Hitmen camp notes

Spent Saturday at Hitmen training camp....not the best camp I've been to but not the worst either. Biggest story of the day, I think, is that veteran defenceman - and NHL first round pick - Alex Plante is not in camp. Plante would like a trade and the Hitmen are not very happy about it. I don't agree with the idea though that it's tougher to full value for a guy who is holding out. All you need is two teams who both want the player, and the bidding "war" should see the price be pretty fair. And how many teams in the WHL today DON'T want a 19 year old first-pair, all-situation defenceman? I think the Hitmen should be able to get a fair price when they deal him.

As far as the players that WERE there, I think we should see a pretty good battle between 16 year old Chase Komistek and 17 year old Mike Snider for the backup goalie job, they both looked pretty good today. Komistek is quite big, I think he is 6'4", and looks so much like Brent Krahn in there the way the net just disappears behind him.

Lots of good young defencemen on display too, which is a good thing because if Plante is gone then the Hitmen probably have three openings on defence. 2007 first round pick Austin Madaisky is a lock for one of those spots, he has good size at 6'2", 185lb and looks smart beyond his age out there. I really liked 17 year olds Erik Bonsor and Otis Rabbit and 16 year olds Tim Daly and Zach Sweet today too, as well as a couple 17 year old tryout kids - Mark McDonald and Ben Wilson. We'll see who sticks around after camp wraps tomorrow.

For forwards, not quite such an impressive crop although new Latvian import Edgars Ulescenko looked pretty good. Not the biggest guy but he can move and has some nice hands and a nose for the net. 18 year old rookie Tyler Fiddler is a lock for a spot, he was far and away the best of the rookie hopefuls out there and he did have 3 points in 2 games for the Hitmen last year so he has proven a little something at the WHL level already. Other promising looking rookies were 16 year olds Mackenzie Royer, Justin Kirsch, Cody Beach, and Cody Sylvester, and 17 year old Jesse Hilton. Beach, who is also 6'4", showed a couple signs of his brother's temperament but does not have Kyle's intensity level. Or hands. Whoever described him as "Beach Lite" is probably on the mark with that.

Among the vets, Ian Duval far outshone Carson McMillan today, which is worth noting because probably only one of those two guys will get to remain a Hitman, the other is going to have to be traded as the team can only keep three of the 5 overage candidates it has. Kyle Bortis is as close to a lock for a spot as you're going to find, and goalie Dan Spence is going to be in tough to keep his job in the face of competition from two-year backup Martin Jones plus the aforementioned Komistek and Snider. Keith Seabrook on defence was very so-so last year but he might be needed back there even more now that Plante isn't here.

Karl Alzner was there too, probably seeing the ice for one of the last times as a Hitman. As expected, he was one of the best players out there despite playing center today instead of defence. It has to be a thrill for some of these 15 year olds who were playing bantam last year to be out on the ice and going head-to-head with a guy who will almost certainly spend a good chunk of this coming season - if not the entire season - in the NHL.

And as always when you have a team with a bunch of openings, you see a bunch of guys who have played elsewhere in the WHL coming in for tryouts. This year the Hitmen have goalie David Aime (Prince Albert, Red Deer), defencemen Scott Maetche (Chilliwack) and Jordan Wilkins (Kootenay), and forward Jason MacDonald (Regina, Kelowna, Kootenay) trying to resurrect their WHL careers here. Also in camp is former Rebel prospect Garrett Taylor, who was the 3rd overall pick in the WHL's infamous "American prospect draft" back in 2006. I do believe that Moose Jaw goalie Todd Mathews is so far the only player from that "special" draft to even play in the WHL. Wilkins - who was Kootenay's 2005 first round bantam pick - didn't get on the ice today due to an apparent groin injury. The Ice gave up on him due to skating issues and I'm sure a groin injury isn't going to improve his mobility when he does get on the ice.

Intrasquad game goes tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, and the current 80-player roster should be cut down to around 35-40 for the intrasquad after the morning scrimmages.