鈥淚 think we鈥檙e ready,鈥� said the Victoria Junior Shamrocks general manager, whose team opens play today at 5 p.m. at Bear Mountain Arena against the team that knocked them out of the 2012 playoffs, the New Westminster Salmonbellies.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still missing some players from school, but once they all get back, I think we鈥檒l have a very good team,鈥� said Wood, whose Shamrocks will then travel to Coquitlam on Sunday to face the four-time defending champion Adanacs at 5 p.m.
鈥淭his is our chance. We get New West, which has gone through some changes, at home here and then Coquitlam. If we can get two wins this weekend we can get off to a good start,鈥� said Wood, who will be without the likes of Brody Eastwood, Jesse King and Chris Casper for opening weekend.
But the Shamrocks do feature a well-balanced scoring team.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of guys who can score, a lot of guys from the back end that can score, too,鈥� said Wood. 鈥淏randan Smith has a great shot, and a kid we picked up from Penticton, Nick Kapusty, he鈥檚 got a really good shot.
鈥淜urtis Green can play front or back. He鈥檚 playing back this year, but he has the green light to go at any time and he can put the ball in the net as well as any of our forwards.鈥�
Conrad Chapman will be here from Prince George for the weekend and Dane Sorenson is expected to be back from Florida.
鈥淎bsolutely, we鈥檙e all ready,鈥� said Chris Wardle, who is in his third year with the Jr. 鈥橰ocks, having recorded 18 goals and 23 assists in 21 games last season. 鈥淲e can go all the way, we know we can. We just have to put it all together and get it done.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a wide variety of guys who can provide offence. A lot of guys who will ultimately gel together and put balls in the net. We鈥檙e missing a couple of star guys early, but we want to get off to the best start we can and put up a few wins before they get back.鈥�
Woods鈥檚 biggest question mark may be in goal where he is carrying three netminders including six-foot-four, 270-pound Derek Anderson of Cowichan Bay who takes up a lot of room.
鈥淗e played Junior B the last few years,鈥� said Wood. 鈥淗e moves incredibly well for a big man.鈥�
He鈥檚 joined in net by Cody Hegadoren and Charles Claxon. Wood would not name his starter for today鈥檚 opener.
ON THE ROCKS: The Intermediate A Shamrocks 鈥� provincial silver medallists last year 鈥� also begin play today at 1:30 p.m. at Bear Mountain, also against New Westminster.
