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Sput
08-25-2006, 05:27 PM
Despite no-shows, camp starts strong


by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor

It wasn’t a lengthy look, but what the general manager of the Prince George Cougars saw through the first 24 hours of training camp, he liked.

Dallas Thompson was pleased with the conditioning of the veterans, and the summer growth of some of the highly-touted prospects.

“The first practice is the same as usual, that’s why we have it, to give everyone a chance to get on the ice and get a feel right away, and we’ve been looking forward to getting into three-on-threes and games,” said Thompson.

“That’s where we’ll really start to find out where we’re at. The fitness testing went very well and it was certainly no surprise that Curtis Cooper and Dana Tyrell were at the top. When I look at the list, all our veterans were up there — that’s what you want.”

The Cougars held strength testing on Wednesday, then hit the ice Thursday for drills and scrimmages. This morning’s sessions go at 10 a.m. and noon, with scrimmages at 5 and 6:45 p.m.

“The young players look good — Dale Hunt (third overall, 2005) looked very good in the morning, and at the back end we have some guys who looked sharp,” said Thompson.

“Lance Redden and Trevor Bauer did very well, and I’m happy with a lot of the young players.”

What Thompson was not pleased with was the 57-player total at camp. At least a half-dozen players were no-shows, prompting a change from the planned four scrimmage teams to three, leading to a revised schedule.

Among those who did not arrive in Prince George are recent first-round picks Tyler Swystun and Stefan Elliott, along with 20-year-old candidate Cody McMullin, who is apparently resigned to a return to the B.C. Hockey League.

The other no-shows were recent drafts Mitchell Stretch, Tyler Gron, Taylor Stefishen, Adam Basford and Andrew Cherniwchan.

“This is a concern around the league, it’s happening with a lot of teams,” said Thompson.

“With Elliott, we have a year to work on that so there’s no rush, though we’d much rather have him here now getting used to the city and the organization. The one on that list that really upsets me is Tyler Gron. We had lots of contact with him throughout the summer and everything was great until two days ago. We fully expected him to come in and make our team. But you know what? Maybe we just weeded him out early.

“Some of the other guys, we weren’t willing to lie to them and promise them a certain amount of icetime. Players seem to want guarantees, they don’t want to come in and work to make the team anymore.”

Stefishen is with Langley in the BCHL and has told the team he’ll be here next year. Gron, Basford and Cherniwchan are expected to stay with their AJHL clubs for another season.

The team’s intrasquad game is set for noon on Sunday at CN Centre. Thompson plans to make the first cuts on Saturday, then get down to a total of 30 players by Sunday afternoon.