Ahead of the 2025-26 season, the Winkler Flyers got back onto the ice, bringing a mix of veterans and newcomers together for a camp that head coach Matt Melo was very happy with what he saw.
"It's obviously a very exciting time," the bench boss says with a big smile. "Good to get everyone back together, back in town, good to see some of the guys that we committed to, and have them acclimate with our group. There was a wide wide of different age groups, and prospects that we're looking to add to our group, and see the vision for the future, as well. Was good to see guys who surprised, and guys who are fighting to earn a spot with our group this year, and very good to have the familiar guys back together."
Why have camp now?
When it comes to why the Flyers had camp so early this year, Melo says it's multi-layered. "For us, we wanted the opportunity to see some guys early, prior to them going off to CHL camps. That was the biggest reason. Take a guy like Max Lajoie, we had him on the roster last year, we didn't see him or get him back until the second week of September, or something like that. So, this was an opportunity to see guys early, and start to build a relationship with guys before they head off to different CHL camps. With no draft, maybe a little more of an opportunity to not compete with different teams having camps on the same dates later on. We were excited to have a group of four teams, high quality competition, those are the main reasons why we had camp when we did."
New vets, same message
It's very early, but Melo says the older guys interacting with the younger guys is a positive. "I think it's good. I don't put too much stock into things, it's (early August), after all. We have a standard here, an expectation that the guys returning set early. We don't have the Brody Beauchemin's, the Jayce Legaarden's, the Nick McKee's of the world, and that's not mentioning our d-core, that we did have returning last season. Now, it's a cool opportunity for our guys, Kam Thomas, Liam Carlone, starting to establish for the young guys coming in, what it is to be a Winkler Flyers. Not putting too much stock in performance or play this early, but it's great to see the veterans take that role."
Excited for names to become players
As a team builder, Melo says it's always great when guys go from being a name on a white board, or someone only seen in video, to actually in front of his eyes. "It's obviously one of the best times of the year. It's what I really love, and get really excited about. Same with the rest of our staff. For me, I think I'm most excited to see some of the surprises, guys that really impressed with where their development is. There were guys that really improved significantly, and might even be ahead of where we thought their development would be at this point. Those guys are exciting, and I think the other piece is just having the chance to build relationships with young players, and their families. You meet them in person, you get to know their different personalities, and the way they carry themselves. The relationship piece is another reason why I really love to do this, so the opportunity to connect with young players and their families is always exciting. The season is right around the corner. This is a really cool time of year for our group, and it's awesome to be back."
Coming up next
Going forward, Melo says they have a plan as they get closer to exhibition season. "We've got our hockey school coming up next Monday, so we're focused on providing a really good experience for the young athletes, players in our community, so that's kind of what's next. We'll jump into a training camp, that's what we're calling it, just at the end of the month, so that's where we expect guys who impressed, or made an impression at our main camp this weekend, that's where we expect them to continue that progression, and earn a spot. For the most part, we'll have guys that we committed to, but there will be another group of players that we thought did exceptionally well at camp, and that we want to continue to give opportunity to, and maybe bump somebody out. It'll be our group with another core of players that have done well to this point, so we have another stretch of great things coming up over the next few weeks here."
Winkler Flyers fans are encouraged to keep an eye on the teams social media for camp schedules, and all are welcome to attend intersquad games.