The Swan Valley Stampeders hold training camp from August 22nd to 24th at the Centennial Arena. For a look at the weekend I caught up with Head Coach/GM Guy Vestby earlier today.
CS: First off Guy, how many bodies do you have coming in?
Guy Vestby: We've got a couple teams for the rookie portion and a couple teams for main camp. We'll do some mix and matching back and forth, but we've got about 80 kids coming in, and we should be able to assess the talent from that size.
CS: Then what's the schedule for the weekend, do you work towards an intra-squad game at the end of the weekend?
GV: Yeah on Friday the rookies go a couple times and the vets go once, then on Saturday they both go a couple times, we change the groups up a bit. At 5:30 on Sunday we have an intra-squad game. Then we go right into Tuesday and Wednesday of next week we have exhibition (Tue @ OCN, Wed vs OCN), so there's no rest for the wicked, we get right at it, and I know some kids coming into town are excited to get it going.
CS: Well I'm not going to spend all season talking about Stephan Vigier and the fact he's not coming back, but this is a good time to, the fact your first line centre's gone. Do you have an iron in the fire to replace that loss, or do you have to replace a guy like that by committee?
GV: I think we've taken some steps to try and find some skilled guys to come in and take that spot. We've got a 20-year-old (Shane Callahan from Illinois) that played some prep school last year in the United States. We're thinking he's going to come in and be comparable to that, and if not, we certainly have a number of returning players by committee, and all they're looking for is an opportunity, so we might get it a little more spread out than last year, and if so, that'd be great.
CS: You mentioned a few 1990's will have good shots at making this year's club. When you traded Coltyn Reimer, an '89 in the off-season, was that an example of getting a little younger, moving a 19-year-old to make some room?
GV: The '90s are going to come in and battle, and if they're better than some or the '89s and '88s then we'll go that route, but I don't see us being a younger team this year, we could end up with a considerable amount of 19-year-olds and see if we can push forward and extend ourselves into the second round of the playoffs and maybe challenge for our division. So our goal is to move forward and we'll see what players are going to move us in that direction.
CS: The cliche is sometimes you're in re-building mode, and sometimes you can go for it. Is this a year you can go for it, or with so many 19-year-olds, can that even be next year for your club?
GV: Well we're not going to set anything in stone, we'll take it as it comes. Last year we tried to get better every game, and that'll be our motto again, try and get better. We're thinking we should be a little bit better coming out of the chute this year. We've got some guys who've got some things to prove as far as our '89s go, so we're excited about moving forward and giving those guys a chance to put some numbers up.
CS: Darcy Riddell was your only local guy last year. Can you see some other guys from the surrounding area pushing for spots?
GV: Yeah, we've got 3 or 4 guys from the area challenging.. Whether they're successful or not depends on whether they come in and get 'er done. We're certainly going to give them an opportunity to play, Cramer Coulthart's going to challenge, Josh Hohn's going to challenge for a spot, Brock Gersak, so we've got some '90s there that are going to really put their foot forward, it's kind of their last kick at the cat, so we're expecting some honest efforts from those guys, and we'll just have to see where the cards fall.
CS: You mentioned Hohn who's a goaltender, of course that's an area where you need a backup to Chris Ward. Do you have a few goaltenders coming in?
GV: Yeah we're going to have Chris Ward and about four '90s coming in to battle, and again with me there's no free lunch, you've gotta come in and earn your spot, and once you get there you've gotta stay on top of your game. We're certainly going to give everyone an opportunity, but at the same time they've gotta be sharp everyday and try and get better everyday.
Click here for the Stampeders' Training Camp Schedule
CS: First off Guy, how many bodies do you have coming in?
Guy Vestby: We've got a couple teams for the rookie portion and a couple teams for main camp. We'll do some mix and matching back and forth, but we've got about 80 kids coming in, and we should be able to assess the talent from that size.
CS: Then what's the schedule for the weekend, do you work towards an intra-squad game at the end of the weekend?
GV: Yeah on Friday the rookies go a couple times and the vets go once, then on Saturday they both go a couple times, we change the groups up a bit. At 5:30 on Sunday we have an intra-squad game. Then we go right into Tuesday and Wednesday of next week we have exhibition (Tue @ OCN, Wed vs OCN), so there's no rest for the wicked, we get right at it, and I know some kids coming into town are excited to get it going.
CS: Well I'm not going to spend all season talking about Stephan Vigier and the fact he's not coming back, but this is a good time to, the fact your first line centre's gone. Do you have an iron in the fire to replace that loss, or do you have to replace a guy like that by committee?
GV: I think we've taken some steps to try and find some skilled guys to come in and take that spot. We've got a 20-year-old (Shane Callahan from Illinois) that played some prep school last year in the United States. We're thinking he's going to come in and be comparable to that, and if not, we certainly have a number of returning players by committee, and all they're looking for is an opportunity, so we might get it a little more spread out than last year, and if so, that'd be great.
CS: You mentioned a few 1990's will have good shots at making this year's club. When you traded Coltyn Reimer, an '89 in the off-season, was that an example of getting a little younger, moving a 19-year-old to make some room?
GV: The '90s are going to come in and battle, and if they're better than some or the '89s and '88s then we'll go that route, but I don't see us being a younger team this year, we could end up with a considerable amount of 19-year-olds and see if we can push forward and extend ourselves into the second round of the playoffs and maybe challenge for our division. So our goal is to move forward and we'll see what players are going to move us in that direction.
CS: The cliche is sometimes you're in re-building mode, and sometimes you can go for it. Is this a year you can go for it, or with so many 19-year-olds, can that even be next year for your club?
GV: Well we're not going to set anything in stone, we'll take it as it comes. Last year we tried to get better every game, and that'll be our motto again, try and get better. We're thinking we should be a little bit better coming out of the chute this year. We've got some guys who've got some things to prove as far as our '89s go, so we're excited about moving forward and giving those guys a chance to put some numbers up.
CS: Darcy Riddell was your only local guy last year. Can you see some other guys from the surrounding area pushing for spots?
GV: Yeah, we've got 3 or 4 guys from the area challenging.. Whether they're successful or not depends on whether they come in and get 'er done. We're certainly going to give them an opportunity to play, Cramer Coulthart's going to challenge, Josh Hohn's going to challenge for a spot, Brock Gersak, so we've got some '90s there that are going to really put their foot forward, it's kind of their last kick at the cat, so we're expecting some honest efforts from those guys, and we'll just have to see where the cards fall.
CS: You mentioned Hohn who's a goaltender, of course that's an area where you need a backup to Chris Ward. Do you have a few goaltenders coming in?
GV: Yeah we're going to have Chris Ward and about four '90s coming in to battle, and again with me there's no free lunch, you've gotta come in and earn your spot, and once you get there you've gotta stay on top of your game. We're certainly going to give everyone an opportunity, but at the same time they've gotta be sharp everyday and try and get better everyday.
Click here for the Stampeders' Training Camp Schedule
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