Troops open season on home ice
BRAMPTON, Ont. – A fresh wind has blown over the Brampton Battalion blue line just in time for the start of the Ontario Hockey League season.
Defenceman Cameron Wind, who returned Thursday after an extended stay at the training camp of the National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators, was expected to be in the lineup when the Battalion hosts the Erie Otters at 7:30 p.m. Friday in both teams’ season opener.
Centre Sam Carrick, the only member of the Troops’ 23-man roster yet to return from an NHL camp, remained with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“It’s perfect timing for me,” said Wind, an 18-year-old Barrie resident. “Skating with pro guys for the last four or five days will definitely help me get ready for this game.”
The second-oldest member of the Battalion’s seven-man defence corps behind 19-year-old Kyle Pereira, Wind said he expects to have a bigger role in his third OHL season.
“I’m really looking forward to this. I think we’re going to have a good team. I’ll be taking care of the younger guys and doing what guys like Brad Albert and Ken Peroff did for me in my first year.”
Unclaimed in the NHL Entry Draft in June, Wind attended Nashville’s four-day rookie camp as a free agent. The Predators prospects hit the road to win two games against Florida Panthers hopefuls before returning to Nashville for the main training camp.
“It was awesome,” said Wind. “I’ve never experienced anything like that. I learned a lot. A lot of the guys are bigger, stronger and older than me, but playing with and against them was good for my development.”
In rookie camp games, Wind was paired with Ryan Ellis, a first-round pick in 2009 who has won two Memorial Cups with the Windsor Spitfires.
“Ellis is a very smart player. It was a lot of fun to play with him. I’m more of a defensive defenceman, but I hope I can put up some numbers here this season.”
Nashville divided main camp personnel into three teams, which each practising twice and playing two games.
“It was great, fast-paced hockey. I played with guys like Cody Franson, who’d played some with the Predators last season. I learned a lot from them. They told me to calm down and play my game.”
Wind said the intensity level at the main camp ramped up as soon as practice began.
“You could feel it the minute you stepped on the ice. If you screwed up one pass, you were out of place. You learn to raise your intensity, too. I made some mistakes, but I was told that’s what everyone does in their first camp. Hopefully I can learn from that this season.”
Wind said he received positive feedback before being released Tuesday.
“They told me they’d watched me last season and, even though they didn’t draft me, they liked what I did at camp. Hopefully I can get a chance to do it again.”
Wind said that not getting drafted turned out to be a blessing.
“It was a setback at first. But I heard from a few teams after the draft, and I got to pick where I wanted to go. Next year I can go back in the draft and do the whole thing over again.”
