Opening day standards: Greyhounds begin training camp

As far as opening days go, Soo Greyhounds coach John Dean was pleased with what he saw.

Tuesday marked the first day of a new Ontario Hockey League season as training camp got underway locally for the club with off-ice testing and the first on-ice sessions at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

“Practice was really good, especially considering these guys had to do their off-ice testing,” Dean said. “That can be very mentally draining and emotionally draining, and physically as well. The practice, I was very excited about.”

The week’s first scrimmage also had moments that Dean was pleased with.

“The first two periods, seeing all those goals was a lot of fun to watch,” Dean said.

Dean added that in the scrimmage he felt the veteran players “looked really sharp.”

“I’m really happy with the way guys came back and how they look on the ice and how serious they took the first game,” Dean added.

Dean said that in the veteran group he saw “a very motivated group.”

“I hesitate to use the word angry, but there’s still a little bit of a sour taste in their mouth from last season,” Dean said. “It was a very long off-season for all of us. The returning players really took advantage of the extra time and they set a precedent this morning. They were by far, the elite of the elite in terms of our off-ice testing.”

In terms of fitness testing, Dean credited the veteran players for setting a tone in terms of how they approached the first piece of training camp.

“Everyone seems like they’re in great shape,” Dean said. “Everyone took the morning seriously and, it might be surprising to say, but that doesn’t happen every season. It seems to be a group that took their off-season very seriously and I’m excited about that. We didn’t have to talk to them about what the morning needed to look like. They went out and led in on their own on how they thought it should be done.”

In addition to a pair of goalie sessions and two practices, Wednesday’s training camp schedule includes a pair of scrimmages. The two scrimmages are slated for 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

Scrimmages continue on Thursday before the team takes to the ice for the annual Luke Williams Memorial Red/White game on Friday night.

The team is slated to open exhibition play on Sunday afternoon at home against the Sudbury Wolves in a 2:07 p.m. start locally.