Looking for the next Kings

Times Editor

 

For the first time in franchise history, the Wheatland Kings hosted a rookie tryout camp April 3-5 in the hopes of finding their next crop of players.

The local junior-B team hosted 36 midget-aged players who were looking become fulltime Kings either this coming season or next.

According to Kings head coach and general manager Doug Murphy, the camp is designed to get the players accumulated to the junior level.

“It lets the guys go out and use the half visor (for the first time) against players their own age,” said Murphy. “It lets us review the players and give us a gauge as to where those players (are).

“The purpose is to get those guys to know us – there will be a bunch of them that we will be asking to comeback to the camp in the fall.”

According to Murphy, there are at least a dozen players at the camp that he thinks can slide into the lineup in the very near future.

The team purposely kept the numbers small to make two teams, rather than a cluster of players who don’t have a realistic shot at making the squad.

Murphy added that most junior-A camps take place on the weekend, so they decided to go with a weekday camp to attract the players who will attend both levels.

“It gives the guys the opportunity to get ready for a junior-A camp that they may be going to,” said Murphy. “It (also) gives them another opportunity to go to another camp.”

Even though a lot can happen between now and the new season, Murphy said the camp was a useful tool for the team.

“It went really, really good. There’s probably 10 really, really strong prospects and we’re really impressed with a couple of guys off the midget Tier 1 team,” he said. “The camp really helps us get our name out there and it helps players and parents see what our organization is like.”