Open Tryout Camp Roundup

With three more games Sunday morning, followed by exit interviews with the coaching staff, the Owatonna Express Open Tryout Camp is now in the books. It was an enjoyable, albeit long, weekend at the rink, with a total of 15 games played between the 6 assembled teams of candidates. Somewhere in the vicinity of 30-40 players were asked to return for the Main Express Tryout Camp in July, and the rest will have to chase the dream somewhere else.

The 30-40 players that were asked back along with the tendered players, the draft picks, and some of the returning Express players will make up the 80 man roster for the Main Camp July 17-19 at the 4 Seasons Centre in Owatonna. From that group, the 2009-2010 Owatonna Express 25-Man roster will be chosen.

As is customary for the Express organization, the camp ran very smoothly. Thank you to the dozens of volunteers that pitched in their time, and a big thank you to Gayle Kozelka for keeping all of us volunteers fed throughout the weekend.

Camp Tidbits:

- Returning Express forward Zach Vierling made a surprise appearance at camp on Saturday. He made the drive down from the Twin Cities to get some off-season game action. He played 1 game with the White Team, and 2 games with the Black Team. He tallied 2 goals on penalty shots in his first game, both on nifty backhand shots.

- Sean Lipinski, brother of former Express player Matt Lipinski was in attendance for the second straight summer.

- Jake Suter, the son of legendary NHL player Gary Suter played with the White Team throughout the weekend. Gary Suter is a veteran of 17 seasons in the NHL, played in 4 NHL All-Star Games, won the Stanley Cup with the 1989 Calgary Flames, and played in the Olympics. Jake's cousin Ryan Suter is a member of the Nashville Predators, and his Uncle Bob Suter was a member of the "Miracle on Ice" 1980 USA Hockey Team.


See you at the rink.

--BK