The old sports adage is 鈥渃lub to country.鈥�
But for Dave Lowry, it鈥檚 country to club as he now turns his attention to the Victoria Royals training camp, beginning next week, after spending much of the summer immersed in national team camps and overseas scouting as head coach of sa国际传媒 for the 2016 IIHF world junior hockey championships in Helsinki.
Lowry will do so with a new addition on the Victoria bench as Lynden Sammartino will replace Brady Robinson as Royals goaltending coach. Brady, who has been with the Royals franchise since it started out in Chilliwack nine years ago as the Bruins, has moved up as development coach for the NHL鈥檚 Philadelphia Flyers and will be responsible for bringing along the Flyers鈥� drafted crease prospects in junior, NCAA and the minor-pro AHL and ECHL.
鈥淲e are in the business of developing talent to move up and it鈥檚 no different for coaches than it is for players,鈥� said Lowry, who just returned from his Hockey sa国际传媒 assignment of scouting the Ivan Hlinka Memorial U-18 tournament in the Czech Republic.
鈥淏rady is good at what he does. I see a lot of that same mindset and ambition in Lynden. He has a plan and that is the NHL. I like working with guys who know where they want to go.鈥�
Sammartino set the-then Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League single-season shutout record of nine during three seasons with the Yorkton Terriers, winning the league title with the Terriers in 2005-06. He worked for Advanced Goaltender Consulting from 2011 to 2014 and Goaltending Development Institute from 2009 to 2011.
Sammartino comes into an intriguing crease situation with the Royals. The Western Hockey League club has options that include burning one of its three overage-player slots on veteran Coleman Vollrath or deciding between surprise 2015 NHL draft pick Evan Smith, the six-foot-six American out of Colorado who was selected 205th overall in the seventh round by the Nashville Predators, or 16-year-old Griffen Outhouse, who played major midget last season and is considered the Royals鈥� goaltender-of-the-future.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a matter of who comes in ready,鈥� said Victoria GM Cam Hope. 鈥淭hey will decide that battle themselves.鈥�
Royals鈥� camp commences Wednesday with the 2015 bantam draft picks reporting, including their first-round selection Eric Florchuk from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. Rookie camp, for 16-year-olds, begins next Friday. Main camp, when veterans report, opens Aug. 31. All sessions are at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre and will be open to the public.
The first pre-season game is Sept. 4 in Everett against the Silvertips. The regular season opens at home Sept. 25 against the Portland Winterhawks.
