Wolves have some big decisions to make at training camp

The hockey season is officially underway, as 50 players made their way to the Sudbury Arena on Thursday to kick off the Sudbury Wolves training camp.

It’s a time for rookies to prove, veterans to lead and for roster spots to be won.

The Wolves have openings across the board after going into rebuild mode in the off-season, so the coaching staff expects an intense training camp.

“Everybody is expecting a really competitive camp, because if you look at our roster, there are some holes to be filled,” said head coach Dave Matsos. “We expect everybody to come in with the frame of mind that they’re going to make this team.”

And the players, they expect the same.

“This year especially we have a lot of roster spots open, a lot of chances, and I think everyone is going to be bring their best effort out,” said Kyle Capobianco.

The focus will be on the future of the franchise — the young talent brought in through both the OHL Entry Draft and CHL Import Draft.

“These young guys are going to be pushing some veterans, and when it’s all said and done on Saturday, there’s going to be some tough decisions, but some players feeling pretty good about the decisions too,” said Matsos.

Barclay Branch, the Wolves' new general manager, will be keeping a close eye on the camp, as he will have to make decisions on both 16-year old players and overage players.

League rules state a team can only have four 16-year-old players at the start of the season, and can only play three overage players. The Wolves currently have five.

Cut time will come on the weekend, which Branch says is necessary for both the team and the players.

“Generally speaking, we want these decisions made as quickly as possible, because we want these guys to be in school right off the bat,” he said.

“If they’re not going to be with the Sudbury Wolves this year, we want them with the team they will be playing with. The earlier those decisions are made, the better. We don’t have an exact timeline to get those done, but our plan is to have those decisions made sooner rather than later.”

Starting fresh like the Wolves are, it’s going to take some time to see which players fit where.

“We just want to get through camp, we want to see with this collective group what we’ve got,” said Branch. “There is a lot of different elements that go into the makeup of a hockey team and we want to see who brings what component to the group.”

But one thing Branch did say about training camp was that hard work in camp will translate to the regular season.

“In my time in the league, our best training camps were followed by successful seasons,” he said. “You’re able to set the tone for not only expectations, but everything moving forward from here, that’s what we expect to do, and that’s hopefully the way things play out.”

The annual Blue and White game will go Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m., then it’s right into exhibition hockey as they have a home and home with North Bay beginning with a 2 p.m. Sunday game at the Sudbury Arena.