The Delisle Chiefs will get their pre-season underway tonight when they head to Saskatoon to face-off against the Royals.
The Prairie Junior Hockey League has seen 8 games played so far this pre-season, as the Chiefs know they are off to a late start. That shouldn’t be a big deal this year as the team is an experienced one according to Head Coach and GM Eric Ditto.
“Just waiting on more guys to come down from Junior A teams. Guys busy with harvest and everything. We just decided we were comfortable going a bit later than any other teams.”
Kylen Taphorn, Troy Joyce, and Adam Horner are some of the teams new forward additions. The Chiefs busy off-season paired with returnee’s like Chad Westman has Ditto excited.
“We know on our back-end we have 5 top end returning defenseman,” said Ditto, “Starting goalie we have coming back, and we signed another 18 year old goalie who we know is going to push for the starting spot as well.”
The lack of exhibition action is a sign that the team is confident things should click. These three upcoming games before the regular season opener aren’t as much for extra looks as it will be fine tuning play for the veteran players. Still, that doesn’t mean that every spot is cemented in.
“We have some guys still fighting for spots, but typically we would have more of an open camp and advertise our camp a little bit more. This year we didn’t end up doing that because we didn’t need a whole lot of extra guys coming out.”
Another reason for this is because the Chiefs had their eyes on some Junior A talent that is now finally making their way to Delisle after cut day.
“Ediger and Heintz coming down from Nipawin is another reason for going a little bit later,” Ditto explained, “You know these Junior A teams are going to get down in numbers, and the guys that expected to be up there are looking for some teams.”
The Chiefs will then be home at the Delisle Centennial Arena this weekend for two games before their first regular season action and home opener on October 2nd against the Royals. A 7:30 puck drop is set for Saturday, September 24th, and then a 5:00 game the next night out as Delisle takes on Fort Knox Sunday.
Tue, Apr 23, 7:00 PM
