If the lure of playing on a team that is guaranteed to host a national championship tournament is not enough, then perhaps it's time to sweeten the pot.
To some extent, that has been the thinking of the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves management tandem of Albert Corradini (GM) and Peter Michelutti Jr. (head coach), unveiling their tournament list for the upcoming season.
The local "AAA" midgets will open with their traditional trek to the Toronto Titans Major Midget Prospect Tournament (Sept. 21 - 24), but will follow with some cross-border shopping, as the Wolves join five other teams at the Duluth (Minnesota) Heritage Tier I Hockey Showcase from Oct. 25 - 27.
The locals will face Shattuck St. Mary's as well as the Notre Dame Argos from Saskatchewan in a round robin event that also features the Thunder Bay Kings, Northern Wings and Team Copper Country.
The following weekend sees the Sudbury lads returning home for the Big Nickel Hockey Tournament, but leaving again in early December, part of the 20 team field at the CCM Midget "AAA" Challenge in Gatineau, an event that includes all fifteen of the midget "AAA" boys teams from La Belle Province, as well as an entry from the Red Bull Academy in Austria.
The tournament schedule closes with the International Silver Stick in Sarnia in January, with plans underway to potentially stage a Sunday showdown of the respective champions from the Canadian and American sides of the draw.
"I would suggest that it's a fairly high-end tournament schedule, with excellent exposure," said Corradini, noting the variation of teams attending, such that games will be scouted by OHL, NCAA, USHL representatives, and others.
"We'll be playing a lot of hockey this year, somewhere between 75 to 80 games."
In hosting both the Central Region Midget "AAA" Championships last April, and the 2018 Telus Cup in Sudbury, those involved with the Nickel Capital Wolves were hopeful that the attraction to players would offset some of the challenges teams are having in retaining 16 and 17 year talent.
But with almost exactly three weeks remaining until Michelutti Jr. and company break the ice on the 2017-2018 Great North Midget League season, hosting the New Liskeard Cubs at home on Sept. 10, the Nickel Caps roster is not yet completed, with one goalie, four defenceman and seven forwards either carded or committed to at this point.
"In my first year (with the team), we had 75 kids on the ice, trying out for the team," said Corradini. "This year, including the minor midgets, we had 53 at our first skate. When the minor midgets left, I was down to 31 - with eight goalies."
Given that this trend has continued for some time now, the pressure increases with every passing year for midget "AAA" programs in Northern Ontario to raise the bar in terms of the offering the GNML franchises are making to the families who commit to the teams.
"We've always prided ourselves on being developmental in nature, but we have actually formally added a pure developmental block to the program this year," said Corradini. "We've got an hour of skating every two weeks, fifteen sessions in all.
"We're 95 per cent sure that we are incorporating a team oriented fitness/yoga component. We're not expecting miracles, but if we could somehow get them in a regimen where they could identify the things they have to do on their own, that would be great. Kids are not great at stretching properly."
The Nickel Capital Wolves are expected to round off their lineup at the end of the month, back on the ice for final tryouts beginning on Aug. 31, with subsequent sessions to be held on Sept. 5 - 7.
