Saints bench boss ready for big year

By Gord Montgomery
Sports editor

In a way, it's New Year's all over for the Spruce Grove Saints.

In this time of renewal for the Junior A hockey team they'll have a new parking lot. A new ownership arrangement. A new rink, sort of. And several new bodies to round out what could be a strong contender for not only a run at a North Division title this year but the AJHL's overall championship, if everything goes according to plan.

Steve Hamilton and his coaching crew will get back at it this weekend as over five dozen hopeful players take to the ice at the Grant Fuhr Arena, looking to earn a spot on the Saints' roster.

"We should have somewhere around 60 to 70 (players) which is probably in line with the numbers we've had in the past," Hamilton said in a calm-before-the-storm hits interview about the upcoming season. "We'll have about a two week training camp. It seems so early in the year but with our season starting September 5th, we need to take some time to make some educated decisions about these players."

In the days prior to any training camp, the mantra of 'anyone can make this team, all spots are open,' is repeated time and again. While Hamilton may be one of those chanting that he also knows he has some key players back that will impact the team, and the league, in a big way this winter. He says that in reality, the Saints are likely looking for about eight or nine new bodies.

"We lost five to graduation last year. I don't expect Josh Koper back. He's most likely gone back to Medicine Hat (of the WHL). It looks like Kevin Connaughton," a D-man who had a huge impact on the club offensively last season, "won't be back. He's going to Western Michigan (NCAA) a year early. So you never really know, until you see the whites of their eyes at camp," who will be lining up for a Saints' jersey.

"I would anticipate there will probably be eight or nine new faces this year. I feel good about the competition we'll have at each position. We've been working on different things over the summer to give us depth at every position so there's a legitimate battle."

Hamilton pointed to his blue line corps in particular to illustrate that point. He figures he'll be looking at six returning players, plus another "three or four that will have a chance to play."

Goaltending could be one area of concern for the team this year, at least in the early going. The club lost veteran Kieran Millan to Boston College, and while they have his back-up from last year, Ryan Demharter back this year, there's no clear-cut starting stopper headed into camp, the boss says.

"I think we're in a situation where we perhaps don't have a proven No. 1 coming in. I feel good we acquired Travis Rolheiser from Canmore over the summer in a trade for Adam Steven. That gives us two experienced goalies coming in. That being said, we probably have two or three really, really good young kids coming in and putting up a battle. That's the one position where guys just have to earn it. So much of that is earned through practice as well as game time. Really for goalies, your game time comes during the week in practice as much as games. They need to face shots, get their work in. I anticipate that being a very hotly contested position.

"The older guys, Travis and Ryan, have the experience but that necessarily isn't a difference maker."

Up front is where the Saints could make the rest of the league go 'Holy Cow!' this winter, given the talent that's returning, including local product Brett Cameron.

"We should be pretty good. We should be deep up front. We have eight returning forwards which is nice. That gives us basically two and a half lines of guys that you know what you're getting from them. Brett, Nate Fleming, Colton Yaremovich are the guys we expect to step up offensively. I think we'll be very deep offensively.

"With that being said, we're looking to fill some of those important roles of the grit and character that Adam Henderson and Jordan Kary brought to the team," as both have moved on to NCAA college careers now. " I think we'll have the ability to put out four very productive lines."

As a former defencman himself in the AJHL, Hamilton isn't necessarily all about 1-0 or 2-1 hockey games. He likes to watch his guys score goals, while not allowing many, if any, so he says he prefers a team that plays a sort of run-and-gun style of hockey.

"I like to think we play a very up-tempo style to begin with. It's certainly nice to have the horses to be able to do that. I've always been a big believer that you have to have puck-moving defencemen because your forwards can't typically do a lot without the puck!

"That's how we've always built teams in the past and to have this group of forwards we've got I think it makes us a dangerous team offensively."

The coach then added a quick caveat to that statement just in case some of his blue line crew think they can take a night or two off.

"You have to have a certain level of commitment to your own end too. You don't want to put yourself in a situation where you have to score four, five, six goals every night to win."

Given the changes facing the team in this new year, with the construction work on their barn and a place for fans to park close by, it all lends itself to the feeling the team has about playing well, Hamilton noted.

"It makes a difference," he said of the new look to several things this year. "It all kind of rolls over, and perpetuates that desire to be here. Players like to see bodies in the stands. That creates an atmosphere. I think back to the playoffs last year with some pretty good crowds and it certainly changes the feeling inside the building.

"Spruce Grove is a hotbed of hockey, from the minor hockey level up. There will be opportunities this year to draw in fans that maybe have stepped away or looked to other things. We certainly want to bring them back in the fold and attract new fans as well."

In the past Hamilton and his staff have worked under a three-year plan, and this is the final year of their initial phase in the Grove. He feels that plan is about to start paying dividends this year.

"My belief is that it takes time to really establish yourself recruiting-wise, attracting talent and building it. You look at the number of kids, not only the number but also the quality of the kids we have returning, and it's shaping up to be a successful season on the ice. That's by design. There's no fluke there. It's certainly part of the process."

That process will pay off not only in this coming season, the coach feels, but down the line as well, much as it has in other hockey hotbeds like Camrose and Fort McMurray.

"Whey you have success, it tends to perpetuate itself. That's when you get into the situation similar to Camrose who are having success year after year after year. I don't know that we're there yet, but I feel good about the direction we're heading.

"I think we've established ourselves among the teams in the North as being a great place to play. The kids want to be here and it's evidenced by our camps and the number of kids interested in coming here. It's been very successful. I feel like we're to a place where we're going to contend every year."

Asked point-blank if this team will contend for a North Division title this year, Hamilton didn't hesitate.

"Absolutely. I'd be disappointed if we weren't a contender.

"I like the fact we have the depth we do. We might not have a top-10 scorer on this team but we'll have four lines of guys that can contribute every night and that's the way you win. In the long run, it's depth."

Asked if the Saints would be a league title contender or was it too early to be that bold, again there was no hesitation on the bench boss's behalf.

"Why not? Why not set your goals high?" he asked rhetorically. "That will be part of the talk we have when the guys come to camp. I'd like to say we're going to go 62-and-oh this year. It's not likely but I'd like to believe our guys want to win every night because I want to win every night."

And as a coach and a former player, there's nothing new in that desire as the start of a new season looms