By Scott Roblin

SEAC Bantam Tigers trim down roster after scrimmage

Sep 3, 2017 | 7:04 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – After a year in the basement of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League, the SEAC Bantam AAA Tigers are looking for a bounce-back season.

Over the weekend, the team held try outs culminating with a fast-paced scrimmage on Saturday afternoon.

Hitting the ice at the Family Leisure Centre on Saturday were 45 veterans and prospects looking to crack the 2017-18 SEAC roster.

Last year, the SEAC Bantam program had one of their worst years in recent memory, finishing last place in the league with an abysmal 3-33 record.

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In Saturday’s scrimmage, Team Black and Team White skated to a 4-4 tie with much of the offence coming in the third period.

Tigers head coach Jason Bartram said the players made the most out of the try out’s lone exhibition game.

“They were all excited to play and we knew they would be,” said Bartram. “There was a lot of energy from both teams. I mean, it ends 4-4 so you couldn’t ask for a better game, nobody is injured, everybody continues on next week with the teams that they’re going to be with. So, it was a lot of fun.”

Forward Caleb Wyrostok had a goal for Team White, and will be returning to the Tigers after posting 15 points in 30 games as a 13-year-old rookie.

Wyrostok said the try outs and subsequent scrimmage allowed many of the veterans to share the ice with prospects trying to make their mark in the lineup.

“It’s definitely special playing with guys you haven’t played with before,” said Wyrostok. “Just getting an instant feel for how they play the game, how they see the ice, and just adapting to how they play the game.”

Following Saturday’s game, the Tigers cut down their roster from 45 players to just 26, with those players continuing to practice with the squad over the next week.

Bartram said getting all players equal ice time was an important factor ahead of their first cuts after the Black-White game.

“We could have probably released some players earlier in the week, but we wanted to make sure that they had the chance to play in this game,” he said. “They’re excited to play in the game, everybody wanted to, so coaches did a great job managing big benches.”

The remaining players will visit the Lethbridge Golden Hawks on Thursday, before hosting Lethbridge on Saturday afternoon as part of their exhibition schedule.

Game time on Saturday is planned for 2:45 pm at the Hockey Hounds Recreation Centre.