The Silverbacks coaching staff are optimistic about the coming season.
Less than a week from the beginning of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks pre-season training camp, the team is preparing to finalize their roster and size-up the competition with four exhibition games.
Scott Atkinson, the Silverbacks new head coach, says there is a good solid plan in place for the training camp and he is happy with the players they have coming in. Training camp begins Aug. 21.
Atkinson is currently busy coaching for the Salmon Arm Elite Hockey School, which the Silverbacks purchased in May.
Coaching for the hockey school has also given Atkinson the opportunity to get to know the handful of Silverbacks players who are helping coach at the school.
“It’s good for me to get to know them as soon as possible and the more time you put in with guys, the quicker you know them,” he said.
Atkinson says he has spoken to every incoming player on the phone and also had the opportunity to meet more than half of the roster face to face.
Coaching for the hockey school has also given Atkinson the opportunity to begin working with the rest of the coaching staff, including David Killip, a new addition to the staff who is no stranger to the team.
Killip played for the Silverbacks from 2008 to 2011 and was captain during the 2010/2011 season.
“I just met him about a week ago but we’re getting to be fast friends because we’re working together day and night kind of thing right now. That’s sort of what it’s going to be like in the future so it’s going very well,” Atkinson said. “We’re lucky to have him – he’s a very keen intelligent young man.”
The Silverbacks will begin the 2017/2018 season with an exhibition game on the road against Merritt on Aug. 23. It will be Atkinson’s first opportunity to coach the Silverbacks in a game and his first game coaching in the BCHL.
“I do trust Brooks Christensen and Troy Mick’s assessment of the team. They feel that we’ll be in a stronger position than last year and we’ll have a good opportunity to compete well in the league. I don’t have any reason to doubt that,” he said.
Atkinson says he will use the four exhibition games the ‘Backs will play to begin sizing up the competition and trimming down the training camp roster to the final team of 22 or 23 players. He said there were 50 players joining the team for the beginning of the training camp, but many would be cut following the practice and three inter-squad games the day before the first exhibition game.
“I would say that in the first week there we’ll at least get down to below 30 and the rest of training camp and the exhibition season we’ll obviously get down to 22 or 23,” he said.
“That’s the nature of the beast – it’s a competitive situation.”
Returning Silverbacks veterans from last season will be joined by players from camps the team held in Colorado and California, and those acquired through trades in the off season.
The first opportunity for fans to watch the ‘Backs play at home will be on Aug. 26 when they face off against the Vernon Vipers in their third exhibition game. The Silverbacks also open the regular season at home against the Vipers on Sept. 8 for the home crowd at the Shaw Centre.
