The Kamloops Blazers road to the 2023 Memorial Cup is officially underway with a five-day long training camp at Sandman Centre.

Head Coach and General Manager, Shaun Clouston, was a guest on the NL Morning News, and says he’s looking forward to it.

“There will be a couple of presentations, there is fitness testing as we want to get a feel for where the players are at,” he said.

“There is usually only a practice or two and then a lot of competition. There will be, and this is something that we have done when we’ve been able to have camp, is we’ll have some five-on-five, some three-on-three, and we’ll end with a Young Guns game where we’ll take the older guys out and the young guys get to go head to head.”

Clouston says this is the first “normal” camp since 2019, with all sessions open to the public at Sandman Centre.

“Two years ago, we didn’t have a training camp as we were in a major holding pattern all the way into March and April when we were able to get in the shortened hub season,” he added.

“Last year, we were really encouraged to keep camp as small a possible and just invite players that were on our 50 player list.”

This year, there are 58 players hoping to make their mark on Clouston and the recently returned Don Hay, who led the Blazers to two Memorial Cups in 1994 and 1995.

“Not having a full camp the last two years and having a bunch of new faces and old faces and teammates that I’ve played with for a few years now, it is all nice to see everybody again and get back to work,” Kamloops native, Logan Stankoven said.

“I’m just looking forward to getting back on the ice and having some fun.”

Matthew Seminoff is also back at training camp ahead of his fourth season in Kamloops.

“Summer was good. I kept busy working a little bit, training lots,” the Coquitlam native said. “It all kinds of leads up to this, to camp, and I’m ready to get started again.”

Like Stankoven, Seminoff will be a part of Dallas Stars training camp later this month. The 18-year-old says he’s raring to go, especially since he heard his name called at the NHL draft in July.

“It was pretty exciting this summer. Definitely more motivation so I’m really looking to be ready for main camp there,” Seminoff added.

Fraser Minten is another returning Blazer who had a busy summer on the ice.

“I spent lots of time with the [Maple] Leafs organization, got a chance with Hockey Canada as well. Got to go through the draft as well, which was awesome,” the 18-year-old from Vancouver said.

“I am super pumped. Everyone is super excited about the opportunity we got coming at the end and about the process on the way there.”

It is not just the veterans, Blazers rookies like Ashton Tait, the team’s second round pick in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, is eyeing a spot on the roster this season.

“I’ve been putting some work in at the gym so I’m really excited to come out here and have a good camp,” the Prince Albert, Sask. native said. “I’m ready to just go out there and do anything I can, and put it all on the line and show them what I can do.”

Calgary forward Natham Behm, the Blazers’ first round pick in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft, is also at his first training camp in Kamloops.

“It is an awesome city. I had a great drive up and stopped in a couple of mountain towns as well,” Behm said. “The arena here is awesome and I’m excited to play in front of such great fans.”

The Blazers will host the Kelowna Rockets in a pre-season game on the Sept. 9, with Victoria in town on Sept. 14, and Prince George here on Sept. 16. They will also play in Kelowna on Sept. 10 and in Prince George on Sept. 17.

The season will get going for real on Sept. 23, when the Portland Winterhawks come to town.

And a reminder you’ll be able to catch every Kamloops Blazers game in the 2022-23 regular season, the 2023 WHL Playoffs, and the 2023 Memorial Cup on Radio NL.

– With files from Jon Keen