Exhibition games on tap, Greyhounds roster trimmed down further

With their exhibition opener on tap for Saturday, the Soo Greyhounds roster now stands at 29 players.

The annual Luke Williams Memorial Red and White game is in the background and though there will still be some decisions to be made, some players made sure to put themselves in a good position following training camp.

“As it got closer to tonight, some guys really separated themselves,” Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis said following Friday’s game. “It’s given us a good group to work with, but at the same time, moving forward with this, I don’t think anything is set in stone. It’s got to be who is going to continue to separate themselves and gel as a group.”

The game saw Team White beat Team Red by a 4-2 margin, but it was the pace that stood out for the Greyhounds brass.

“The pace looked a little faster than the games in camp,” coach John Dean said. “There’s a feel to the red and white game. It’s pretty special. There’s fans in the stands. For some of these players, they’re not used to that. There was a real good spark at the beginning of the game.”

With camp complete, the team now looks ahead to its exhibition season opener on Saturday night at home against the Sudbury Wolves at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

Raftis confirmed Friday that the Greyhounds will play Saturday’s exhibition opener minus four veterans in the lineup.

Forward Owen Allard and defencemen Caeden Carlisle and Luc Brzustowski remain out with injury while Keegan McMullen remains at home due to a personal matter.

A timeframe for the return of all four players wasn’t known.

Following 12 players being released and re-assigned on Thursday night, the Greyhounds announced an additional 15 players being released and reassigned following Friday’s contest.

The group included goaltender Gavan Mask, defencemen Blair Scott, Spencer Evans, Austin Fellinger, Matthew Halushak, and Caleb Labelle, and forwards Tate Vader, E.J. Paddington, Jax Bellwood, Brendan Boring, Marcello Giorgi, Zack Corte, Noah Aboflan, Justin Spurrell, and Owen Shore.

Friday’s moves also set the Greyhounds overage situation heading into the exhibition season with Halushak being among the releases.

The Greyhounds will head into Saturday with defenceman Ryan Thompson and forwards McMullen and Kalvyn Watson as their three overage players.