Ice prospects hit the ice for first time

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This article was published 01/09/2021 (1501 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Ice opened a two-day prospects camp Wednesday afternoon.

Nervous players, many of them sweating it out in their first WHL camp experience, are part of the routine. But even veteran coaches needed to adjust themselves to the work process. 

“It’s been like four months since I’ve run a practice and you’ve got to find your voice,” said Ice head coach James Patrick. “As a coach, you got to get your body and your voice into the proper shape to run a practice. Even for me today, I want to stop it and I said (to myself), ‘No, no it’s not important that I stop it.’ I wanted to let them go with the flow.”

Patrick knows the conditions will be different than the pressurized 24-game season the Ice played in the Regina hub last spring.

“The bubble was an incredible experience,” he said. “So many people worked hard and it was so easy with the players. They were so excited to be there, thankful to be there, driven while they were there and competitive while they were there. I felt that made it pretty easy for a coach.

“Now we’re back to… you’ve got to bring the energy, you’ve got to bring excitement, you’ve got to bring preparation, you got to bring communication and then the routine of being here at our rink and so this is day one of that.”

As first days go, a pair of 16-year-olds aiming to make the team had no trouble bringing the excitement.

Blue-liner Omen Harmacy, picked in the eighth round of the 2020 WHL Draft and centre Aiden Oiring, a Calgary product chosen in the third round, showed quick feet and sharp puck skills. 

“Real good mobility, I mean that’s just from the first practice,” observed Patrick. “I think some of the kids looked a little nervous, there was some fumbling of the puck out there but those two guys you could definitely see their skill set…

“They looked good today. We’ll see how they fare when they’re out with the veterans. I don’t know whether they’ll fight for a spot (on the roster) or whether they’ll play a game for us this year at some point. That will be determined.”

The 5-9, 170-pound Harmacy grew up in Winnipeg but played his last two seasons at Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school in Faribault, Minn. Unlike many of his fellow Canadians during the pandemic, he benefited from a full season at Shattuck, scoring 15 points in 35 games.

“I think it’s a bit of an advantage but I mean, a lot of my development was during the off-season,” said Harmacy. “I’ve been working on just little things like a quick release, my shooting decision, edges. Just small stuff like that, just to tweak it.”

Oiring, meanwhile, played only six games in 2020-21 with the Calgary U18 AAA Royals. However, a year earlier he won the Alberta U15 AAA League scoring title, collecting 32 goals and 80 points in 35 games with the Royals.

The 5-7, 165-pound sniper said he made up for some lost development time by testing himself against some high-level competition during his off-season workouts.

“I’ve been training with a lot of people from junior and the WHL,” said Oiring, who has sharing ice with veteran Winnipeg defenceman Ben Zloty this summer.

“So I feel like I’m kind of at that level where I’ve been practising with them all summer — four times a week — where I can play with them and I feel like that it’s really helped me improve over the summer.”

BLUE-LINES: Winnipeg’s prospects camp continues today with main camp scheduled to start Friday at 10 a.m. Action continues throughout the weekend with a showcase intrasquad game slated for The Rink Training Centre Monday at 10:30 a.m. Spectators are only permitted at the showcase game. The public is invited to a free pancake breakfast before the game. Fans who present their proof of full vaccination are welcome to attend. Meanwhile, children under 12 will be permitted to attend provided they are accompanied by a fully vaccinated adult from the same household. Masks will be mandatory.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca  Twitter: @sawa14