Barry Wolff stands in the timekeeper's box at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex arena. His watchful gaze takes in each shot and every save, shifting his focus between the passes, body checks and clearing attempts that are taking place around the ice.
And for the 200 or so players who take their turns hitting the ice for the scrimmages going on throughout the day, their hockey future depends on what he sees. Wolff is the new coach of the Coquitlam Express who must now whittle down the crowd of prospects who showed up for the first day of camp on Monday to a roster of 22 players.
"The first game was at 7 a.m. so we weren't sure how they would come out but the guys came out working hard and competing so we're real happy with the camp so far," said Wolff, who coached the Fernie Ghostriders in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League last year.
He hopes to have the roster pared down to 30-some players when the Express open their regular season Saturday night in Langley. And while that may seem like a pretty drastic reduction in numbers, Wolff knows the type of player he's looking for.
"Strong character, hard working, we don't want to get outworked," said Wolff, who puts a premium on big, strong players who can thrive on the smaller ice surface in Coquitlam. "We want to take away time and space and create opportunities for us, not sit back and hope for them, we're going to make it happen."
Wolff inherits a team that struggled last year, finishing with a 24-31-1 record, and one that dealt away much of its offensive production at the trade deadline. That leaves plenty of holes to be filled.
"We told all the guys coming back, 'You need to earn your spot.' Nobody's being given anything right now. After the year we had last year we just need to be better."
And that take-nothing-for-granted approach translated into some high-tempo scrimmages at this week's camp.
"We need guys to play both sides of the puck and if they don't they won't be here,"
Wolff might not be picking out a spot for the Fred Page Cup in the Express trophy case just yet but he is expecting improvement in the product on the ice.
"Our goal is to make the playoffs and make some solid headway in that regard," he said. "We want to establish a winning culture. Once we get that foundation built, guys need to expect to win and not just say let's see how it goes. We need to expect every game to win."
This weekend's home-and-home series with the Rivermen (Saturday night in Langley, Sunday at noon at Poirier) will feature a young lineup.
There's some college (scouts) coming. They've asked to watch some guys, so there'll be some veteran guys in the lineup but other than that it will be young guys that we want to give the experience to," said Wolff.
The regular season gets underway Sept. 6 with the three-day Bauer BCHL Showcase at Chilliwack's Prospera Centre. The Express will take on the Merritt Centennials Sept. 6 before facing off with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs Sept. 8.
Panthers primed
The Port Moody Panthers opened their 2013 Pacific Junior Hockey League Exhibition season with an 8-1 win over the Grandview Steelers on Wednesday night at the Port Moody Arena.
Wednesday's contest began a stretch that will see the Panthers play five exhibition games in five days.
"With so many games in such a short period of time, it gives myself and the coaching staff a good handle on what our team identity will look like for the beginning of the season," said Panthers GM and head coach Jamie Jackson.
Jackson was impressed with the focus and enthusiasm shown during the team's camp which wrapped up on the weekend.
Port Moody signed two of the standouts from main camp, 1996-born forward Taylor Leger and 1997-born defenceman Evan Locke.
"Finding the right group can be a difficult process full of difficult decisions and there were certainly a number of those on Sunday night after the intra-squad game," said Jackson. "Despite Taylor and Evan both signing with our team, we still have a long way to go, as now 15 players are off to Junior A and Major Junior training camps. We certainly wish each of them the best of luck with their tryouts."
Port Moody will host North Vancouver at 3 p.m. Saturday and face off against Aldergrove at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the Port Moody Arena.
The Panthers open the Pacific Junior Hockey League regular season at home on Sept. 14 against the Mission City Outlaws.
