The Carrot River Outback Thunder are looking to rebuild after the 2018/2019 season didn't go as planned. (Facebook/Carrot River Outback Thunder)

By Mat Barrett

Carrot River Outback Thunder

Thunder holding fall tryouts, looking to rebuild after tough season

Sep 7, 2019 | 8:55 AM

There’s plenty of positivity as fall tryouts get underway for the Carrot River Outback Thunder of the Prairie Junior Hockey League (PJHL).

The local Junior B team had a difficult 2018/2019 season, finishing with seven wins, and 34 losses, placing them last in the Saskatchewan Junior B circuit.

The team also saw a mid-season change at the front office level. Brennan Hall was brought in as General Manager, and Luke Folk was hired as the Head Coach. Once Hall and Folk took over, things did begin to look up for the Thunder, something that Hall said they hope to continue into this season.

“Guys were coming and going,” Hall said. “Some of the staff was on their way out. Things kind of got a bit out of control and I don’t think there was anybody to blame necessarily, it was just the way it went. What I really saw was, at this level, you just need really good leadership, guys who care, and I think that’s where we’re at now with myself and Luke.”

Hall said one of the things that is going to change is players coming and going. Previously, lots of Thunder players would live in other areas including Saskatoon, and sometimes Melfort, but Hall said now all players will live in the Carrot River area.

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“We are trying to bring back the hometown touch for Carrot River here and the great hockey community they are,” he said.

Hall added that with the players living in Carrot River, they will be out in the community more.

With Junior B camps, things can be very fluid with a trickledown effect coming from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) camps that are currently in action. Hall said as the weekend rolls on they will put together a pre-season roster, and then add and subtract players as they see fit. He said they have great relationships this year with some local Junior A teams, namely the Melfort Mustangs and the Flin Flon Bombers. Hall said they expect the team to have an average age of about 17 or 18.

“It’s exciting, I like it,” Hall told northeastNOW. “Because, this league for years has been overlooked and a lot of people have said some bad things about it but I think the way the league is trending, and this league is trending is really good. We’re trying to get into that more of a developmental team, a farm team per-say for some of these Junior A teams and the more use the better, because that’s our end goal is to take in these young hockey players, teach them a lot about hockey and life in general, and hopefully get them on to that next level in the Junior A and college ranks.”

Hall said after the difficulty of last season, there is going to be a rebuild, but he’s asking the fans of Carrot River to be patient.

“It’s going to be slowly but surely, but we’re going to get there,” he said. “I want people in the area to get excited about the Thunder again.”

Things get underway on Friday, Sept. 7 for the Thunder as they open their fall tryouts in Nipawin. Registration begins at 10, and the ice sessions will be drills and games, as well as a goalie session. They will hold an intra-squad game on Sunday, and then their pre-season opens on with a trip to Prince Albert on Sept. 14.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6