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Scout
08-27-2007, 08:28 AM
Mon, August 27, 2007

Shooting starts for realOil Kings main training camp switches to Sherwood Park today
By DEREK VAN DIEST, SUN MEDIA




This morning the real battles begin.

Roster spots are at stake as the Edmonton Oil Kings open training camp at Millennium Place in Sherwood Park.

"It's exciting," said Oil Kings head coach Steve Pleau. "To these guys it's their livelihood at this point, they'll be working for jobs and you expect the intensity level to be higher, you expect the battles to be better and that's what we want to see."

EXPANSION DRAFT

The bulk of the Oil Kings roster this season will be made up of players selected in the WHL expansion draft.



One of the best battles should be for the starting goaltender position.

The Oil Kings obtained Alex Archibald, 20, from the Chilliwack Bruins, then traded for Dalyn Flette, 17, and Tommy Tartaglione, 19.

The three all have WHL experience, but only two will make the team.

Defensively the Oil Kings have a lot of veteran leadership with Bretton Stamler, Matt Swaby and Michael Hengen. The three 20-year-olds were acquired from the Seattle Thunderbirds, Tri-City Americans and Moose Jaw Warriors respectively.

Stamler is the early front- runner to be the team's captain.

Defenceman Lyon Messier, 20, the son of former Edmonton Oiler great Mark Messier, will also be trying to crack the roster.

Offensively, the Oil Kings will need productive years from the forwards they picked up in the expansion draft in order to be competitive this season.

Robin Figren, 19, is the only Oil King forward who scored at least 10 goals in the league last year.

Figren, selected in the third round (70th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders, had 10 goals and added 17 assists in 62 games for the Calgary Hitmen last season. He'll be one of two import players on the Oil Kings roster.

Tomas Vincour, 17, from the Czech Republic is the other. He was the top pick in the CHL Import Draft in June and arrived in Edmonton late last week.

"The best first impression I got about him is his personality," said Pleau. "He seems like a guy that will be able to adapt, able to get along with his teammates and battle to learn the language.

"I know he was joking around with the guys yesterday and I think he gets frustrated because he can't communicate exactly what he wants to, but then he laughs it off and battles through it so that's always good to see."

Among other notable names attending camp are Brent Henke, 17, who scored 21 goals in 34 games playing Midget AAA with the Canadian Athletic Club in Edmonton. Clay Cumiskey, 17, also had a productive season last year scoring 13 goals and adding 19 assists in 60 games in Junior A with the William Lake Timberwolves of the British Columbia Hockey League.

There are also a number of talented 16-year-olds looking to earn roster spots.

"I really want to make the team this year, I want to play at the highest level I can," said St. Albert native Ryan Wilkinson.

"It's going to be tough, because I'll be playing against players that are three or four years older than I am. It's a lot, but I think I can handle it.

"The players at this level are bigger, faster they shoot the puck harder and make better passes."

Rounding out the training camp roster will be the handful of 15-year-olds ineligible to play in the league this season.

Among those is the Oil Kings first pick in the WHL Bantam Draft Mark Pysyk who will be playing midget hockey in Sherwood Park this season.

SIX-TEAM TOURNAMENT

Training camp will conclude with the Oil Kings hosting a six-team tournament starting on Saturday. They'll open the regular season on Sept. 20 at Rexall Place against the Kootenay Ice.

"This starts for real now," said Green. "The kids that were at rookie camp played hard, but now the guys that are capable of being here and playing on this team start (today) and that's where our focus has to be now."