It turns into a quick weekend, but there’s a lot that comes of it for Ontario Hockey League teams.
For the Soo Greyhounds, development camp has become an opportunity for prospects to learn about the organization and set a standard after a long season.
The team kicked off their 2025 camp Saturday with practices and a scrimmage at the Northern Community Centre and it was a day that general manager Kyle Raftis said brought with it some nerves for the 39 players.
“It was good,” Raftis said of the opening day of camp. “Because of the constraints on how long we can have the players here, it's, it's a really long first day and I find when you're working with guys that are the first time here, eyes are pretty wide open. It’s definitely something that you can see the nerves. Some of the players, as the day went on, you could see a getting a little bit tired and they’re worn down.”
With the camp coming on the heels of the recently completed seasons for the players, Raftis added that the weekend continues to be about settling in with the organization as well.
“(You’re) not sure what their skating routines are at this time of year, but for us, obviously you’re evaluating,” Raftis said, “but at the same time, it’s more so for them to come and get used to the staff and meet everybody and meet each other too. A lot of these guys, we did interviews with them prior to the draft. We checked in with those ‘08’s throughout the year and it’s good to see them all on the same ice together.”
With an evening scrimmage on Saturday, Raftis added that players attempting to make plays instead of just making the safe play was a positive.
“Sometimes you see a lot more pucks bouncing off sticks or, guys just trying to make safe plays,” Raftis said. “A lot of guys were trying to make plays, which is good to see.”
“It’s something that I always find the second game is really a lot better when guys have the chance to kind of reset and get focused for it,” Raftis also said.
Raftis added that the expectation for Sunday’s scrimmage is in part “just setting a bar of where they’re at today.”
“When we’re talking about where guys are at, it’s more so building toward August,” Raftis said. “A lot of it is just trying to identify areas that we think they need to focus on to make it count. It’s one of those things, you can start to feel the sun coming out and summer’s coming, but it goes by quickly. It’s a good touch point for us and our staff to make sure that we get these guys the right guidance and make sure that everyone’s on the same page with their programs and how they’re going to build up their summers.”
This weekend’s camp saw 16 of the 17 players selected by the Greyhounds in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection in attendance with third round pick Trevor Daley Jr. being the lone player not in camp.
The team also has 14 players from the 2024 draft in camp along with both players selected in the 2025 U18 draft and seven free agents.
Rounding out the camp are returnees Carson Andrew and Brady T. Smith.
With fitness testing on tap on Sunday morning, the on-ice portion wraps up with a scrimmage at noon.