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Scout
08-27-2007, 08:26 AM
Mon, August 27, 2007

Rookies go home
By DEREK VAN DIEST




They stood around waiting to see if their training camp would continue.

Most of the players who took part in the Edmonton Oil Kings rookie camp were sent home yesterday.

But a chosen few got a precious invite to the team's main camp starting today at Millennium Place in Sherwood Park.

It's unlikely more than a couple will actually make the team.

"I thought the rookie camp went really well," said Oil Kings general manager Bob Green. "I thought the games got better as the weekend went along. Once the kids got their feet wet and relaxed a little bit, they played well."



Nearly 100 players took to the ice for the Oil Kings inaugural rookie camp.

A good number of those players as 15-year-olds, are ineligible to play in the Western Hockey League this year. That includes all the players selected by the Oil Kings in the WHL Bantam Draft.

The rest are long-shots to make the team as 16-year-olds.

"There were really no surprises," Green said. "I thought Mark Pysyk and T.J. Foster both played really well. Rhett Rachinski, Logan Proulx and Chris Daniels were guys I thought stood out among the (16-year-olds). They really showed that they are serious about making our hockey club this year."

Green and his staff have yet to decide how many 16-year-old players they'll keep on the roster this season. As an expansion team the Oil Kings are allowed to carry five overage players - two more than any other team - this year. That may affect the number of roster spots available for younger players.

"We'll evaluate that over the next couple of days," Green said. "If there is a small group of kids that we think are capable of playing at this level then that's a decision we have to make. But we have to make sure it's the best situation for the kid.

"They have to play enough to develop and if he can't do that here, then it's probably best they go back to Midget AAA."