Benny Walchuk:
It’s time once again for the Melville Millionaires Coaches Show on GX94. We’re joined by Head Coach and GM Doug Johnson. Doug, training camp and the preseason are now behind you as you get set for the season opener this weekend. Overall, how pleased were you with how camp and the preseason went?
Doug Johnson:
I was happy with the effort everybody put in and really happy with what we have here. Some things didn’t go exactly as planned. We wanted to have a few extra forwards around, but some guys decided to go home early, while others were released from the Western League and decided to go back there.
Our older guys ended up playing more games than we wanted, but your best-laid plans usually go astray, and they did. The guys battled, competed and we saw what we needed to see. We’re very happy with our young guys and how they adapted.
Benny Walchuk:
Goaltending looks settled to start the season with Kaleb Page and Noah Kraus. You had a number of goaltenders in camp. What have you seen from that duo?
Doug Johnson:
Our plan was to have Preston Patenaude in there, but he’s dealing with some injuries and hopefully we see him back. When we knew Paddy was hurt, we had to go get somebody.
Kraus has been phenomenal for us. He’s going to be a legitimate player in this league and a guy who is going to open a lot of eyes. Page came in and did everything we wanted from a young guy.
There are a lot of good goalies, but we really like where we are right now. We see the growth Page can make and the stability Kraus will bring. For the first time in a few years, our goaltending position is settled right from the start, and it’s only going to get better.
Benny Walchuk:
On the back end, you have a mixture of four 20-year-olds and four rookies. How do you feel about that group led by Louis Nadeau, Brodie Hicks, Kiel Schmalz and Riley Craigen?
Doug Johnson:
We really like our back end. I told the young guys yesterday that last year, by the end, every player we had had played a year of junior. So my patience at times may be a little thin because there is a huge learning curve.
Those four veterans are Mr. Reliable. Nadeau, Hicks, Craigen and Schmalz can all play big minutes and do everything right. They’re going to be our security blanket, but we really like these young guys too, and they all bring something different.
Budgie and Volker are similar, maybe a little undersized, but they’re thicker kids who move the puck incredibly well and will be running power plays in the future.
Rylan McConnell is going to be like Brodie Hicks, mean and nasty, but very solid defensively. Cohen Champagne can shoot the puck like nobody we’ve had on the back end during my time here, other than maybe Payton Kostyshyn. He can really help us on the power play and in transition, and there’s a nastiness to his game as well.
We really like where we’re at, and those four young guys are only going to get better every day.
Benny Walchuk:
Up front, you’ve got a good mixture with some of your top-end scorers returning. You wanted to bring back some more players, but had to make some decisions. How do you feel about the forward group?
Doug Johnson:
Anytime you can return a Kale Margolis and a Rylan Oatman, you’re ahead of the curve offensively. Then you add a full season of Preston Baerwald and Leo Jewitt, along with the growth of Jaden Kokosha and Wesley Olson.
That’s a great start. Then you add the pieces we brought in, Isaiah Bagri, Cole Brown and Hudson Closson.
The young guys have been impressive too. Parker Salisbury may have been our best player throughout camp, and he’s only 17 years old. He’s going to be a beast in this league.
Deegan Petruska is another kid not many people saw. He’s dealing with some injuries, but he’s a clone of Kokosha and Grady Carmichael. Bennett Macek is a big left winger who is going to get better and better as the season goes on.
We also added a forward out of the U.S. in Siebert, and I think he’s going to really impress.
We need to get healthy and get a few things sorted out, but we’re in a great spot and really looking forward to playing.
Benny Walchuk:
You get things started this weekend with a home-and-home against Weyburn. It’s probably nice to finally get going for real, especially against a division rival.
Doug Johnson:
You never know what you’re made of until you’re playing games for real. Everybody can do things in exhibition because the two points aren’t on the line.
Now there’s more pressure, expectations and accountability. How do the young players deal with that? How do the older players handle their new roles? Everybody is bumping up a little bit, so there’s more pressure on the older guys.
The expectations and accountability for the young guys are going to change from their previous stops, so I’m looking forward to seeing how they handle it.
We’re very excited about this group. We think we’ve filled a lot of the holes we wanted to fill, and there’s an opportunity for us to do some special things here in Melville this year.
