73’s gearing up for the season

By Kyle Horner - August 20, 2008

The ice is in and the 73’s are on it.

Coming off a very entertaining past season with a heartbreaking All-Ontario loss, the club is looking forward to the upcoming season.

“There’s always going to be a sour taste in our mouths looking back on how the season ended,” said head coach Tony Piroski. “I just felt really bad for my players. You can’t get any closer to winning it. But that was last season and this year we have a lot of new faces and we’ll see what happens.”

Training camp began last week for the newest contingent of 73’s wannabes and Piroski seems upbeat about how the team is shaping up.

“We’re only returning seven or eight guys but they’re a good core to work around. There are some good young players out here, and we might be able to pick up a player or two once the university and college hockey gets going.”

Piroski is worried about his offense and hopes to find some good young scorers.

“I’m looking for some forwards. I’m a little shy up there,” he said.

“We lost seven forwards and most of them could put the puck in the net.”

The most important player the 73’s lost was R.J Hotts. The gifted forward is too old for the league and the team will have to find new players to fill the void.

“You can’t replace a guy like that,” said Piroski. “We might take two or three guys to try to fill that hole but you can’t replace that experience. Hopefully the guys we have returning can pick it up a little bit.”

The talent in training camp has been impressive, giving the coach hope for a bright future.

“These guys impress me every year. When I started eight years ago, you would get a handful of talented players, but now I find more and more players with a fair amount of talent. How they play in the nitty gritty, we’ll just have to find out.”

Goaltending is always a huge factor in how the team will do, but Piroski seems confident with the guys he has between the pipes.

“Branden Robitaille will be returning this season, which will be a big help, but we’re looking for a younger backup.”

Piroski would not comment on any expectations for the season but did mention Belle River will be tough to beat again this season. Hockey fans will be excited to hear the season is just a month away.