With the first set of cuts on the horizon two days of practices and scrimmages in the books, Soo Greyhounds coach John Dean wants to see one thing from the 52 players in camp.
“More of the same.”
“The number one trait of a good team is consistency,” Dean added. "If you come in and have two good days out of three, it’s good, but it’s not great.”
Following a late-afternoon scrimmage on Wednesday, Dean and general manager Kyle Raftis both spoke of being pleased with the pace of day two.
“Right from this morning, we had practice, and I was really happy with the pace,” Dean said. “Clearly a higher pace than yesterday, and understandable so with the difficult day they had yesterday. It carried through the entire day.”
“Guys were really competing,” Raftis added. “The young guys are trying to make a name themselves. No one is backing down from anyone. It’s been pretty physical too, but at the same time high-pace and a lot of skilled plays happening.”
Coming off a 2022-23 season that saw them miss the playoffs, Raftis spoke prior to the opening of camp about the potential impact needed from players like Justin Cloutier and Marco Mignosa heading into the new season.
“With that group, to be fair to them, they joined the OHL after not playing hockey for a year,” Raftis said. “They missed a lot of hockey coming in and you’re trying to put them in situations where they’re going to be successful. Now it’s a spot where you don’t want to have to hide those guys in your lineup. You want them to be in situations where they’re pushing for more instead of having to find a way to cut them back.”
Raftis added that the team hopes a player like Cloutier can build on a second half last year that saw him score 11 of his 16 goals in the second half of the season.
Similarly, Mignosa scored seven of his 10 goals after Christmas.
“For guys in that 18-year-old group, you want them to keep pushing up the lineup,” Raftis said.
Asked Wednesday about the pair, Dean credited the play of both players through two days of camp.
“Clouter’s been extremely consistent,” Dean said. "His drive is pretty obvious. He’s always been like that, but there’s a real big confidence there now with him. He’s got a swagger about him that I think’s different than the last two years. He’s ready to be someone that sets an example. He’s really latched on to some really good role models over the last two years. Now it’s going to be his turn to be in that role and he’s taken that job on quite nicely.”
“Miggy looks like he has another gear, which I think is really important for him,” Dean said of Mignosa. “It looks like his first three steps have gotten quicker. He’s back to putting pucks in the net. It looks like no-doubters when he shoots the puck. Last year for him, unfortunately, some bad luck snowballed into some more bad luck and it became a hurdle that he had to get over and it looks like he’s jumped over that nicely this summer.”
Additionally, Raftis said the two players, among others, have shown some development as camp has moved on.
Training camp scrimmages resume on Thursday morning (11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.) with cuts expected following the evening scrimmage.
The annual Luke Williams Memorial Red/White game is Friday night.