Yellowhead AAA Midget Chiefs begin pre-season

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Published on Thursday, September 17, 2015

Photo by Eoin Devereux. The Yellowhead Chiefs played in Brandon on Sept. 14. The Wheat Kings defeated the Chiefs 4-2.

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Banner

The countdown to the regular season is underway for the Yellowhead AAA Midget Chiefs.

Training camp for the club concluded on Sunday, Sept.13 and the team played its first exhibition game on Monday, Sept 14, a 4-2 loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings. Head coach Craig Geekie said there are still a few more decisions that have to be made to finalize the roster, so these early pre-season games are very important.

“[Monday night] was our first game. It’s a different pace out there compared to practice or intersquad games, so [the coaching staff] gets a better idea of what these players are capable of,” said Geekie. “We’ll have to make a few more cuts to the roster. It’s always a tough decision to make, but its part of the process of putting together the club for the upcoming season,” said Geekie.

The next action for Yellowhead is this weekend in Souris at the Southwest Cougar Tournament. Geekie said they will take a few extra players to the tournament for evaluation and should make their final roster decisions immediately after the tournament’s end.

“We play three games during the weekend. During those games, we, as a coaching staff, are hoping to see a strong effort, some hustle to the puck and a general sense of awareness from these players. The big thing will be for [the players] to get comfortable out there. For them to gel as quickly as possible with their linemates. You want to see them play together. Get to the point where they are comfortable with each other, because moving into the weekend in Souris, the level of competition will be a step quicker and it’s something we have to be ready for,” said Geekie.