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Will Harrison lugs the puck Thursday at Wheat Kings rookie camp. (BRUCE BUMSTEAD/BRANDON SUN)
The Brandon Wheat Kings have a shortage of forwards right now, and Taylor Cooper and Ryley Lindgren tried to make a case for spots on Thursday at rookie camp.
Cooper scored three times and combined with Lindgren and Mackenzie Bauer for 12 points during a scrimmage on Thursday afternoon. Cooper and Lindgren were then placed on a line with Jason Miller for an intrasquad game that night and Cooper responded with one goal and one assist while Lindgren picked up a helper in Team Gold’s 5-3 win.
The key to their offensive prowess was simple.
"We don’t play with those guys all winter, so we’re talking," Lindgren, a 16-year-old forward from East St. Paul, said. "This is my third camp thus far and we’ve met all the guys. We have some chemistry going, especially Cooper and Bauer the game before. We were talking on the ice and putting pucks on net and going to the net hard and things just worked out."
Colton Waltz, Jason Miller, Corey Haverstick and Nick Mathews also scored for Team Gold. Geordie Maguire, John Quenneville and Liam Gregor replied for Team Blue.
Lindgren wants to make the team as a 16-year-old, but the situation is different for Cooper. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound forward from Sherwood Park, Alta., turns 17 in November and believes this is his final chance to make the Wheat Kings. He has worked hard in preparation for the camp, which adds the veterans today.
"I just have to try my best and try to get up in the lineup and make the team and have fun while doing it too," said the sixth-round pick from the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft. "… I worked on (my speed) lots so I try to use it quite a bit."
This is Lindgren’s first opportunity to crack the squad. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound forward, who was picked in the fifth round of the 2011 draft, knows things will get a lot tougher once the veterans take the ice this morning. However, he will try to remain positive during training camp.
"The tempos going to go up and everything’s going to go a step further," he said. "It’s not going to change much. I’m going to have the same focus and capitalize on my ice time and keep working hard and focusing on the next thing in front of me."
» cjaster@brandonsun.com
TRAINING CAMP ROSTER
(61 players)
GOALTENDERS (6) Ht. Wt. Age
Corbin Boes 6-3 216 19
r-Nolan Bray 6-0 175 17
Curtis Honey 5-11 172 18
r-Jordan Papirny 6-0 175 16
x-Evan Robert 5-9 153 15
x-Logan Thompson 6-0 133 15
DEFENCEMEN (16) Ht. Wt. Age
x-Tanner Browne 5-11 196 15
Rene Hunter 6-0 205 19
x-Aaron Kellogg 5-10 191 15
x-Matt Matsuba 5-11 170 15
Ryley Miller 6-0 177 20
Ayrton Nikkel 6-1 201 17
r-Brett Orr 5-9 155 16
Ryan Pulock 6-1 214 18
Eric Roy 6-2 190 18
x-Mark Taraschuk 5-11 178 15
r-Dominic Thom 6-2 186 16
r-Riley Van Horne 6-1 186 16
r-Colton Waltz 6-1 188 17
r-Ty Webber 5-9 168 17
x-Evan Werle 5-7 152 15
Tyler Yaworski 6-4 205 20
FORWARDS (39) Ht. Wt. Age
x-Wade Allison 5-10 153 15
Daniel Asham 6-2 201 18
ri-Mackenzie Bauer 5-8 163 16
Alessio Bertaggia 5-9 165 19
r-Jordan Bochinski 5-11 163 16
x-Dakota Boutin 5-10 164 15
Nick Buonassisi 5-10 188 20
r-Taylor Cooper 6-0 180 17
r-Tyler Coulter 5-11 200 16
x-Tristan Elder 6-1 161 15
i-Dominick Favreau 5-9 194 20
x-Jesse Gabrielle 5-10 187 15
r-Kailum Gervais 6-0 203 17
r-Hayden Goderis 5-11 184 17
r-Liam Gregor 5-9 164 16
r-Corey Haverstick 5-9 153 17
r-Jayce Hawryluk 5-10 186 16
r-Kyler Hehn 5-11 180 17
r-Brett Kitt 6-0 185 16
r-Ryley Lindgren 5-11 165 16
r-Quintin Lisoway 5-10 185 17
x-Conner Lukan 5-8 163 15
x-Kirklan Lycar 5-11 166 15
x-Liam MacLeod 5-11 186 15
r-Geordie Maguire 6-0 165 17
r-Nick Matthews 5-11 177 16
r-Tim McGauley 6-0 177 17
i-Jens Meilleur 6-1 190 19
r-Jason Miller 5-8 155 16
r-Richard Nejezchleb 6-2 212 18
r-Jack Palmer 6-2 183 17
r-Kord Pankewicz 5-10 190 16
r-John Quenneville 6-0 194 16
Tyrel Seaman 6-2 217 18
x-Braylon Shmyr 5-8 140 15
r-Hunter Smith 6-1 185 17
r-Dallas Starodub 6-1 180 16
r-Brandon Switzer 5-9 161 17
Jason Swyripa 5-7 165 19
r — rookie; i — injured; x — 15-year-old ineligible to play full-time in WHL this season.
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition August 31, 2012
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