The process of paring down their roster will not come easily for the Estevan Bruins.
There were many players who impressed the coaching staff at training camp, and those who made it past the end of the weekend will have the pre-season to show they should stick around.
Team Black won the annual Black and Gold intrasquad game on Sunday, with 18-year-old Mahlon Head ripping a wrist shot in the shootout to give them a 4-3 victory.
Wyatt Garagan (2) and Connor McKenzie scored for Gold, while Head, Richard Yusa and Keegan Allison replied for Black in regulation.
"I knew Durdle went short side so I tried to switch it up and go high and I got the goal there, so it's nice," said Head, one of the more impressive newcomers in camp, of his shootout winner.
"It was fun. It was a lot different from the scrimmages all weekend. It was cool. With a lot more fans and more guys on the bench, it just makes it easier for everyone."
Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood said the intensity level was higher on Sunday than earlier in the weekend.
"I thought throughout the weekend, Friday and Saturday, the pace actually slowed quite a bit. I guess that happens when you're playing that many games in a short period of time. The guys kinda seemed re-energized in the intrasquad game, and I really liked the pace and I was happy with it."
The nearly 70 players in camp were split into four teams for scrimmages on Friday and Saturday. Lewgood said that while the returning players looked good, for the most part, the quality and quantity of the newcomers means there is no room for complacency.
"Usually the veteran players play with such confidence that it allows them that edge and I saw that this weekend. I can tell you, though, that some of them might get bumped down a notch by some of these young guys. We have some good young guys, and some of them are going to play significant roles with our team."
There were also a number of new 19-year-olds looking for spots on the team, and many of them made an impression.
"It makes it tough on us because we don't want to carry our whole team full of '95s, 19-year-old guys, and some of those '95s, walk-ons and camp additions or non-list players, really impressed us. They're going to make it tough on some of the veteran guys and some of the young '96s we have coming in."
One 19-year-old who caught Lewgood's eye, and many others', was Keegan Hull, who played in Wichita, Kan., last year.
"There weren't a lot of surprises for us. The one pleasant surprise was Keegan Hull, a guy we didn't know much about, and he came in and is going to be threatening for a spot on our team. The one thing we knew coming in was we weren't going to have our team set by the end of the weekend. We have a lot of work ahead of us to decipher who's who and what's what. I think we'll have some tough decisions," said Lewgood.
Although there are decisions to be made across the roster, the toughest will come up front, with close to 20 forwards having come into camp with a chance, and that doesn't include surprises like Hull.
Head was one of them, and after a strong performance in camp, he will be sticking around.
"I bring some grit, but I also think I have a nice scoring touch as well," said the B.C. native, whose dad and uncle both played for the Bruins.
"It'd be huge. I've heard a lot about the Bruins and it'd be great to play here."
Another standout forward was 18-year-old Brad Arabia of Thunder Bay, who showed off his goal-scoring touch.
"In the first game, (I was) trying to get the bus legs out (after a) long car ride from Thunder Bay, but in the second and third game I tried to play more my style and put pucks in the net. That's really my type of game right there," he said.
"My style is high-octane offence. I like to play some defence too, but I think the coach will be pretty impressed if I could put the puck in the net for him this season."
Lewgood said the decisions will be dictated by how players do in the pre-season.
"It'll separate itself. We've talked about that as a staff this weekend lots, that the guys are going to rise up that are going to stay. There may be some tough decisions, but they'll start to separate themselves. There's a lot of variables we gotta consider in making these decisions, but there's a lot of good players.
"We've talked a little bit about the difference between this year and last year, and I feel that the cut line is a lot more impressive this year than it was last year. We had some good young guys that didn't quite make it last year, but there's going to be a lot that don't make it this year. There are going to be several players that aren't playing for the Estevan Bruins that can play Junior A hockey."
There were six goalies in camp, including returnee Brett Lewchuk, recruit Tyler Gutenberg and camp invitee Bobby Palzer, a friend of the late Nick Egan who came in to challenge for the starter's job.
"I thought our goaltending was really good," said Lewgood.
One group that made its mark as camp went on was the collection of 15-year-olds, the newest players to be listed by the team.
"Early on, our '99 group looked real young out there, almost like they didn't belong, with the odd exception. Then as the weekend went on, by the third scrimmage, the one forward line with (Tristyn) DeRoose, (Isaac) Sandomirsky and (Matthew) Chekay looked tremendous out there, very comfortable and they were making good hockey plays. All our young guys were very impressive. We're excited about our list. There's just a great group of guys there, and I think we can do a lot of good things with this group for years to come."
Although the team that will emerge will be fairly inexperienced, Lewgood said he likes what he sees.
"What I can tell you is I think we have a good young team. Young is one of the key words there. It'll be interesting to see where some of these guys fit in against other teams with more experience, but I like the level of talent. I like our leadership. I like our character in the room."
