s our captain; he’s our leader; he’s a five-year vet. He plays the game extremely hard and sets the tone for our work ethic and our culture,” Tory stated.
Olson is joined by other 1999-born players returning to the team in goalie Beck Warm, Czech forward Krystof Hrabik, and defenseman Dom Schmiemann.
“The strength of our team this year is obviously our overage group with Olson, Hrabik, Warm, the possibility of Schmiemann and we traded Riley Sawchuk and lost a good player.
The strength of our team is our overagers and they carry the mail. They also set the example for our work ethic, Traditionally whether we’ve had strong teams to average teams, our work ethic is always strong and our compete is exceptional. We don’t expect that to change,” Tory went on.
Tory also went out and added a fifth overager in former Red Deer Rebels defenseman Carson Sass.
“There was a couple things going on. Schmiemann’s recovery from shoulder surgery. Also, Krystof Hrabik is going to St. Louis’ camp and we aren’t sure when he can be expected to return. We thought Sass was a good insurance policy in the event that there are any changes after our camp. He is capable of playing in the league and he’s a good kid. He understands the situation, and he came in here and had a good camp,” Tory pointed out.
Trio in net
Warm was the most shot at goalie in the WHL last season, and he returns to take the crease for Tri-City.
“He was our MVP last year. He is one of the elite goalies in the league and is probably underrated.
He went to Washington’s development camp and did very well. They invited him back for main camp this year. He’s going to be a big, big part of our hockey team this year,” Tory stated.
Behind Warm yet again is 2002-born, Drumheller, Alberta native Talyn Boyko. The 6-foot-6 Boyko got into just 10 games as a 16-year-old. The Americans also have 2003-born Mason Dunsford signed and on the preseason roster.
“(Talyn) had a really good training camp. He has a late birthday so he doesn’t draft until next year. He’s a good kid that is starting to get stronger. He’s got a lot of potential. So does Mason Dunsford who will play Sunday. He’s a good 16-year-old. We think the future there is in good shape. Obviously Beck Warm is our starter and will carry the mail this year.
Boyko kicked off the WHL preseason Friday night with 58 saves on 61 Everett Silvertips shots.
“I was impressed with Boyko’s game (Friday). There’s still some thing he needs to work on but he was good overall,” Tory said.
New imports
Tri-City drafted two players at the 2019 CHL Import Draft in 2002-born forward Jan Cikhart and 2001-born defenseman David Homola. Both, like Hrabik, hail from the Czech Republic.
“They are both good players with international experience. Cikhart has been one of the leading scorers in the Czech U17 and U18 teams in his career. Homola flew under the radar a bit but he was on the Ivan Hlinka team last year in Edmonton and is a skilled defenseman. If Hrabik comes back then obviously one has to go and that’s unfortunate but it’s better than being short,” Tory stated.
Jake Sloan
The one 2004-born player on Tri-City’s preseason roster as of now is third round, 2019 Bantam Draft pick Jake Sloan. The 6-foot-3, 205 pound 15-year-old had 74 points in 33 games for the Leduc Oil Kings Bantam AAA team last season.
“Jake is a big man that dominated the Alberta Bantam League last year. We want to give him some exposure to the league so he understands what it will be like next year. He’s got pro potential as well. It’s an opportunity for Jake to get his feet wet,” Tory said.
Tight division
As is often the case, there was a lot of turnover in the U.S. Division this summer. Tory sees the division as one with a lot of youth and one where any of the five teams could emerge as division-winners.
“It’s changed a lot. Last year there has been big changes with everyone in the division. The U.S. Division has been super strong, and I don’t think that’s going to change but you see Portland they are a younger team but they have some tremendous talent and sped and Everett’s team changed dramatically from last years team and Spokane losses some offensive talent and Seattle moved out (Dillon) Hamaliuk and (Jake) Lee. I think it’s really difficult to pick the U.S. Division right now I think we are going to have to wait 10 games maybe 20 games in to see how things unfold. I think any one of the five teams could challenge to win the division based on different things that occur whether it’s injuries or return of players from pro camps those things, I think it’s wide open,” Tory stated.
The guys earning spots this preseason for the Americans could end up being the difference in a tight division race in 2019-20.
