Happy campers as Bruins hit the ice

All eyes on #1 bantam draft pick Kevin Sundher

Darren McDonald, Chilliwack Times

August 24, 2007

Darrell May is smiling.

For that matter, smiles stretch across a lot of faces inside Prospera Centre this weekend, because the Chilliwack Bruins are back--and so far, everyone's a diamond in the rough that is the Bruins annual Western Hockey League training camp.

Camp kicked off with a couple of practices Thursday morning, leading to a rookie scrimmage at 11:30 a.m. with the main attraction being Kevin Sundher, the Bruins' number-one (seventh overall) pick in this year's Bantam draft.

Listed at 5' 11" and 170 lbs., the easy-skating centreman wasn't hard to spot. Wearing a rare clear plastic full shield, the 15-year-old cradled the puck like an old friend deep in his opponent's zone and didn't shy away from the crease when extra traffic was needed.

Last year the Surrey native notched 77 goals and 96 assists in 66 games with the Burnaby Winter Club's AAA Bantams. As a WHL under-ager, he's eligible for only a handful of games, much like Ryan Howse's situation last year.

"You can certainly see the skills and the speed that he has," May offered from a top-row seat.

With close to 80 skaters to peruse over the four-day camp, the affable roster boss wasn't ready to name any surprises--good or bad.

"This is early; everyone's trying to get their legs going and see where they fit into things. As we go through the weekend the cream will certainly rise to the top," he said.

"At least I hope so."

Most rookies are skating on either Team Grey or Team Red. Veterans are divided into Team Black and Team Gold, with a few 16- and 17 year-olds thrown in to fill for players who couldn't make camp. Meanwhile, some vets won't be around for very long. NHL camps are calling Oscar Moller (Los Angeles Kings); Mark Santorelli (Nashville Predators); Matt McCue (Minnesota Wild); and Josh Holden (Edmonton Oilers). Departed captain Josh Aspenlind was recently invited to the Detroit Red Wings camp. May seemed especially pleased Aspenlind's efforts didn't go unnoticed.

"He had a great year and certainly earned himself a tryout in Detroit."

At any camp, at any junior level, coaches and GMs say no roster spot is guaranteed. While that's a stretch, it's certainly safe to say a handful of Bruins veterans face uncertain futures.

"We have a lot of guys battling for some spots," May confided.

"I think it's wide open...I think what we have this year what we didn't have last year is depth."

w May expects to make his first cuts Saturday night, with more before and after the zenith Black/Gold intersquad game Sunday at 5 p.m.