HOUND CAMP CALL

Ten days and counting. August 28, to be exact. That's when 36 players will take to the ice for the start of the Soo Greyhounds' Ontario Hockey League training camp. Included in that mix are returnees, players who were acquired through trades this summer, draft picks from 2001 who weren't eligible to play in the OHL last season, as well as selections from the 2002 draft. Six of the Hounds' top 10 point-getters from last season are back including forwards Petr Taticek, Rob Hisey, Jeff Carter, Brett Trudell and Mike Melinko as well as fourth-year defenceman Trevor Daley. The six combined for 100 goals last season, led by Taticek with 21, Hisey with 20, Carter and Trudell with 18, Melinko with 14 and Daley with nine. Also around to lend experience and talent is overage left winger Adam Chapman, acquired from the Ottawa 67s, for whom he scored 22 goals last season. Seven-goal scorer Troy Ilijow will hope to add grit as an overage right winger. There's a battle brewing in goal between holdover backups Brock McGillis and Jeff Weber, as well as local kid Joey Biasucci, acquired in a summer trade from the Brampton Battalion. Also around is goalie Alex Evans, taken in the fifth round of the '01 draft. Others from the '01 draft who'll have their first chance to make the Hounds are right winger Ryan Kitchen (third round) and left winger Mike Moher (fourth round.) Local products looking to catch on will be defencemen Dustin Curts and Joey Bruno, who played with the AAA midget Soo North Stars last season. (More on the upcoming Greyhound training camp on Monday, right here on SooToday.com.)