The Eclipse Downhole Solutions Estevan U18 AAA Bears hockey club was finally able to showcase their skills for the organization’s leadership on the weekend.
The club held its inaugural fall camp from Friday to Sunday at Affinity Place. More than 40 players were divided into three separate teams, and participated in on-ice sessions, fitness testing and other activities.
“With all of the rules and regulations and restrictions that had to be put in place, it went very smoothly,” said Bears head coach and general manager Jeff Smith. “For being a first-year camp, there were a couple of hiccups, which is to be expected, but … once the hockey started, it went nice and smooth.”
Many of the players had great camps, he said. Some grew a few inches and put on weight in the offseason.
“I was surprised with the talent level and the speed and the tenacity of these kids, that they want to make the team and they want to make a good impression, so it’s been a really good show,” said Smith.
Goaltender Jackson Miller of Estevan, defenceman Hunter Weber of Saskatoon, and forwards Turner McMillen of Carievale and Cooper Chisholm of Weyburn were among the standouts at camp. All four players have at least a year of U18 hockey experience.
“They’ve set the bar for these young kids and they’ve showed them what it takes to be in this league and everything else. It’s good to show that our core group of guys have really stepped up.”
The camp also featured four bantam players. Smith said he would like to have them on the team for this season. Some talented rookies who look ready to step into the U18 AAA level.
“Some of these kids have been a little bit better than what was expected, but overall I was surprised by all of them … just to see how they can compete at that level.”
The weekend culminated in the Ron Areshenkoff Memorial Black and White, in which the players in camp were separated into two teams. Team White rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the second period to win 5-4 in overtime.
McMillen, Dallen Oxelgren, Rylan Erb and Chaz Sylvestre scored for Black. Hunter Kannok-Leipert had two goals for Team White. Chisholm, Tucker Buhay and Zayden Sadlemyer had the Team White goals.
Smith said the club wanted to find a way to honour Areshenkoff and let kids know about his contributions to hockey in the community. So they named Sunday afternoon’s contest after him, and they have also named the dressing room after Areshenkoff.
The Rotary Club of Estevan has sponsored the dressing room, so it was fitting to name it after Areshenkoff, who was a long-time Rotarian, and chaired Estevan’s five new arena fundraising dinners from 2007-2011 that raised more than $1 million for Affinity Place.
“We just want to show our support and honour him in this way,” said Smith.
The club had to make some adjustments the week of camp. They had hoped to have nearly 90 kids participating, but that number had to be cut by about 50 per cent. And then they were told they couldn’t have members of the public at on-ice sessions, disappointing for those who were looking forward to seeing players for the first time.
Earlier this year, they had to cancel their inaugural spring camp due to venue closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A decision hasn’t been made on when the 2020-21 season will start. The players will go home for a couple of weeks, and then they will return to Estevan for the first day of school on Sept. 8.
