Rylan Singh was bound to get better as a second year member of the Guelph Storm. But he also had to get bigger.
After coming into he first training camp a year ago weighting 155 pounds and finishing the season around 160, the Storm defenceman added 25 pounds of mostly muscle to his 5-foot-11 frame in the off season, working with a personal trainer and a nutritionist to add the needed bulk.
"A lot of chicken and rice ... steak and rice," Singh said with a grin outside the Storm dressing room Saturday night after a 6-5 pre-season loss to the Oshawa Generals at the Sleeman Centre. "It was definitely tough, but it was worth it."
Singh had a goal and an assist in the loss, giving him two goals and two assists in three pre-season games, second best on the team behind Leo Serlin's five points.
"It was a lot of hard work in the gym and on the ice," he said of his off-season. "But putting on the weight will help me in the corners and in the puck battles. It was definitely a goal."
It is the Pickering native's draft year but the focus is to "do what I can for the team and let everything else take care of itself."
More ice time and a likely spot on the power play would appear to be in his future.
"I'm not even thinking about that. I'm just going to take what the coaches give me," Singh said of the opportunities available. "Not really putting any pressure on myself, just doing what I can while I'm out there.
"If that (the power play) is what the coaches want me to do, great. If not, it's all good."
Guelph had a two-goal lead at one point Saturday night but spent a good chunk of the game killing off penalties, with Oshawa picking up eight power plays.
Jake Karabela, Cam Allen, Parker Snelgrove and Jimmy Sutherland had the Guelph goals. First round pick Alex McLean had three assists. Brayden Gillespie played the entire game in net, with Oshawa outshooting Guelph 43-26.
The Storm trimmed its roster to opening-day level Saturday by assigning 16 year old defenceman Dawson Morris and 17 year old Zach Jovanovski to the Ayr Centennials. Russian import Daniil Skvortsov is expected to arrive in camp this week.
Guelph wraps up exhibition play with a road game against Peterborough Sept. 21. Regular season starts Sept. 27 at home against Owen Sound.
