ESTEVAN - The Estevan Great North U18 AAA Bears had a good look at what the future might hold for the organization during their annual Fall ID Camp, held Saturday and Sunday at Affinity Place.
"We were very happy with it," said coach Ryan Pilon. "We thought it ran very smoothly. Obviously, with the weather outside, it was a little different being in the rink this early, but it went really well."
Thirty-five prospects participated. None of them are expected to play for the Bears this season, as the club's 20-player roster has already been finalized.
Members of last year's team were at the camp to help run a couple of workouts with the Bears' strength and conditioning staff.
A lot of the players who attended were from the Estevan and Weyburn areas. Pilon singled out a couple of Estevan-area players, forward Riley Gigian and defenceman Raif Henrion, as players who had a really good summer and have made a lot of progress. Forward Andrew Hemphill of Weyburn is a player Pilon said the Bears are looking forward to watching for years to come.
Some of the young players they didn't see much last season surprised during camp, and will be on the Bears' radar as they move into the U18 age group.
"This was more of just getting to know some players, seeing where their progress was from last spring camp or even during their past season. It set the bar now, seeing what their progress is going to be, going into this season," said Pilon.
The Bears are now shifting their attention to the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
"I think as a coaching staff, we're very optimistic going into this season," said Pilon.
Last spring, the club made the postseason for the first time in its three full seasons, and now they want to build on the achievement. Their next goal is to make it back into the playoffs and finish in the top four in the 12-team Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League.
"I think the … attitude of the players is the same, and they're really excited coming back and building off of what we started last season," said Pilon.
All players eligible to return from last year's team are expected to be back. They will be at junior hockey camps in the next couple of weeks.
Among the new players is defenceman Kayson Anderson from Lumsden who spent last season with the Prairie Storm and was selected in the third round of the 2024 Western Hockey League Draft.
"We knew that he was going to go in the Western Hockey League draft. We just didn't know where. He went to a very good program," said Pilon.
Practices are slated to start in early September. Their first preseason game is Sept. 21 and they will open the regular season on Sept. 28 against the Tisdale Trojans.
