A few months after winning the Maritime Junior Hockey League championship, the Yarmouth Jr. A Mariners are kicking off their training camp in preparation for the 2019-2020 season.
The Mariners are holding a hockey school the week of Aug. 19-23, which is the same week training camp opens.
“We have a meet-and-greet on the 22nd in the evening, get people here, and then we do fitness testing on the 23rd and then skate the evening of the 23rd,” said Laurie Barron, the Mariners’ head coach and general manager.
Forty-four players are coming to camp, he said, and about half that number will end up on the team’s roster.
The Mariners have “probably eight or nine” players returning from last year’s roster, he said.
The Mariners’ training camp will include a couple of rookie games against South Shore, the first in Yarmouth Aug. 27, the second on the road Aug. 29.
The Mariners’ regular-season opener is scheduled for Sept 13, when they will play host to Truro. Sept. 14 is another home date, this one against Miramichi.
Contacted a few days prior to the opening of the team’s hockey school, Barron said this is a busy but exciting time of year for the team.
“We’re obviously excited after winning the championship last year,” he said. “We’re a bit of the rabbit and everybody else is a hound. Everybody’s chasing us, so certainly you’re not going to be able to take any nights off, but we’re looking forward to it. We’re going to be young and I think we’re going to be a very exciting hockey club.”
The Mariners captured the league title last season by sweeping the Campbellton Tigers in the best-of-seven final. The Yarmouth squad reached the final by defeating Truro in four games and South Shore in six.
Last season was the Yarmouth club’s second straight appearance in the league final, the Mariners having lost in six games to Edmundston in the 2018-’19 MHL final.
This will be Barron’s fourth season as head coach/GM since his return to the Mariners. Previously, he had spent 11 years with the team either as head coach or assistant coach.
Referring to training camp and the new season, he said, “We’re excited to get things going.”
