Grande Prairie Storm players begin development season at Revolution Place. Photo Credit: Shane Clausing

By Shane Clausing

Storm development camp

Storm kickoff development season with uncertainty in the air

Sep 1, 2020 | 4:34 PM

For the first time since early March, the Grande Prairie Storm are back on the ice at Revolution Place.

The last time the Storm were on the ice, the team had just dropped game six of their first round playoff series against the Spruce Grove Saints, just days before the AJHL season would come to an abrupt end because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With health protocols in place, AJHL clubs across the league were able to open what the the leagues calling a “developement season” on Monday.

Storm Head Coach and General Manager Mike Vandekamp says that he’s noticed that everyone involved at camp has had an extra jump in their step.

“The enthusiasm level is very high, everybody is excited to be back on the ice. Nobody’s played organized hockey since the middle of March, so to get back together and be able to get on the ice has been fun for everyone, including the coach who is in his 26th training camp,” Vandekamp chuckled

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“I”m just excited as anybody else to get back out there.”

With the developement season open for business, there are some slight differences this year compared to a regular AJHL training camp.

Rosters for all 15 AJHL teams have been expanded to hold a maximum of 50 players. Teams will be focused on practicing, inter-squad scrimmages and developing their players.

Vandekamp added that while being able to get on the ice is great, the loss of exhibition games for the time being will be tough to ignore.

“I think early on, exhibition games have always been the deciding factor when making your roster decisions.”

“We extended the length of camp, we are going to have more games in camp so we can hopefully make some decisions based on both the practices and games considering we don’t have exhibition games.”

The Storm’s camp lasts until September 11. From there, the development season roster will be cut down to around 23-25 players. Those remaining at camp will likely be the players that will play in a Storm uniform for the 2020-21 season.

“We’ll start (our season) on the 14th of September and get into the regular routine we would normally be on. Working with our team and trying to prepare ourselves for the start of the season, but you’ll start to really work as a unit and prepare.”

“Fingers are crossed that we’ll be able to take a step here and be able to start and take our group and play another group sooner than later, so we can start with some exhibition games and there’s hope on the horizon that’ll happen.”

Vandekamp mentioned that the entire team has their fingers crossed so that at some point soon, Alberta Health Services can hopefully give the green light and allow fans inside the building, so the regular season can begin.