(Carrot River Outback Thunder/Facebook)

By Ben Tompkins

Improvements to be made

Busy offseason ahead for PJHL’s Thunder

Mar 14, 2025 | 6:59 AM

The Carrot River Outback Thunder are now two weeks removed from the end of their 2024/25 campaign in the Prairie Junior Hockey League (PJHL) and a long offseason lays ahead of them.

In fact, its already begun as calls are continuously being made to prospective players, with spring camp just a week away.

This coming after a disappointing survivor-series sweep at the hands of the Saskatoon Quakers.

“Not really the outcome we wanted, but we knew it was going to be tough going in. The boys played fairly well, two good games of hockey, we just couldn’t capitalize on our chances and that really was the difference… I don’t think it was a wasted opportunity, I just think the Quakers have a good team,” explained head coach Steve Percy.

“We’ve just had to reflect a bit on the loss we suffered, how the year went as a whole and now just really focus on where we’re going. We want to get players here and expose them to our program and show them that we do have a lot to offer and that Carrot River is a good place to play.”

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Spring Camp will be next Saturday and Sunday (March 22-23).

“There’s definitely a few tweaks that need to be made. We will have to clean up our defensive zone earlier on in the season because we really struggled with that at the beginning of the year,” Percy added.

“I think we came out of the gate hard to begin the season, we just weren’t able to maintain consistency and keep that momentum going over the course of the year. We’re gonna have to stay more focused and work harder to get through the middle and that long stretch before Christmas.”

Fortunately, this year’s group was a younger one which means a majority of the team’s players will be coming back, unless they pursue other opportunities.

Six veterans are guaranteed not to return this coming season though, so there are still some holes to be filled.

“I think we’re gonna have a pretty good core coming back, we hope some of our young guys will get the opportunity to make the next step, but if not, we definitely hope that they’re going to return and we do expect some some big things out of them next year. We are looking to fill the spots of guys leaving, maybe with some more young blood, and hopefully, just keep rebuilding and developing the program,” Percy said.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

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