After a summer of reflection and rest, the Cochrane Generals were back at it this weekend, holding their training camp for an upcoming season that promises to be most interesting as they take another shot at the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) title.
The camp kicked off at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre on Sept. 3 and had 27 players turn up. Among the attendees were 14 veterans from last season’s team, which came so close to beating the Mountainview Colts in the league finals.
“It’s been going well,” Generals head coach Dan Gendur said of the first couple sessions. “We’re trying to continue narrowing the group down and prepare for our three games this coming weekend.”
Gendur is looking to keep on a roster of 23 players for the season, but admits it all depends on how many injuries players pick up before opening day. As both the veterans and rookies know, no one is safe as the coach looks to implement new habits in the short time before the start of the season and strengthen spots where the team has cracks.
This season, one of the main areas Gendur feels needs to be strengthened is defence, where club captain Craig Packard left a massive gap to fill.
“Craig is focusing on school this season, so we’re losing a key player in our defensive core,” Gendur said. “But, that opens up opportunities for some other players – be it veterans or rookies to step up and fill his role.”
Despite hanging up his skates, Packard’s relationship with the club will continue as he moves to the opposite side of the bench.
“He’s going to be helping us out this season in a coaching apprenticeship sense,” Gendur said. “He’ll be helping me during practices and learn the ropes.
“Then during games he’ll be the eye in the sky collecting statistics.”
Even with that massive loss to the dressing room, the Gens have a lot to be excited about this year with lots of key players – Logan Brown, Corey Goeson, Connor Rendell, and Ty Robinson to name a few – fired up for the new season.
On top of that, add a coach who’s looking to bring a fresh perspective to what is already one of the best teams in the HJHL.
“Personally, I don’t look on last season as a success, I look at it as a failure,” Gendur said. “We did some good things but at the end of the day we didn’t accomplish our goal. This season our complete focus is accomplishing that goal of winning a championship.
“For some of these guys it’s their last season of hockey so they’re completely committed and ready to get going.”
The Gens kick-off the season with three exhibition games this weekend, starting on Sept. 9 at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre where they’ll host the Red Deer Vipers. Puck-drop is 7:30 p.m.
They’ll host the Strathmore Wheatland Kings on Sept. 10, again at 7:30 p.m., before heading to Strathmore on Sunday to finish up the hat trick of games.
