Training camp is in the books for the Nanaimo Buccaneers and hockey season is coming closer.
The city’s junior B team wrapped training camp Sunday morning at the Nanaimo Ice Centre after three days.
“I thought it got better as camp went on and that’s something you want to see,” said Curtis Toneff, the Buccaneers’ new coach.
He thought the guys generally reported for camp in good shape, and on the ice, there were a couple of surprises, he said, as far as guys moving up the depth chart.
The Buccaneers played four intrasquad games and the weekend was all about evaluation, Toneff said. He wanted to let guys play so he and his coaching staff could get a look at players’ hockey sense and compete level.
“We had a lot of four-on-four action and it was actually really good, I liked it a lot. With four on four, you see how guys think a little more out there and it’s more of a possession game which I like and I think the goalies see some harder looks,” the coach said.
The Buccaneers are getting ready to play their first Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League exhibition game tonight (Aug. 27) and this coming week, the pre-season will continue with two-a-day practices as the Bucs begin to implement systems and work on creating a team culture.
“We’ll put down the base for what practice is going to look like all year, which is going to be up-tempo and fast,” Toneff said.
The Buccaneers were planning roster cuts today and will continue to work toward putting an opening-day lineup in place. Some players are away at higher-tier camps and the Bucs are factoring that into their decision-making.
“The pieces should fall into place in the next week and a half or so, but we’re very excited for what we see,” said Toneff. “The pieces are here. We’ve just got to see the buy-in factor moving forward. We’ve just started out.”
GAME ON … The Bucs visit the Kerry Park Islanders tonight (Aug. 27) in pre-season action and the only other pre-season game is Thursday (Aug. 31) against the Islanders at 7:45 p.m. at the NIC. The VIJHL regular season starts Sept. 7.