With the 2015/16 North Central Hockey League season just around the corner the Westlock Senior ‘AA’ Warriors are back on the ice.
As of Sept. 12 the Warriors’ 35 camp invitees have skated twice per week as management trims the roster to 25 before the regular season starts.
Coach Joe Kuhar said the camp gives players the chance to shake off some rust from the off-season and the coaching staff the opportunity to evaluate new and returning skaters.
“We have a pretty good core of probably around 20 or 21 guys returning from last year coming to camp,” Kuhar said. “The rest are guys that are either new or have come back from a couple years ago.”
This year’s Warriors have big shoes to fill as they have a championship-winning season to follow up. Kuhar said last year’s playoff run and subsequent fourth-place finish at provincials will serve as motivation.
“We were pretty banged up going into provincials and we were just a small step away from being in the championship finals,” he said. “We realized we can’t achieve everything all in one year, it’s a stepping stone.
“In our first season, we made it to the league semifinals, last year we won the finals, maybe it’s motivation to win the provincial championship now.”
Kuhar said claiming last year’s NCHL championship has helped attract talented and championship-seeking skaters to the Warriors.
“With having a championship under your belt, everybody knows about that, word of mouth helps,” he said. “Guys that have played a high level of hockey that have come up through either NAIT or college hockey or what have you, they’re coming back or coming home, or coming closer to town, so they tend to gravitate towards those successful teams, and we happen to be a team they see opportunity to be with.
“The product that we put on the ice and the results we’ve generated has really helped us attract that kind of talent out there.”
Kuhar said the Warriors will look to play a couple exhibition games ahead of the season’s start and camp will continue until around the second week of October until final cuts are made.
