The Grizzlys' 2016-17 campaign officially wrapped up with last week's annual awards banquet, and all eyes are now on the next season.
Head coach Dana Lattery says he is very happy with the way that the team finished the year by advancing in the playoffs before ultimately being shut out by the Brooks Bandits, the eventual league champion.
"You ultimately set your goal to be a champion hockey team. Everybody but one will fall short of that," he said. "We made strides from the season before, and that's all we've ever said that we would do, is just keep making progression and building on the year before."
Lattery says making it into the playoffs and sweeping second-ranked Canmore was huge for their confidence, but at the end of the day, he believes the team's strength lies in what he calls their character in the dressing room.
"That's not something you can throw together overnight, that's something that takes time to build and to nurture," he said. "The guys believe in each other, they believe in what we are doing as a coaching staff, what we're doing as a group."
He went on to say that on any given night, any one of the players could be hailed a hero, and that the team doesn't just look to one person to lead the way.
"It's a committee of guys," he said. "Hockey is an extreme team sport. When there's 20 guys dressed every night and five guys on the ice at a time, you need to trust your people, and if you don't trust your people you don't have success."
While they may have a strong team culture, Lattery says it's also a young team, with only four players aging out this season, and they lack experience. Further, they fought with injuries during the season, which meant they came into playoffs short-handed on the back end.
"I truly believe that strong and healthy back there, we could have pulled together a lot more wins."
There's not much of a break for the coaching staff, as they are already back to the drawing board for next season. The team held its spring recruiting camp this past weekend (April 21-23) at the Sportsplex, where some 130 hopefuls from several provinces and even the U.S. showed up.
"We found some very high quality players that we have been recruiting all year," said Lattery. "I think they are going to make our team faster and a little more grittier, tougher to play against."
Short of the four players aging out, the bulk of this year's roster is expected to lace up again next fall, but one thing Lattery hopes to improve on going into next season is the team's speed throughout the whole lineup.
"That style of play we brought in playoffs, I want to see that all year," he said. "So in recruiting some players is finding guys that can bring that kind of a game."
The coaching staff has their eyes on about a dozen players, some of whom received offers after last weekend's camp, others who are younger prospects for the future. Lattery expects to begin naming new recruits over the next month as players make commitments to the team.
"I encourage them to go home and spend time talking to the people they confide in and find out if Olds is right for them," said Lattery. "As much as we want them, they have to want us, and there has to be a relationship for it to be successful."
