Corner Brook - Speculation and hype go hand-in-hand with the beginning of a senior hockey season on the west coast.
This year in particular, it has reached a feverish, near-deafening pitch. Everyone wants to know who has signed who and what their favourite team will look like. The four Molson West Coast Senior Hockey League have put a lot of work into developing their rosters for the 2007-2008 season and it is time to put the rumours to rest.
The following is a look at the four senior teams and their opening weekend rosters before the season begins kicks off tonight when the Corner Brook Royals face off against the Deer Lake Red Wings in Deer Lake.
Corner Brook Royals
The Royals lineup is decidedly different this season. coach Rob French was tasked with recruitment and he said the key elements that have changed are firepower, youth and increased strength between the pipes.
The 2007-2008 Royals lineup includes forwards Darren Colbourne, Morgan Warren, Norm Batherson, Steve Hynes, Jeff Gillam, Adam Gear, Jeremy Bishop, Kirk Costello, Robbie Dunville, Michael White, Cyril Walsh, Richard Paul, while on defence it will be Chad Brandimore, Ashley Coles, Aaron Walsh, Chad Oake, Francis Mooney and Rodney George. Between the pipes will be Jeff Murphy, Mark Abbott and Jana Bugden. Steve North and Shawn Neary will be returning to the lineup later this year.
Bugden, the team's third goalie, is quite possibly the first woman signed to a senior league card.
French held back one name because he still wasn't sure if the player would be with the team tonight.
"We've added some scoring which I think we needed after last year," French told The Western Star before practice Thursday. "We have added some depth with Batherson. We have also some toughness up front with Richard Paul. Not necessarily in a guy who likes to throw his weight around, but it is something we have been lacking, a guy who is tough in the corners and likes to hit."
Young talent is the other feature of the lineup the coach is proud of.
"We saw last year with bringing Steve Hynes in how much of a spark that gave the team," French said. "It is something the team needed and it is a good mix with our veterans. Overall, we have added quality hockey players whose main focus is winning hockey games. We have the leaders who know what it takes to win."
Deer Lake Red Wings
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
The Red Wings have won the west coast league title three years in a row now and have basically kept their core together, while adding to their blue line to put a bit more weight behind their defence-first approach.
The forward corps will consist of player/coach Darren Langdon, Mark Robinson, Jeff Furlong, Paul Parsons, Jay Pilgrim, Ray Dalton, Jake Easton, Rob Robinson, Brian Barker, Chris Peach, Guy Langdon and Robert Walsh. On defence it will be Anton Mikhailov, Mike Lee, Scott Young, Brad Rice and Brian Sutherland, while Brad Wall will be back in the crease once again. Young goaltender Tyler Snow will back him up.
"I think the strength of any team lies in defence," said Red Wings' general manager Andy Brake. "The less goals that get scored on you, the less goals you have to score to win the game - that's always been our motto and will continue to be in the upcoming season.
"We haven't changed a whole lot, so people can expect somewhat the same style of play as last year from us," he added. "We feel we're good in all areas and we're very happy with where we are right now. We feel the team is improved from last year and a big reason why is the two defencemen (Sutherland and Rice) that weren't on our team last year who are quality guys that strengthen our team."
Brake said this weekend's home-and-home series with the Royals should be an exciting one for fans and players alike.
"We were a team that was pretty much folded three or four weeks ago and all of a sudden (tonight) is the season opener," he said. "To see the amount of people that came forward to give us their help in getting this thing back on the go... it's going to be a great night for us and I'm really looking forward to it.
"The Royals added some quality players and we're somewhat familiar with them, but a person's resume doesn't always represent what they offer - you're only as good as your last game," he added. "It's kind of a wait-and-see approach, but in saying that, we're not going to show up in our own rink looking at the Royals to see what they've got. Our intent will be to show them what we have."
Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts
The Cataracts will be looking to take a page from the classic Skid Row rock anthem 'Youth Gone Wild' as they take to the ice this year - the team features a high number of players between the ages of 20-24, which coach Barry Manuel hopes will add to the overall energy level of the squad.
