It’s going to be an intense, hard-hitting affair right from the get-go as Weisgerber and his staff look to get a feel for just what they’ll have heading into the new Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League season this fall.
Needless to say, it’s been a busy two weeks since the former WHL Warriors assistant took over from former head coach Ray Wareham, with planning and preparation the order of the day leading up to this weekend’s festivities.
“It’s really good,” Weisgerber said when asked about the transition. “The last two weeks have been really busy getting ready for camp and we’re just finalizing putting teams together, getting jerseys out. We start (Saturday) at 8 a.m., so we’re just getting everything ready to go for when the kids show up here.”
The Generals are coming off two seasons where they were unable to make the playoffs, with the team’s focus now on getting back to postseason as quickly as possible. That means putting players to the test from the beginning, including this weekend.
“It’s going to be a little different than most spring camps,” Weisgerber said. “We’re obviously going to be looking at the returning kids that are coming back from last year to see how they’re going to do and if they’re going to fit into the new team that we’re putting together and obviously new kids that we have coming in.
“So it’s going to be a competitive camp, we’re going to let the kids know right from the get-go that and we need to pick a team out of this camp… I hope they’re ready to go and we can at least get a good core of kids picked out of the weekend.”
Just over 100 players from throughout Saskatchewan will take part in the event, beginning with registration Saturday morning and ice sessions all day until 8 p.m. before resuming Sunday at 9 a.m. and running until 3 p.m.
“We’re obviously looking to have a competitive team here, I’m sure everyone is every year, but we definitely want to come out of the gate running,” Weisgerber said. “The team that we put together will be able to compete, and every night is going to be a battle for teams coming in here.”
