The N.E. B.C. and Yukon Trackers will lace up the skates for their first of two camps prior to the start of their season. They’ll be practicing out of the Taylor Arena Friday through Sunday.
Despite having players auditioning for the Fort St. John Huskies and a number of junior A camps down south, the team is still expecting one of their bigger turnouts for their season opening camp.
Coach Shawn Brinsky said with having some regulars away, this camp will be used moreso for information gathering for the coaches, and judgement on piecing together the roster will likely come at the team’s second camp in September.
“What’s important is that we don’t get ahead of ourselves and we treat this camp more as an opportunity to work as a prep camp. It will give you an opportunity to identify some kids in a very positive light or maybe kids that are going to struggle to be there.”
There’s some degree of uncertainty as to how many Trackers from last season will be returning to the club, and with that there’s a strong possibility that the roster will be younger than in years prior.
“Returning numbers are going to be fluctuating so we need to let that unfold. I think this year we’re going to see a substantial change over on the roster,” Brinsky said. “Historically we’ve always kind of seen that which is a positive sign that we’re moving the kids forward to a higher level of hockey which is our goal. Looking at our registration numbers I think this year will probably be one of our younger teams that we’ve iced in a very long time.”
The second camp for the Trackers will be held September 11-13.
