With an array of depth this season, Midget AAA Storm head coach Adam Manah says his goal for the year is to end the playoff drought.
“Things are looking good. Right now we’re optimistic that we’re going to be fairly competitive – I would say middle of the pack. We were close last year (18-15-7, 33 points – nine points out), but I think this team is going to be deeper than last year’s team, solely on the fact that we have seven ‘97 forwards (17-year-olds) up front and we have two returning defencemen as well,” said Manah, who joined the team in 2012.
“We also just got a goalie (Dakota Kenyon) from Lloydminster, who is more than likely to be our starting goaltender, so in terms of our depth, it’s going to be deeper and we’re looking OK.” ‘
Notables gone from last year include: goaltender Tallon Kramer (Whitecourt Wolverines), forward Jared McAmmond (Regina Pats), defenceman Schael Higson (Saskatoon Blades) and defenceman Rylan Yaremko (West Kelowna Warriors, BCHL).
Manah, who is also an assistant coach with the Grande Prairie Storm Jr. A squad, said getting Kenyon was a “steal of a deal”. Kenyon played in the AMHL last season with the Lloydminster Baker Hughes Bobcats who went 24-9-2 in the regular season, before losing in four games to the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs in the AMHL finals.
The Storm will also have Josh Perrott, named this year’s captain, as well as Ryan Hartman, Austin Hrehoruk, Trey Doell, Quinn Sobus, Carter Wolski, Landon Vollman, Christian Kenny and Brett Edwards.
“Those guys should be impact guys for us. Like I said, we have pretty good depth this year where we’re going to have a lot of impact guys,” said Manah.
“I would say, out of the previous two I’ve been here, this is shaping up to be the deepest year so far and we’re still getting calls from players that want to come here, so we’ve been able to establish the program and build it.”
Manah says the program has been gradually improving since he joined the team, noting the team has had 14-point improvements each season.
In 2011-2012, the squad had only two wins and a tie in 34 games for five points. A season later, the Storm finished with six wins and seven ties, for 19 points. The team then had 13 wins and seven ties last season in 35 games, finishing with 33 points.
“Hopefully this year, if we finish 14 points better than last year, we’ll be in a playoff spot. That’s what we’re looking at,” he said.
“(Reaching the playoffs) is the ultimate goal and I think this year’s team... we’re going to have a good shot at doing it. We were very close last year and I don’t see why we can’t be right there this year, now that some pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place.”
Manah said there’s a lot of talent in GPAC, and that the future looks bright for the Jr. A Storm.
“In terms of what (Kevin) Higo (Storm head coach) is going to see in the next couple of years, he’s going to be impressed with the hometown talent and there are some guys coming up that could fill a role on the junior A’s,” he said.
The squad played in six exhibition games between Sept. 12-21 in preparation for their season opener on Sept. 27 against the Sherwood Park J.Ennis Kings at the Crosslink County Sportsplex.
On Sept. 13, the Kings defeated the Storm 5-0 in exhibition play.
“We expect a hard-nosed team from Sherwood Park. They have a lot of speed and they can generate a lot of offence and they work hard,” said Manah.
“They’re going to be a tough team to handle. It’s definitely not going to be an easy game for us at all.”
Following their home opener, the team hops on a bus for a game against the Knights of Columbus Pats in Edmonton on Sept. 28.
Manah said his expectation is that the Storm will work hard on and off the ice.
“We just want to demand the work ethic. That’s going to be a part of our team identity, we want to be a hard team to play against. We want to hold the players accountable and bring our work boots every day and make sure we’re demanding good habits and that we’re getting better everyday,” he said.
logan.clow@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @DHTLogan
