MAITLAND, FLA – The 2016-17 hockey season ended just shy of four months ago, a relatively short period of time unless you are a fan, coach or player. To them, every hour without the sights and sounds of the game seem like an eternity.
Once the calendar turns to October, the excitement for a new year becomes palpable, hitting a high as the NHL begins play followed quickly by the AHL and then the ECHL. Even in places like Florida – where the changing of seasons is nothing more than a rumor – pictures of beaches and ocean waves cannot compare to shots of sheets of ice being laid down in anticipation of what is to come.
When the Orlando Solar Bears opened the team’s sixth ECHL training camp on Monday morning at the RDV Sportsplex Ice Den, the thrill of being back on their blades of steel had everyone anxious to start moving in hopes of earning a roster spot prior to the regular season opener in Jacksonville on October 14th.
“It’s been a long time coming for us. I’ve been here for almost a week now and it’s good to get back on the ice with the boys,” Solar Bears forward Joe Perry said following the first camp session. “We had a hard practice and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”
Under the watchful eye of head coach Drake Berehowsky and assistant coach John Snowden, eighteen players laced up the skates in anticipation of knocking off the rust, meeting new guys and learning what systems the coaches want played. All of that is set against the knowledge that more players were expected to be sent down from the Solar Bears affiliates in Toronto. The competition created when all of that is mixed together is an adrenaline rush for rookies and veterans alike.
“I think we went very hard. We were short of bodies today so we kind of had to retract a little bit there but we were going very hard there early,” veteran forward Mike Vaskivuo said. “Drake said it from the get-go to be ready to work hard and show what you have and everybody stepped up.”
For Vaskivuo, this season will mark a return to North America and the ECHL, where he played in 2013-14 before a very successful three-year run in Eurpoe. He said that from what he has seen in a very short time that the talent level has grown greatly.
“I think the ECHL has come a long way. Even five years ago it was a very good developmental league. It’s been five years since then and the guys are just getting faster and faster,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s me getting older but these guys are getting faster and hungrier and it’s really exciting for me as a veteran guy to see that. Guys are here at the rink early and willing to work on their craft. I get rejuvenated from that.”
The learning does not stop with the players. Berehowsky, who encountered many preseason camps during a long playing career, is running his second as the bench boss for Orlando – the first coming back in 2012. He said that even as a coach there is an evolutionary process that has to be gone through in order to move to the next level.
“I think you’re always growing and trying to mature as a coach. There’s lots of things that have changed from my first year,” Berehowsky said. “I think I’m more familiar with the league this year and that’s a big thing for me. I can see what it takes to win. I can see what we were missing from last year and we filled in some of those pieces.”
Berehowsky made reference to the fact that there are a lot of new faces as Perry and Chris Crane are the only two returning players from last year’s squad that nearly upset the Florida Everblades in the playoffs. Building a rapport between the players early on can go a long way to creating success and Perry said that the work on that aspect of the team game is already underway.
“We’ve been hanging out quite a bit and it seems like the guys are already starting to gel a little bit just from hanging at the apartments and [some] being at the Marlies camp too,” he said. “It’s been good so far and obviously more guys are going to start coming down so it’s going to be interesting. It’s a whole new team for us so it’s going to take some time to find our roles and get to know each other but that’s all part of it.”
As part of the redesign of the roster, Berehowsky brought in three players – Sean Zimmerman, Darryl Bootland and Sam Jardine – who were a part of the Colorado Eagles Kelly Cup championship last season. Berehowsky hopes that the trio will be able to teach the other players how to win by using their experience to light the way.
“With their experience, they’re going to be able to calm the room down. They’re going to be able to teach the guys how to play the right way because they’ve won,” Berehowsky said. “That was one thing that was really important for John and I to bring in really good leaders and these guys are it. They’ll be able to take control of that room and hopefully guide the guys in the right way.”
Judging by just one day, it looks like the Solar Bears may be headed for an even shorter off season next summer.
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