Cold Lake Ice set for Exhibition Schedule

Time to play

Main camp has come, and gone for the Cold Lake Ice. Now the team sets it’s sights on a two game exhibition schedule. The Ice coaching staff will have a few choices to make during the two games when it comes to the roster. The exhibition schedule begins today (September 16, 2017) in Lloydminster.

Main Camp

Main camp saw an interesting mix of attendance. What seemed to start out as a light-bodied camp, turned into numbers the Ice coaching staff haven’t seen before. By the end of camp, the team had 30 players skating for a spot, with about five players absent. The numbers have left the coaching staff with a number of decisions to make. Some cuts have already been made, but the remainder will come through exhibition play.

“We were up to 35 [players], we made some cuts. It was a good camp, but a camp is just a camp. We’ve got some exhibition games here, to see things a bit different. W’re rolling along here. We’ve got a couple weeks until the home opener. We want to be up their with the top clubs.” Head Coach Scott Hood says.

Exhibition Games

The Cold Lake Ice will face the Lloydminster Bandits today. The coaching staff will watch over the bench looking for performances that reward a second game. Next Friday (September 22) the Ice will play another away game in Vermilion as the tune up before the home opener on September 29 versus the Frog Lake T-Birds.

“We’re down a forward for the game tomorrow, but we will make due. We’ll give another d-man a chance to skate, and get him in shape. We’ll see, it’s a good chance to see everyone off the start. See how we stack up against Lloyd.” Coach Hood explains.

Veterans being pushed by youth

One interesting note out of this year’s Cold Lake Ice camp is the emergence of youth. The camp featured several young players making the veterans work hard to stand out.