Opening day nerves out of the way at Greyhounds camp

The jitters should be out of the way.

The Soo Greyhounds officially kicked off training camp Wednesday at the GFL Memorial Gardens in the unofficial first day of the new Ontario Hockey League season.

For Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis, the opening day was a chance to get those nerves out of the way and get some practice reps in before scrimmages start on Thursday.

“There’s always that element of guys are nervous or are just trying to see where they fit in,” Raftis said. “We challenged a lot of our returning guys to set the tone, which was good for the pace. When you’re looking at teams with 10 forwards and five D, there’s a lot of reps early. We tried to keep it as short as possible today because you want guys to get the equipment on, get a good feel for it, get a good sweat.”

With scrimmages on tap for day two of camp on Thursday, Raftis said the expectation will be higher.

“In a lot of those drills today, you’re starting to see that battle side of it,” Raftis said. “In a game, you want to see guys do what they do well. It’s key that you want to stand out and not be worried about making a mistake, but at the same time you put yourself out there and show what you can do.”

Coming off a busy summer, veteran defenceman Andrew Gibson called it a productive one.

“Putting on size while maintaining my speed (was important),” Gibson said of what he worked on through the summer. “Just getting more explosive and getting faster, being able to be 6-foot-3 and being able to keep up with the 5-foot-7 guys, that’s what you need to do nowadays.”

Arriving in Sault Ste. Marie early ahead of training camp, Gibson said he was excited to get back and rekindle the friendships he’s made in the Sault, not just with his teammates, but local friends as well.

“All the guys kind of chirp me and call me the local kid,” Gibson said. “I’ve formed a lot of friendships in high school and I came up a little bit early to spend time with those guys and my billets.”

The most notable absence on the ice on opening day was veteran forward Owen Allard.

Listed among the camp’s attendees, Raftis said Allard was slated to be in camp before attending a camp with his father, Shawn, who trains NHL players, later in the week.

The Greyhounds general manager added that the camp schedule moved up meaning the Greyhounds forward would miss the start of camp locally.

“There’s no issue of reporting,” Raftis said.

Camp also opened with a pair of fourth round picks from the 2024 OHL draft not in attendance in defenceman Harris Pangretitsch and goaltender William Camputaro.

Slated to play prep school hockey in the U.S. this season, Raftis said that an early start in the classroom was the reason for Pangretitsch’s absence while the early plan for Camputaro was to play in Jr. A, which meant the 16-year-old would remain with the Ontario Junior League’s St. Michael’s Buzzers instead of attending OHL camp.

The Buzzers have already begun pre-season play in the OJHL.

Camp continues on Thursday for the Greyhounds with scrimmages slated for 10 a.m., 2:30 p.m., and 7 p.m.