The term off-season doesn't seem to apply to the Olds Grizzlys' coaching staff since they've been spending much of the spring and summer building the team that will take to the ice this fall.So far, the team has signed three new players— Sean Richards, 16, Harrison Klein, 18, and Josh Zablocki, 18— in the past two months and head coach Brett Hopfe said he'd like to sign at least one and possibly two players before the Grizzlys main camp next month.“That's going to depend on a few circumstances as well as far as players that we're expecting to maybe possibly get back from the WHL (Western Hockey League),” he said, adding the Grizzlys have made some commitments to players going to WHL camps and those players will have a spot on the Olds roster if they do not land a spot on a WHL squad or do not stay with a WHL team for the entire season.Hopfe said the team is currently interested in another player aside from the three players the Grizzlys have already committed to, but that player would not be signed until the main camp.“He's 16. We can only have two 16 year olds so if we sign him before, with us signing Sean Richards, that would give us two 16 year olds and no 16 year olds would come to our camp,” he said. “We want to keep that open because that's our future.”Richards, a forward who played minor midget AAA hockey with the St. Albert Flyers last season, is a smaller player with “an extreme talent to put the puck in the net,” Hopfe said, adding he compares Richards to Sidney Crosby.“He's very sturdy on his feet and that's something that really intrigued us.”The Grizzlys watched Richards while he played in the minor league, where he scored 24 goals and earned 27 assists in 36 games and was one of the league's top 15 scorers.Hopfe said Richards also attended the Grizzlys' spring camp, where he fared well, along with informal skating sessions over the summer where he impressed coaches.Klein, who stands five-foot-nine and weighs 160 pounds, and Zablocki, who stands five-foot-11 and weighs 160 pounds, both played midget AAA hockey last season, Klein for the St. Albert Raiders and Zablocki for the Leduc Oil Kings.Hopfe said he paid attention to Klein, a captain for his team, in the playoffs.“He was the first player that I watched that I said, he's going to be an Olds Grizzly,” he said, describing Klein as a “hard-nosed,” “in your face” player who finishes every check.Hopfe said he also saw Zablocki skate in the playoffs against Klein and when he spoke with Zablocki's coaches, he asked them who they would put on the ice if they were down by a goal.“All three of them said ‘Josh.' That was their first answer. For us, it shows a lot of confidence in the player.”Ultimately, the Grizzlys are trying to fill holes left by five 20-year-old players who graduated from the team in April as well as from a trade where defencemen Marc Eremenko and Jordan Lajimodiere were sent to the Dauphin Kings in exchange for goaltender Jordan Piccolino.Hopfe said 18 players from the Grizzlys' 23-man roster from the past season are returning for the upcoming year and before the regular season kicks off on Sept. 5, he'd like to also add a backup goaltender, a 19-year-old defenceman who can “solidify some older confidence on the back end and be able to settle down some of the younger guys when things go wrong” and one more offensive forward.“I don't think you can ever have enough. I think we've got lots of character on our forwards,” he said. “As far as third and fourth-line guys, I think one more high-end skilled guy would be a benefit for us.”He added he has no doubt he'll be able to put the team he wants on the ice this year.The spring camp in April was the best he'd seen for talent since joining the Grizzlys, Hopfe said.“There was players at that camp that allowed us to make some difficult situations and trade players on our roster to make room for them.”And he's certain main camp will be extremely competitive.As for the future of the team, Hopfe said the coaching staff are keeping their eyes on three 15-year-olds—two from Didsbury and one from Trochu—who could earn a spot on the Grizzlys roster when they turn 16.But for the season ahead, regardless of who joins the team between now and August, Hopfe said he is expecting big things from veterans such as Chris Gerrie, last year's Canadian Junior Hockey League rookie of the year, and assistant captains Austin Kernahan and BJ Duffin.“This year, it's a little bit more settling as far as having a lot of returning players come back,” he [email protected]
