September may seem like a long way away but the Yorkton Harvest AAA hockey team was on the ice all weekend getting ready for next season.
They picked a perfect time to hold their hockey camp. The night before camp opened at the Farrell Agencies Arena, it snowed like crazy.
With the season long in the books following their first-round playoff loss to the Mintos of Prince Albert, well over 100 prospects ignored the horrible weather conditions over the weekend to vie for their chance to make next year's Yorkton Harvest.
Six teams of prospects took to the ice on the weekend, most of them from out of town, with a few faces from last season including Gage Rapitta and Levi Cable.
Newly-named head coach Jeff Odgers told the paper that he clearly liked what he saw during scrimmages Saturday afternoon.
Players came to Yorkton from various other centres such as Regina, Humboldt, Estevan, Weyburn, LaRonge and even as far away as Flin Flon, he said.
He said the Harvest scouting team has a wide range of areas with potential players and getting them all to come in isn't easy, he said.
"You can only cover such an area during the season."
Odgers said he is faced with the task of replacing as many as seven forwards from last year's team as well as some defencemen.
The camp included a handful of games involving prospects and Odgers said the showcase of skill was pretty good but added that it's hard to suggest what the team will look like when the team is ready to hit the ice again next season.
"It's been very good. I'm very impressed. You get to look at all the kids."
While the decisions to make cuts are ultimately up to him and his coaching staff, he said nothing is harder then when it comes to making those cuts.
This is his first season holding the spring skate with the Midget AAA level, he said.
His last experience making cuts came when he coached at the Bantam level, suggesting that the competition is quite a bit better.
