New-look Eagles off to camp

By Adam Dunivan
Loveland Reporter-Herald

For the first time in three years, the Colorado Eagles failed to play into May last season.

The silver lining in that cloud is general manager Chris Stewart had an extra month to analyze, assess and adjust to his liking.

The big move came early, when it was announced in June that Stewart was returning to the bench. Since then, a wild summer ensued including big changes both internally and league-wide.

In many ways, the Eagles’ summer has run parallel with the Central Hockey League and transition is everywhere.

“We had a disappointing finish to last year, but there were things that we can definitely build on,” Stewart said as he prepares for Monday’s start to training camp. “We’re going to move forward.

“As we look at it right now, from a competitive standpoint … there’s going to be some very good battles in who makes this hockey club. There will be a real good competitive nature to all this right now, and Monday we’re going to start to find out who the real players are.”

Just nine players from last year’s roster will take to the ice at the Budweiser Events Center when camp opens. There will be more veterans, but there are also more rookies than any team in recent memory, all vying for spots on Stewart’s bench for the opening game Oct. 15 against Arizona.

The core is one of familiarity, one of uniform success. The rest of the squad? Well, that’s where the nervous excitement comes into play for the longtime coach, who has over 500 wins in the CHL.

“With the strong returning nucleus, we’re as confident as ever. There’s always that nervous side, where you don’t want to let anybody down, whether it be the players, the fans or the ownership group,” he said.  
 

One thing is clear for the Eagles, and that is they’ll be as young as they’ve ever been. That’s something Stewart alluded to gearing toward after a stunning first-round playoff loss to Bossier-Shreveport, and something that was put high on the checklist between Stewart and assistant coach Greg Pankewicz.

Pankewicz, in fact, has played a huge role this offseason, easing Stewart’s mind in his transition.

“He contributed a lot to the recruiting. … I’ve always looked forward to working with him. There’s players here where Panks has been instrumental in recruiting, if not solely … and he’s been a great asset,” Stewart said.

The Eagles will take this week to get players in shape — “we need players who are seven-games ready,” Stewart added — and the team will get two preseason games in against Odessa on Thursday and Saturday.