SASKATOON - It may be the end of April heading into May, but the sport of hockey was still on the minds of both players and coaches as attention focused to what may be forming for next season.
On Saturday, April 26, the Outlook Mainline Ice Hawks of the SJFHL hosted a spring training camp that was open to any and all female players who were interested in maybe joining the team.
Taking place at the Canlan Sports Agriplace in the north end of Saskatoon, the daylong camp gave players a chance to see what playing with the top-ranked Outlook squad would be like later this fall and explored the qualities of new players that coaching staff were looking for.
Ice Hawks head coach Josh Houseman liked what he saw during the camp and said they were looking to help develop the skills of burgeoning players.
"It's going really well," said Josh. "We got a good turnout and it's nice to see everybody working hard, so it's going good so far. We're just focusing on some skill development and getting a good look at some of the younger players that aren't quite ready for the league yet, and kind of looking towards our fall roster and just having a good ID camp."
Throughout the day, Houseman was glad to see new faces come through who were interested in making the team.
"We have lots of new players this year interested in coming into the league and onto the team," he said. "So, it's nice to see the interest in everybody wanting to play and the league growing, and really good to see the program evolve."
This past season, the Ice Hawks produced an impressive win/loss record that shot them to the top of the league in stats. However, matched up against the Regina Rebels, they were unsuccessful in their journey to the league's Bourgault Cup as Regina defeated Outlook to take the top honors.
Coach Josh says the plan is for the team to remain focused on the future and stick to what they're doing, as fans can see that it got them that far.
"I think we just stay focused on what we're doing," he said. "I think we're doing a good job of the program and just trying to develop as much as we can and stick with the plan that we've had. We showed some success last year, and I think we just continue that trend and hopefully we're there at the end again."
Houseman says the culture of the team is what makes the Ice Hawks so successful, with the roster operating as a true unit with an emphasis on the word 'team'.
"I think our culture is good," he said. "I think we're just running a good program and having good people involved at all levels from the board and the town and the players. We've tried to create a really good culture in Outlook and I think that's important. I think it shows on the ice."
