Still looking

With just a month to go before training begins for the 2010-11 season, the Clarenville Caribous are still looking to fill holes in their lineup.

Earlier this summer coach Randy Pearcey and son Andrew, who was a leading scorer for the Caribous, decided to move to the Mount Pearl Blades next season.

Since then a few more players have decided to take their talents elsewhere while another has opted for retirement.

Kirk Stoyles, who served as backup goalie since the Caribous first season, has decided to hang up his skates.

“The entire organization will miss him,” says general manager Derek MacPhee. “He was a leader in the dressing room and on the ice. He was a character individual. He felt that he had a great career winning three Herders, two with the Caribous and one with Corner Brook. He said it’s time to hang up the skates while still on a winning note.”

Since the Pearceys’ decision to move on, MacPhee says he has received word from other players who are not coming back to the herd.

Grant Kenny, Steve Gosse have been granted a release to play with other teams.

And Chris Mooney and Jason Picco have yet to decide whether or not they will return to the lineup. Their final decision hinges on school and work commitments.

Yet MacPhee is not frazzled by the turn-over on the bench.

He says when he took over the reins as general manager for the Caribous three years ago he would be in panic mode when players called to say they were moving to another team.

“The first time it happened I was new to the position. It was like, ‘Oh my God, where are we going now and who am I going to get?’ Then you get used to it,” says MacPhee.

“This is something every team faces this time of year. Players decide to move on or retire. It’s not new.”

Filling the holes

 “The biggest challenge,” he says, “is not losing a player, but replacing the one you lose with someone who is at as good or better. That’s how you improve your team.”

MacPhee has been busy over the summer scouting and even signing a couple of high caliber players.

One of the first players to sign was defenceman Eric Braff. Since then the Caribous general manager has made a couple of more acquisitions.

Steve Yetman and Chris Thorne are the latest player to sign with the Caribous.

“They are great two-way players,” says MacPhee. “They’re going to be great additions to our team this season.”

The general manager says he’s been talking with four or five other players.

“If we can land a couple of them we will have our roster pretty much in place and we’ll be contenders. The main goal for me is to be a contender. You’re not always going to win, but if you can be a contender that’s all you can ask.”

With Stoyles calling it quite that leaves an opening for a backup netminder to Jason Churchill, the Caribous main man between the pipes.

“One goalie can’t do it all. Churchill, as able as he is, needs someone to back him up,” says McPhee, who already has the solution in hand.

“I’m delighted to say when Lee Smith gets his release from Bell Island we’re going to have a local tandem of goaltenders on the team. It’s a good fit for Lee. It’s a good fit for the team and he and Jason go back a long way.”

Meanwhil, MacPhee is still searching for Randy Pearcey’s replacement.

“Fans are asking all the time, what about the coach? When you lose someone with Randy Pearcey’s talent and star power it’s difficult. It’s one thing to replace the talent, but the star power is a bit of an issue. I don’t know where I could find a guy like him.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” MacPhee admits. “But with regards to the coaching aspect of it, I’m sure when the time comes we’ll find a suitable replacement.”

According to MacPhee, the Caribous have interviewed a couple of coaching prospects, people with good coaching backgrounds and a history of the game.

 “There are a couple of possibilities that we’re looking at. Suffice it to say we’ll have a good coaching staff when all is said and done.”

Training camp

One month from today the Clarenville Caribous could be on the ice for training camp for the upcoming senior hockey season.

Oct. 2 and 3 are the tentative dates for the camp to be held in St. John’s.

The main reason for holding the camp in the capital city is because that’s where the majority of players live. The other reason is to provide an opportunity for walk-on players to take advantage of the camp.

kgosse@thepacket.ca