Photo Courtesy EverythingGP Staff

By Tanner Smith

Local Sports

The Grande Prairie Storm are gearing up for their first ‘normal’ season in two years

Aug 30, 2022 | 2:20 PM

The Grande Prairie Storm is officially opening up their pre-season this evening with a 5:00 p.m. match-up today (Tuesday, August 30) against the Sherwood Park Crusaders.

General Manager of the Storm, Mark Bomersback, says he is excited for this year to get underway, and can’t wait to have the fans back in Bonnett’s after missing their energy the past two seasons.

“It’s huge, obviously you look at this facility and you look at the fan support we can get here, it’s one of the best in the league if not the best, and I think that comes with winning games.If we win games and we’re a good hockey team, there’s going to be a lot of people here, and the kids feed off that and the more the better.”

The Storm went through some diversity this off-season, adding ex-NHL Head Coach Bill Peters, Captain Nathan Bierd left for post-secondary studies, and added a new Head Coach in Eric Thurston.

Thurston spent the last four seasons with the Drayton Valley Thunder as the Head Coach and General Manager and wants to implement his coaching style into the teams culture.

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“But I use the terminology ‘playing on our toes’ so we’re aggressive in the defensive zone, we move pucks quickly and attack and that’s going to be our M.O, (motto) and if we can put that in place, I think we got great goaltending that’s going to go a long way. Our defense is going to be quick and move the puck and our forwards are going to be there, but our biggest thing is going to our culture.”

Thurston says he is very excited to get the ball rolling here in Grande Prairie, adding they have a young group that they want to support and mold into the best players possible, not just here in Grande Prairie but where ever hockey takes them.

“As coaches, we bring the energy, but we get it off the players as well and I think their truly excited. I saw the practice and I had a tough time wiping away the goosebumps, cause I saw the speed and I saw the tempo but I also saw the smiles on their faces, and we know what work can be like but it’s so important to go out and have fun.”

He says “if every game was life or death, we would die a lot.”

Thurston added it’s not about belittling players or bag skates to get their best, you need to create trust.

Thurston also wants the team to get out in the community more with no more public health restrictions holding them back, and believes the best place to start is getting the players into schools.

The Storm is looking to make a push to get back to the playoffs this season, after not making the cut last year, in the 2021-2022 season.