Thunderbirds training camp day 1: Prospects on display

KENT – While the sunshine and warm weather still were in effect on Wednesday, hockey is back at the ShoWare Center in Kent.

The defending WHL Champion Seattle Thunderbirds kicked off this year’s training camp with a string of prospect scrimmages and some on-ice fitness testing.

The first two days of training camp are highlighted by the younger players. The 2001 and 2002 born players, both drafted or not, competed in a series of scrimmages under the watchful eyes of the Thunderbirds coaching and scouting staff.

Seattle’s veteran, returning players did make an appearance Wednesday, but only to take part in a grueling fitness test that left several players worn out, prone on the ice as they tried to catch their breath.

There was one notable absentee among the veteran groups as goalie Carl Stankowski was not in camp on Wednesday. The second-year player, who played every minute of Seattle’s run through the WHL playoffs last year, suffered an injury earlier in the summer while working out with Team Canada.

“He’s seeing a doctor Friday and will be late arriving to camp,” Seattle general manager Russ Farwell said of the absence.

Camp continues Thursday with more prospect scrimmages and practice sessions for the returning players.

Here are the highlights from Wednesday:

Payton Mount shines

Seattle’s first-round pick in this past spring’s WHL Bantam Draft stood out on Wednesday. The winger looks to be a fluid skater with tremendous speed and created chances in every scrimmage. He found the back of the net a few times as well.

In the day’s first scrimmage he scored a nice goal after weaving through and past a couple defenders to score. Later, he had the puck behind the net and worked it out front and into the slot where his wrist shot found twine. During an afternoon scrimmage he showed off his speed, outskating the defense to get in close and sweep the puck in for a goal.

He was on a line with 2016 draft pick Nakodan Greyeyes and the two of them showed some promising chemistry throughout the day.

Eric Fawkes has some strength

The big winger from Winnipeg says that he is not afraid to use the body down low and he showed that a few times on Wednesday. In the afternoon sessions he had one particular stand out shift where he possessed the puck behind the net and fought of a couple of defenders. That allowed him to work the puck out and around to his teammates, as his Blue Team had the opponent pinned into the zone for an extended amount of time.

He also showed that he has some sandpaper to his game as he got into a wrestling match with 2016 first-round pick Jake Lee.

Lee looks ready

Lee took part in the day’s competition and it felt funny that he was. After all, the rookie defenseman did appear in two games during last year’s Western Conference Finals, but he is only 16 so he was out there with the prospects.

He looked the part of a first-round pick as he lugged the puck out of the zone, played physical and even jumped into the offensive rush at times. Late in the day he carried the puck end-to-end on a rush and scored a goal for his Team Grey.

Tyrel Bauer is a big kid

Seattle’s 2017 second-round pick, Bauer, is a big defenseman who looked much older than the 15-years-old that he is. He scored a goal in the morning and in the afternoon was a physical presence showing that he’s not afraid to throw his weight around. Bauer isn’t eligible to play full time with Seattle until next year, but with Lee also in the fold, the Thunderbirds have some promising, young, defensemen in the pipeline.

Physical play the norm

When Matt O’Dette was hired as the Thunderbirds new head coach he talked about continuing the physical, in-your-face style of play that Seattle has been known for over the past few years. The prospects seem to have received that message.

There was a lot of hitting going on.

Two players who were in the forefront of the physical play were Cody Savey and Cade McNelly. The later raised some eyebrows last year in camp when he hit everything in sight and showed no fear, even against the older players.

The undrafted defenseman from Fort Saskatchewan was back at it on Wednesday. He’s a bit bigger this year but no less aggressive and continues to impress.

Savey was up for a couple of games with Seattle during the regular season last year and is a big, bruising forward. He threw his weight around all day and even scored a nice goal late when he looked off a defender on a two-on-one break.

McNelly and Savey eventually found each other on the ice and both delivered some big hits, which inevitably resulted in the two dropping the gloves in the afternoon for the camp’s first scrap.

Undrafted players stand out

Every year there are some camp invites who were not drafted by the T-Birds but end up showing well in the scrimmages.

On Wednesday, forward Charles Obobaifo was one of those guys. The compactly built 15-year-old from Alberta had a strong day, showing some deceptive speed and play-making ability. Listed at 5-foot-7, the Nigerian-born Calgary product could be a player to keep an eye on as camp progresses.

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