Victoria Royals GM Cam Hope says his club opted for 鈥渁 bit of everything鈥� in the last two Western Hockey League bantam drafts.
鈥淚 really like our draft groups the last couple of years and the mix . 鈥� we took speedy forwards and big, top-end defencemen,鈥� added Hope.
The product of that process starts to become evident today when the 2015 bantam drafts open the Royals鈥� training camp with a skate from 11 a.m. to noon, followed by orientation in the afternoon. Part of this group are the Royals鈥� 2015 first- and second-round bantam selections Eric Florchuk, a five-foot-10 forward from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., and Mitchell Prowse, a defenceman from Kelowna.
The 2014 bantam drafts, including the Royals top pick from that year, defenceman Scott Walford, join in on Friday.
鈥淚 saw Scott Walford and [2014 second-round bantam pick] Brayden Pachal yesterday and they already looked bigger than they did last year,鈥� said Hope. 鈥淭hey will be pushing for spots.鈥�
Hope is also high on 16-year-old rookie-camp goalies Griffen Outhouse from Williams Lake and Dylan Myskiw from Winnipeg.
鈥淭hey could both develop into very good WHL goalkeepers for our future,鈥� he said.
The rookie camp sessions Friday are from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with scrimmages from 2:15 to 7:15 p.m. On Saturday, scrimmages run from 10 a.m. to 6:15 p.m., while Sunday scrimmages are from 8:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Main camp, when veterans report, opens Monday with practices from 9 to 11:45 a.m. and scrimmages from 2 to 7 p.m, and continues Sept. 1 with practice from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and scrimmages from 2 to 7 p.m. All training camp sessions are at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre and open to the public.
The annual Blue-White intra-squad game is Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.
The first Royals pre-season game is Sept. 4 in Everett against the Silvertips.
ICE CHIPS: The Royals will host a garage sale and public skate Saturday during rookie camp. The garage sale takes place at Gate 3 from noon to 2 p.m. and includes for sale the team鈥檚 used equipment items, with partial proceeds going to the Royals鈥� education and scholarship fund. The free public skate is 12:30 to 1:15 p.m.
