The calendar may say it's early May, but that's not preventing the Cariboo Cougars from lacing up their skates later this week at the Elksentre.
The spring identification camp for Prince George's B.C. Major Midget League hockey team begins Friday afternoon and wraps up Sunday with a pair of intra-squad games.
"We'll have 100 kids (ages 15, 16 and 17) from Williams Lake north and all positions are open so we can pick our team," said Cougars general manager and co-head coach Trevor Sprague. "We'll give them some information so they can become familiar with our team and what they need to do for our August camp. They'll get an understanding of what it takes to be part of the Cougars."
It's the first time the Cougars, as well as the rest of their rivals in the MML, have held spring identification camps in their catchment areas at this time of year. That's because hockey academies in areas such as the Okanagan, Abbotsford, North Delta and North Vancouver have already held spring camps to identify potential players.
Parents of the players in the Cats' camp will also attend information sessions to get an idea of what's involved if their sons make the team.
The Cougars weekend-long sessions will also be a reunion of sorts for the team's cast of returning players.
On hand will be the likes of forwards Justin Almeida, Colton Thomas and Chase Dubois, defencemen Joel Patsey and Jesse Pomeroy and goaltenders Dorrin Luding and Griffen Outhouse, who helped guide the Cats to the prestigious Mac's Midget title in January as well as a first-place finish in the MML's regular season.
The Cougars lost the championship title to the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs in March.
"We want those guys (the returning players) to come in and show (the players in camp) what it's about," said Sprague. "It's a positive to see what these guys look like (after a year) and to get a measuring stick. It's more of a reflection of our league."
Twenty players won't be at this weekend's camp but will be at the Cougars' main camp in August.
Alumni coaches for this weekend include Steven Jandric, Zach Smith, Austin Gray and Todd Bredo, who were also on the squad last season.
Registration gets underway Friday at 3 p.m. followed by the first of four practices at 5:15 p.m.
The first intra-squad game is at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by the second game at 11:30 a.m. The information session is at 2 p.m. and the day wraps up with games at 6:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.
On Sunday, the intra-squad games are at 8 a.m. and noon.
The camp is open to the public.
