By Tyler Marr

Mintos have high hopes after weekend camp

Aug 21, 2017 | 5:00 PM

Coming off an overwhelmingly strong season despite a heartbreaking finish, the Prince Albert AAA Midget Mintos are eager to get back on the ice.

This weekend, the team held their recruitment camp looking to fill the roster for another year. A unique format was taken at the camp, mixing practices among skirmishes.

“We feel we have quite a few strong players to pick from and we are really happy with the guys that have come in,” head coach Ken Morrison said. “We have got some good young players in Prince Albert that are going to be either part of the team or soon to be part of the team, so we are excited about that.”

With the prospect some players graduating to the SJHL or even the WHL in the coming weeks, Morrison said it was very much a “guessing game” as to who will be returning to sport the green and gold. As such, he said it’s critical the team had a “plan B in case some of those guys move up.”

Overall, Morrison was pleased with everyone who showed up, hinting at plenty of speed and quality defence on the ice.

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“We are happy with all the effort that all the players put in and we are excited to get the year going,” he added.

Kyrell Sopotyk, 15, shared in this excitement, saying there was “plenty of talent coming into P.A.” this year. The young man was a left-winger for the Mintos last season.

“We have some size and some older guys which is good for experience. We have lots of leadership on our team,” he said. “That will be a strong part of the game.”

Both Sopotyk and 16-year-old Austin Lamotte are coming back to the team as second years and hope to act as leaders for the rookies.

“I want to step up and bring the team with us,” Lamotte said. “We have to show them the ropes and bring them up with us.”

Each shared another goal: Bringing home the Telus Cup. The Mintos playoff run was cut short during a double overtime battle with the Tisdale Trojans in March.

“The boys are looking good,” Lamotte said, with Sopotyk adding, “I think we have a really good group of guys and a really great chance of having a good year and going far in playoffs.”

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr