The ice in the arena is back in and that can only mean one thing. Hockey is back.
The AAA Yorkton Harvest had it a couple of weekends ago and the Yorkton Terriers are on it this weekend.
Jeff Odgers, the former NHLer with several different clubs including the Sharks and Thrashers, will be back for his second year behind the bench of the AAA Harvest.
He said it was a good weekend for the shaping of the team to take place however, like most other Midget and Junior leagues, nobody knows where anybody is going to go until the season officially gets underway.
"It was a good turnout," he said over the phone, before adding that for someone well inside the hockey circles, including having at least one son up with one of the Western Hockey League tryout camps, hockey never really ends.
"No, it doesn't end," says Odgers on a phone call from Swift Current.
"We (the Harvest) have four guys away at Junior camps."
One of them, Tanner LeSann, is not expected to be wearing AAA Harvest colours this season. Odgers noted that if he isn't fitting into the WHL somewhere, he's likely going to be dressing in the SJHL with the Terriers.
Another stud from last season, one of the few players in the line-up to record a multi-point night, Jake McMillen, is looking good with the North Battleford North Stars.
The North Stars, like the Terriers, will also be holding their tryout camp over the Labour Day weekend.
Odgers told Yorkton This Week there is a good chance that McMillen will not be back, either.
He said it's hard to determine where the team's strengths will be right now, since the status of most of the players isn't known.
DATES
The players who do remain in town will be playing here on two nights next month as the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League opens the exhibition season.
On Sept. 14, Yorkton welcomes the Regina Pat Canadians to town and four nights later, it will be one of the two Notre Dame teams skating into town. Both clashes go at the Farrell Agencies Arena in Yorkton. Game times have yet to be determined.
