Chiefs scouting staff prepares to spot talent
If the Spokane Chiefs are to have success this season, team chemistry will be key – on and off the ice.
Director of player personnel Chris Moulton said he and his scouting staff are united in their goals of selecting the best players for today’s changing Western Hockey League game.
“We’ve changed the way we look at things and we’re trying to get everyone on the same page, so that by the end of the day we know what we’re looking for,” Moulton said on the eve of the team’s training camp, which opens to the public today. “It was a good year for us, scouting-wise. We had a good year and our group is really good, so the comfort level is way up.”
The Chiefs office restructured the scouting department before the start of last year’s training camp, with Moulton coming over from Calgary to take over for longtime head scout Ray Dudra, who remains with the club in a key capacity.
Moulton came on board just before last year’s camp. The result was that the structure of camp was already in place and he was unfamiliar with many of the scouts and most of the players. A year on the job has changed all that.
“The difference is that I’ve had a little more input on the way camp is done,” Moulton said. “Last year was an eye opener. Our scouting staff did a great job with camp last year. But I was just like a new kid. I didn’t know how camps were run differently here than they were in Calgary – everything’s adjustments.”
The changes at camp won’t be noticeable to fans, but have more to do with what happens in the three-day long evaluation process which concludes with the Red-White game on Sunday at 1 p.m. Moulton, coach Bill Peters, general manager Tim Speltz, and the team’s scattered part-time scouts will convene in private between on-ice sessions to argue the merits of particular players.
“The basic thing is just who can play and who can’t,” Moulton said. “Who can make our team now? Who’s in the hunt to make our hockey team now? And, for the younger kids, it’s where do they sit? Who’s going to stay on our (protected player) list? Who’s going to come off our list?”
Few roster spots are up for grabs with Spokane returning roughly 20 players who saw ice time last season. The Chiefs will likely carry a maximum of 25 players in the regular season. The goal is to identify players of the future so that they can play the new style in the league.
“We just think the game is changing,” said Moulton. “And when the game changes, the players change. We’re just trying to make changes in the way we evaluate players.”
Those changes have mirrored those in the National Hockey League. Both the NHL and WHL have made rules changes that are intended to open up the ice more, meaning that one-dimensional players (such as brawlers) are a luxury which teams can no longer afford.
“The game is speeding up – there’s a lot more penalty calls. If you can’t skate anymore, you can’t play,” said Moulton. “So, the days of the big guys that don’t move very well are going by the wayside. We’re just looking at the way the game is changing and that makes us evaluate players differently.”
Moulton has helped the Chiefs to reshape their roster over the past year, including a blockbuster deal with Saskatoon at the trade deadline that sent away longtime leaders such as Chad Klassen and Joe Logan. The team has also since parted ways with enforcers Myles Stoesz and Jason Lynch.
The front office is looking to play a smarter brand of hockey, as well as address leadership issues in the locker room.
“I really believe our biggest focus was changing the atmosphere of our team,” said Moulton. “I think with the changes we made at the deadline last year, no offense to the guys we traded, but it was time that we had a leadership change. With the guys that aren’t playing, the guys that left last year, it makes everybody playing step up – and that’s what we want.”
The team will look for its returning veterans to continue their leadership roles and for younger role players to ascend into the ranks of respected veterans.
The team’s on-ice performance will be the only indicator of whether the team has reached its goals.
Notes
Tickets go on sale today for the Chiefs’ lone home exhibition game on Sept. 15 at Eagles Ice-A-Rena. Tickets are available through the Chiefs office or at Eagles. … Spokane’s Evan Witt, a Chiefs prospect, won’t attend the team’s camp and appears headed for Junior A hockey this season in Canada. … Defenseman Jared Spurgeon is out of camp with a back injury. His long-term status is unknown.