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Sput
06-06-2005, 05:35 PM
As posted on CougarDen via PG Citizen

Friday, June 3, 2005

Cougars holding summer prospects camp in Calgary

by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
It is said the sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.
With that in mind, the Prince George Cougars are about to bang their heads against another wall, hoping to avoid the same fifth-place headache.
The Cougars will be breaking new ground next weekend, June 10-12, in Calgary when the WHL club gathers its 1989- and 1990-born draft picks- those who are still on the list -for a summer prospects camp.
The Cougars and the Portland Winter Hawks will be sharing ice at the Don Hartman Arena, spending part of the time going through on-ice drills and the rest scrimmaging against each other.
"Most importantly, it get all our guys together, and we'll have our coaching staff there," said Cougars general manager Dallas Thompson.
"The facility is great because there's a gym right there, so we can go over the conditioning program they are given and show them what they need to be doing. It gives us an opportunity to evaluate our guys against someone else's prospects."
Other WHL teams have held similar camps the last few years, and now nearly every WHL club is holding some sort of off-season prospects camp.
"I wasn't happy the last three or four years with our rookie camp in Prince George, so we're going to eliminate some of that," said Thompson.
"Last year we had two teams of (15-year-olds) and they played each other. Our drafted guys were fine and weren't being pushed. Now they'll be in an environment where they'll going against another team of guys at the same age, and the competition should be high. It's a good opportunity to get the young kids who could be playing on the team this year together and do some team-building."
Of the players in that age group either drafted or listed by the Cougars the last two seasons, those not attending are Colin Haas, who is from Texas, and forward Shay Dodds (eighth round, 2004), winger Barry Parker (ninth round, 2004) and goaltenders Kyle McBratney (seventh round, 2004) and Devin Murtagh (11th round, 2004), who are no longer listed.
That leaves a roster of 25 prospects, who will be led by head coach Lane Lambert and assistant Stew Malgunas. Lambert and Malgunas will run practices, will handle the bench in scrimmages, and will have a chance to go over the conditioning program and team policies with the players and parents.
"We'll use it as one team, and there will be an extra line of forwards, seven defencemen and three goalies," said Thompson.
"Friday will be practice in the morning and scrimmage at night, Saturday will be the same, and Sunday will be one scrimmage."
The Cougars, stinging from the decision by 2003 top pick Tyler Swystun (sixth overall) to head stateside for a scholarship at Michigan, already have their last two first-rounders signed to WHL agreements. Ryan Kerr, taken first overall in 2004, and Dale Hunt, the third-overall pick this April, have committed to Prince George. Thompson has already enticed defenceman Lance Redden and forward Dana Tyrell, who are likely to join Kerr as this season's 16-year-olds, to sign WHL contracts.
• Russ Smart, the long-time director of scouting for the Cougars, was due to undergo double-bypass surgery on Thursday, but the procedure was postponed.
"They had him on the stretcher, but he got bumped," said Thompson.
"It's serious enough to need surgery, but we're thinking about him and we expect he'll come out of this just fine. He'll get this done and be ready for training camp, and in the meantime me and (director of hockey operations Daryl Lubiniecki) will have to pick up the scouting slack at provincial camps."

Chipper
06-06-2005, 07:08 PM
Sounds like a great way to push your up and coming bantam picks to perform at a higher level and give them a taste of more elite competition.