Tryout Camp Preview

First of all, here's the People's Press article about Coach Fink leaving for the USHL: http://www.owatonna.com/news.php?viewStory=108085 . Make sure you read the whole thing, as there is some good stuff towards the end. Namely:

- Coach Cullen claims he does not have anyone lined up for the assistant coach position yet.

- All-Big 9 Conference forward Devon Grossell, from Winona, is scheduled to be at camp this weekend

- Express forward Cory Thorson apparently confirmed to the OPP that he will be returning to the Express for the upcoming season. Pretty much everybody paying attention already knew this, so it's not necessarily breaking news.


On to new business

Tryout camp starts Friday morning at the 4 Seasons Centre in lovely Owatonna, Minnesota (The 97th best small town to live in in America, according to Money Magazine. Read that article here: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2009/snapshots/PL2749300.html .

Around 80 prospective players will check in Friday morning and be divided into 4 teams. Those teams will each play twice on Friday, and once Saturday morning, before the first round of cuts. The remaining players will then play two All-Star games, one Saturday evening and one Sunday morning. One more round of cuts will give us the final 25-man Owatonna Express roster. Although don't count on seeing that list until September.

The players trying out this weekend are from several groups. There will be a handful of returning veterans from last year, the Express draft picks from May's NAHL Entry Draft, the 7 guys that signed tenders with the Express, and the 30-40 guys that were invited based on their performance at Open Camp back in June. I would guess that there will also be some guys that don't fit into any of those groups, but were invited to camp nonetheless. We'll find out a great deal about the 2009/2010 Express this weekend, just by seeing who shows up for camp.

- Returning veterans - Just because you don't see a guy from last year's team this weekend doesn't mean he won't be back this year. Conversely, just because you see a guy here this weekend, doesn't necessarily mean you will see him this fall in an Express sweater. Some veterans need to earn their spot on the roster, while some earned their roster spot by their performance last season and might be in camp just for the ice-time. Check in tomorrow for more details.

- Draft Picks - Brown, Dolan, Haeg, Matejcek, Miller, Montgomery, O'Leary, Olson, Sarig, Yanis, Youso. I wouldn't expect to see all of these guys, but a majority should be in camp. Olson and O'Leary are currently on 25-Man USHL rosters so will they bother to attend?? The guys I am most interested to see are the 2 guys who were in the USHL last season: Youso and Dolan. They have the potential to play huge roles with the Express this season, and their attendance at tryout camp would tell me they might be hopping aboard the Express train.

- Tendered players - I know the identities of the 7 tendered guys, but am not at liberty to divulge that information at this time. It is a tremendously talented group of hockey players, including a couple of names you will recognize. I would expect most if not all 7 guys will be in attendance this weekend. This group will play a key role in the ultimate success of the 2009/10 season.

- Invitees from Open Camp - If you attended Open Camp back in June, you can probably guess a bunch of the guys that fall into this group. I haven't seen the list that was invited to Main Camp, but we'll find out Friday morning.

- Others - This category is speculation on my part. There have been a lot of tryout camps for a lot of teams, in a lot of different leagues this summer, and sometimes those camps overlap on the same weekend. So maybe guys are interested in playing here, but were tied up during Open Camp. Guys plan on making a USHL team, but fall short. Guys who played in the USHL last season and planned on that again, get cut and now have to look at finding a spot in the NAHL. This could be a very interesting category. I'll let you know if there is anything to it.


No matter who shows up this weekend, there will be a lot of talent on the ice. I realize the weather is absolutely beautiful, but take some time this weekend to stop in and see some hockey. FYI to anyone coming down from the metro area or areas north of Owatonna: I-35 is down to one-lane through Faribault due to construction. This area tends to be very congested on weekends. Plan accordingly.

See you at the rink.

--BK