MAITLAND, FLA – As the Orlando Solar Bears opened their 2016-2017 ECHL training camp on Monday at the RDV Ice Den, it was clear that something seemed off. That was because the number of players on the ice was about equivalent to the number of people looking on to see the start of the season.
Members of the Orlando Solar Bears working on skills during training camp.
Good thing for everyone involved that the anomaly was both expected and even welcomed.
The shortage was created when the Toronto Maple Leafs and AHL Marlies invited twelve players under contract to the Solar Bears to join the Marlies training camp that opened at the very same time. Defensemen Eric Baier, ChrisBradley and Taylor Doherty along with forwards Adam Brace, Connor Gaarder, Denver Manderson, Johnny McInnis, Bryan Moore and Patrick Watling and goalies Ryan Massa and Jay Williams all headed north for some AHL training.
The very same thing happened last season, leaving new coaches Anthony Noreen – who himself was in Toronto and is there again – and assistant coach John Snowden with barely enough players to put together a full line. That experience has allowed the Solar Bears to turn what could have been a negative into a positive.
“Last year was the first for both of us trying to find our way through. This year we have a good plan. We’ve worked on this plan for the last five or six months knowing that we’d be in a situation possibly like this,” Snowden said following the first practice. “Anthony and I are on the phone twelve times a day planning and getting everything ready for these guys to learn what we want to implement. The good thing is that from top to bottom we have a lot of structure things that are the same. Guys are seeing it here so it makes it seamless for us.”
The plan actually started with a concerted effort to rebuild the roster, something that Noreen and Snowden did not get to do when they were hired a little over a year ago. The pair, along with team owner Joe Haleski, made the decision to look for players who would bring a veteran presence with an emphasis on character and leadership.
“We built a team on proven leaders. We built a team on character. We wanted guys to be on the same page. We wanted guys to be together,” Snowden explained. “We wanted character guys – not just good character, not great character. We wanted elite character guys.”
The Solar Bears coaches certainly hit the mark with their signings. The best example of a proven leader with character is veteran defenseman Trevor Ludwig. Ludwig, 31, has been around long enough and accomplished enough to understand the need for character guys and leaders in the locker room.
Assistant coach John Snowden goes over instructions for a drill.
“Here in the ECHL,as a team and an organization, you kind of have two different mindsets. It’s a developmental league. You want to get some of these young players that are NHL draft picks or AHL one-way contracts, you kind of want to develop them and get them ready for the next level,”Ludwig said. “At the same time, everybody that’s here [like] me for example. I’m an older guy. My goal isn’t to go to the AHL. I’ve been there and done that. This is my team. I’m playing for the Solar Bears and that’s the other side of it. You want a core group of older guys here that are dedicated to the jersey here and that’s what we’ve got here.
“We’ve got a handful of guys that have kind of been through the spin of the pro game I guess. I’m one of those older guys. My role is to make sure the guys who maybe younger, maybe getting called up, [to remind them] that you’re here, you’re wearing this jersey, we’re here to win,” he continued. “That’s kind of a different mindset I think this year compared to last year a little bit.”
Character and leadership in the locker room and on the ice was one of the reasons why forward Brock Montgomery jumped at the chance to return to the Solar Bears. Prior to last season, he was traded to Fort Wayne for the ECHL rights to forward Eric Faille who was an offensive star in Orlando and earned multiple call-ups to the Marlies. Montgomery said that in his mind character is a major key to winning.
“They’ve been able to pick their team and the guys they want in. I think they brought in a lot of character guys.I think character is what is going to win you hockey games,” Montgomery said. “You can have as many skill guys as you want but eveyone in this room from what I know has a lot of character and that’s good to see.”
Also returning to Central Florida is defenseman Max Nicastro, who was traded to Rapid City at last year’s trade deadline for the ECHL right to blueliner Taylor Doherty. Nicastro was eager to come back because of how well the players are treated and the resources the team puts into winning.
“I’ve played in quite a few places. They’re still good organizations and I don’t have anything bad to say about any place I’ve been but Orlando really takes it to the next level, especially for this league, ” Nicastro said. “We get treated so well [here]. We have so many resources that we all depend and rely on that we’re lucky to have.”
A season ago, Nicastro was one of the players who was in Toronto for the start of training camp. He said that the effort that Noreen and Snowden have put in to make the transition seamless is important to the Solar Bears future success this year.
“We come out here and we’re getting taught the same stuff so that when everyone comes back we’re all on the same page which is great,” he said. “Everyone buys in and we all start from the same spot.”
Two Solar Bears players honing their one-on-one skills.
For the younger players, this is an opportunity to establish themselves in what for many is their first dip into the professional pool. In the case of rookie forward Coltyn Sanderson, the Orlando camp has even more meaning.
Sanderson, who was part of the NCAA Division I champion North Dakota program in the spring, is the son of retired pro player Mike Sanderson. The elder Sanderson spent part or all of his two final seasons as a member of the Orlando Seals who won the Atlantic Coast Hockey League championship in 2003.
“I remember coming to visit him and he told me how much he loved the city (Orlando) and how well he was treated. He liked it a lot and it kind of rubbed off [on me],” Coltyn said. “I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to come down here and start off my pro career in a place where you get treated well. It’s a good organization and he was excited for me.”
Sanderson’s transition, at least in the short term, will be eased by having former UND teammate (and roommate) Connor Gaarder in town. Gaarder, who played in Europe last year, started the week in Toronto but will be back in time for the Solar Bears’ two preseason games in Estero against the Florida Everblades this weekend.
“We talked a lot about coming down here together. I lived with him in college and I’ll live with him here so it’ll be pretty special for both us to get to play together again,” Sanderson said. “We’re pretty close buddies so I’m excited to have him back down here and get the ball rolling.”
Failing to make the playoffs has eaten at both Noreen and Snowden throughout the off-season. Snowden said that it has motivated them to do everything in their power to move the franchise toward its goal of winning a Kelly Cup.
“It was disappointing last year. This year we learned a little bit as a coaching staff. Being first year coaches in the league [last season], it helped us to learn what we need to do, how we need to build our team, how we need to prepare,” he said. “I think both of us are pretty fired up. We’re both very emotional. We love winning and nobody wants to compete more than us. I think we just built us a team of guys that are the exact same way.”
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