No one needs to remind the Richmond Sockeyes just how early the Pacific Junior Hockey League launches its regular season.
With the PNE having just wrapped up and school age kids still in summer holiday mode, the Sockeyes will already be two games into their schedule by the end of this week
Richmond opened on Tuesday night at Delta with a 1-0 win over the Ice Hawks then host the Grandview Steelers on Thursday (7 p.m.) Minoru Arenas.
So did the club put together an intense exhibition schedule to get ready for the hasty start to the 44-game grind? Not exactly.
The Sockeyes were the lone team not to play in the pre-season and actually didn’t intensify their practice schedule until last week. It is all part of the plan that was launched a few years ago that sees the team stage its main training camp back in July.
“The main reason we do it is so the kids that don’t make it still have the opportunity to go play elsewhere (for another junior ‘B’ team),” explained longtime Sockeyes general manager Richmond Petrowsky. “The players that do make it then get to skate (weekly) with our veterans and going to junior ‘A’ camps is easier for them because they know where they are going if it doesn’t work out.”
The Sockeyes headed into their game in Ladner last night still putting the finishing touches on their roster. At least three players are still in the mix to earn jobs in junior ‘A.’ It means things can get a little tricky as the club addresses its immediate needs but could have extra bodies by next week.
Richmond will begin the season with veteran Kurt Russell and Quinten Paille in net. The crease would suddenly get awfully crowded should Nathan Alalouf (Estevan) and off-season acquisition Jakob Severson (Dayton Valley) return from junior “A” tryouts.
The back end wll feature the bulk of the club’s experience with 20-year-olds Jordan Andrews and Trevor Lima serving as team captain and assistant respectively. The other assistant’s role will be given to newcomer forward Matthew Cox who comes to the Sockeyes with an impressive resumé that includes playing for the Yorkton Terriers when they won the Royal Bank national junior “A” championship in 2014. The White Rock native is back home to attend SFU.
“He told us this is where he wanted to be,” said Petrowsky. “He already knows a lot of guys on the team and is a good fit for us. Ironically he and his brother (high scoring Medicine Hat Tiger Trevor Cox) were once affiliated with us when they were playing (B.C. Major Midget) for the Valley West Hawks.”
The Sockeyes will be expecting returning players Tyler Paterson, Evan Thomas, Brett Gelz, Brodie Crawford and Jeevan Sidhu to take on bigger roles.
There is also the usual assortment of rookies, however, the club has yet to use their two 16-year-old playing cards. Current Vancouver Giant Carter Popoff and prospect Ryan Jones are just two players who spent a season in Richmond when they were 16.
“It’s the first time in a long time we don’t have one,” said Petrowsky. “There was one Richmond kid we were really interested in but at the end of the day we thought he was better off playing at the Academy and being affiliated with us.
“Nothing is going to change unless their is a stud 16-year-old defenceman we like.”
The club has welcomed back Greg Harding who will serve as an assistant to head coach Judd Lambert and also will do plenty of scouting.
Richmond finished with a 32-10-2 record a year ago but was bounced in the opening round in the playoffs to Grandview, falling in seven games.
“That was not Sockeyes hockey,” added Petrowsky. “We’re pretty anxious to put that behind us and get off to a good start.”
Richmond dominated the Ice Hawks Tuesday but local product Jacob Latrace in the Delta net kept the game close with a spectacular 57-save performance. He was finally beaten in the third period by Sidhu. The Sockeyes outshot the hosts 58-27 on the night with Russell earning the shutout.