Up front will be Trent Budgell, Mitch Oake, Jason Little, Paul Whelan, Mike Sibley, Mike Tulk, Chris Pittman, Tristan Manson, Brandon Nicholas, Nick Larcombe, Andrew Whalen, Chris King and Chad Kinden. The blueline will feature Brad Lewis, Mike Brent, Cory Mitchell, Barry Rice, Tyler Brown, Jason Compton, Scott Peckford and the returning Brian Grouchy. In goal, British Columbia native Jason Stone will be back as the starter, with former Central Junior Cataracts goalie Ryan Bradbury serving as the backup.
"We've got a lot of young guys there - I don't know what the average age of each team is, but I suspect we'd be the youngest," said Manuel. "So with that hopefully comes a lot of energy. We'd like to be a hard working team and a team that will put a lot of pressure on the puck and force teams into making plays.
"Stone proved last year he was one of the top goalies in the league and we'll need him to continue to play the way he was playing late last year in order to be successful," he added. "Our defence is a strength as well and Grouchy brings a lot of extra experience as well."
Manuel admitted his team could be at a disadvantage this weekend against the Clarenville Caribous, due to the fact the herd played a few exhibition games against the Conception Bay North CeeBee Stars.
"It's hard to say how that will play out over the course of this weekend, but we're not going to worry about that," he said. "Our goal is to go out there and bust our arses to give 110 per cent. We're going to have a full crowd there, so it's important for us to set the tone, not only for our fans, but for our teammates and each other to show we're not going to be fooling around this year when it comes to our work ethic.
"We recognize all the teams in this league are strong," he continued. "That was the case last year and the Caribous got a lot stronger as the season went on, so looking at the rosters of the other three teams, it looks like a good year for hockey fans."
Clarenville Caribous
No longer carrying the expansion team stigma, the Caribous are optimistic their second go-around in the senior league will bring more success than their first.
Dustin Russell, Mitch Bragg, Mark Chaplin, Brad Crann, Andrew Pearcey, Graeme Power, Dean Burton, Brent Power and Grant Kenny will make up the forward group for now, with Chad Fisher, Mitchell Goodyear, Gary Zinck, Jeremy Kavanagh, Curt Whalen and Andrew Hill on defence. Jason Churchill returns as the starting goalie, while former Mount Pearl Blades' goaltender Gary Dowden is the backup.
"I guess the biggest difference in our team is that we're much more balanced," said Caribous' representative Todd Brett. "We've got a solid third line this year that we never had last year and our defense is a lot better than last year. We only have two guys back that played defence for us last year (Fisher and Goodyear) and the other four guys are new.
"Last year our forwards had to concentrate on not only playing forward, but coming back and getting the puck a lot of the time," he added. "This year our defence should be able to move the puck to our forwards and that will be a bigger part of our game."
The return of Churchill is a relief to those who thought last season was a one-shot deal.
"We knew he had taken a year off from school last year and planned to go to school again this fall, which he has done, we just didn't know for sure where he was going to be," said Brett. "Right now he's in Halifax going to school, but we knew wherever he went he was going to play with us again if that was a possibility, so it worked out well for us."
The two-game set against the Cataracts should provide a good measuring stick as to how the herd has improved - they were bombed 11-0 by the Cataracts in their opening weekend last year.
"We're not the new kid on the block now so we can't use that excuse this time," Brett said.
"I don't suspect we'll be beaten 11-0 this weekend. If we do we're in trouble.
"I'm sure the Cataracts are going to have a very good team," he continued. "I'm sure they've done their homework and will be a handful for us. We'll give them a good game of hockey - all four teams are going to be good, strong teams this year and it should be fairly balanced. We can't wait to get at it."
League action begins tonight at 8 p.m. at the Hodder Memorial Recreation Complex as the Red Wings host the Royals. Both teams battle again at 8 p.m. Saturday night at the Pepsi Centre. The Cataracts host the Caribous at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night and 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon at the Joe Byrne Memorial Stadium.
