The Moose Jaw Warriors opened their 2023 training camp on Wednesday afternoon with the goal of driving their group of 75 players to their physical limit.
For veterans on the team, that annual battery of fitness tests is a chance to show how their offseason of hard work led to improvement and development. For the rookies, it’s often an eye-opening experience, and one that also gives a baseline for future testing.
And for everyone who took to the turf at YaraCentre, it’s the official start of the 2023-24 Warrior season.
“It's great to watch the kids and see how good of a summer they have had and the work they put in,” said Warriors general manager Jason Ripplinger while keeping an eye on the always-tough beep test. “When they come to the rink, you can tell how they how they look and you can tell that the kids have put in some time in the gym this summer.”
That’s the whole idea of the fitness testing system. At YaraCentre, players worked through the beep test -- an arduous series of back-and-forth sprints with a decreasing amount of time -- and went through a series of 40-metre sprints. Back at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, it was pull-ups, long jumps, bench press and other strength and stamina exercises, all designed to push players while showing where they are when it comes to physical development.
Scroll to the bottom of the story for video of Warriors prospect Ahmed Assaf winning his round of the beep test
Records are kept from year-to-year, so the Warriors staff have a gauge as to how youngsters are improving.
“That record gives us a good idea if they went up or down and which of the guys made a lot of improvements,” Ripplinger said. “That’s always exciting to see, the kids who put in the time and get better every year, it shows that they care about going into camp and that’s really important to us.”
Fitness testing isn’t a gamebreaker, but it’s also no coincidence that players who test well often play well and can take huge strides in their game from one season to the next.
“At the end of the day, it all comes down to what they do on the ice, but this gives us a look at where they are coming into camp,” Ripplinger said.
Ice sessions begin on Thursday with rookie camp practices a 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., followed by the first main camp practice at 12:30 p.m. and first rookie scrimmage at 4:30 p.m.
Friday will see the rookies scrimmage at 9 a.m., main camp practice at 11 a.m. and the final rookie scrimmage at 2:30 p.m. Fans can then check out some three-on-three action during the second main camp scrimmage at 5:30 p.m.
The Warriors will trim their roster to main camp numbers that evening, and things begin in earnest in that direction with a scrimmage at 9 a.m. Saturday, practices at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and a second scrimmage at 3:30 p.m.
Things wrap up Sunday with a practice at 10:30 a.m., followed by the Black White Intrasquad Game at 12 p.m.
All training camp action is at the Moose Jaw Events Centre and fans are welcome.
