Expectations might be a little lighter with a younger Guelph Storm team heading into the new season, but don’t tell that to the personnel inside the Sleeman Centre.
As 46 players enter training camp this week, it’s a clean slate and a new opportunity with a new coaching staff and new systems to learn.
“It’s an exciting time for everybody to come back in the league, to get started, for the younger guys coming to their first-ever OHL camp, you can see their eyes are wide open,” said head coach Cory Stillman.
The players in camp include 27 forwards, 14 defencemen and five goaltenders.
There are 17 players on the camp list who saw time in a Storm uniform last year.
Among the group are overagers Jake Karabella, Tommy Budnick, Max Namestnikov and Ryan McGuire. Only three of them can dress in any one game.
There are also 30 players born in either 2007 or 2008, including recent picks Alex McLean and Carter Stevens, and second-year players Quinn Beauchesne, Rylan Singh, Wil McFadden and Parker Snelgrove.
“I think we’ve got a quality group of young kids that are being infused into our lineup here, whether they’re second-year eligible guys or first-year eligible from this previous draft,” said general manager George Burnett.
“The skill level's high. I think it should be a lot of fun.”
The elephant in the room last year had to do with goal scoring.
Guelph finished 17th in the league last year with 210 goals, including 20-goal seasons from five different players. Four of those five are back in Karabella, Namestnikov, Jett Luchanko and Charlie Paquette.
Stillman plans to preach a hard-working style, with puck possession and goal-scoring at the forefront, but also giving guys opportunities to earn ice time.
“I’m a big believer (that) if you're playing well, you’re going to play more,” he said.
“I don’t think it matters if you’re 16 or 20, if you’re coming out that night and it’s a night you’re on, you’re going to see that player a lot more often on the ice.”
But how do you balance adding more offensive flare without making sacrifices on the back end?
The Storm spent most of last season being the envy of the OHL on defence, ultimately finishing tied for sixth with 225 goals against.
Stillman said the onus will be put on the guys on the ice to ensure the same defensive standard is kept.
Luchanko led the team in scoring last year with 74 points, and is fresh off being selected 13th overall in the NHL Draft by Philadelphia in June.
“We want to see how far we can go as a team, that’s the number one goal,” he said ahead of his third camp.
“I’m not really someone who likes to set numbers or a goal for myself. Just kind of show up to the rink every day, work my hardest, and I think good things come from that.”
“I think Jett’s pretty focused,” Burnett added.
“He takes direction well, and I don’t think the circumstances of being a first-round NHL pick are going to change him one bit. I think his leadership is by example. Very quiet, not a big talker, he lets his work on the ice do the talking, whether it’s offensively or whether it’s working hard in the D-zone, or killing a penalty, winning a faceoff.
“Those are great examples that we have for our younger players to follow.”
As for who will wear the C this season, Stillman said the team will take its time.
Last year’s starting goaltender Brayden Gillespie is back in camp too, but with no Damian Slavik to back him up, the Storm brass is keeping an eye on a quartet of hopefuls with the thought of creating depth between the pipes.
“We need to develop young goaltenders within our program,” Burnett said.
“In the last two or three years, we’ve had to reach outside of the organization to other programs to help us in a short-term situation (because of injuries).
“We want to have those kids coming from our own program.”
He noted expectations are a little higher with the two signed goalies in Colin Ellsworth and Zach Jovanovski. But it’s not to say Kayden Newton and Ethan Madden can’t be in the mix and take a step in their development.
A pair of intersquad games will run both Wednesday and Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., and are free to attend.
Guelph opens its pre-season schedule on Sunday, Sept. 1 in Brampton, before hosting Peterborough and Oshawa on Sept. 6 and 7 at 7:07 p.m.
The Storm open the regular season on Friday, Sept. 27 against Owen Sound.
