Last season the Guelph Storm acted quickly to bolster their roster.  Both Adam Comrie and Matt Sisca were brought in before training camp to help strengthen the team but this year GM and coach Jason Brooks is going to take a more patient approach.  In other words, don’t expect any big trades before training camp opens three weeks from today.

“Last year I went out and made trades early and we certainly got good value from (Sisca and Comrie)” said Brooks.  “But with the way things have changed in the NHL with many teams keeping young (and cheap junior aged players), I think we have to be a little more careful.  What if Anaheim keeps Peter Holland or Nashville like what they see from Taylor Beck or Michael Latta?  You just never know anymore.  So to rush out and make a whack of deals doesn’t really make sense.  That is why we have had a patient and quiet summer.  I want to see what we’ve got through training camp before making any decisions.”

It was announced last week that Kyle Palmieri had signed with Anaheim meaning he’d be leaving Notre Dame College.  Palmieri is facing some alcohol related charges from last season so it was probably inevitable that he was leaving the college one way or the other.  Guelph was hoping he might end up in the Royal City and that could still happen.

“What I’ve been told is that if he doesn’t make Anaheim he’ll be sent to the American Hockey League which they can do,” said Brooks.  

When pushed as to whether it was possible for Palmieri to return to Guelph at some point, Brooks would only say “anything is possible but we’re proceeding like he’s not coming.”

Palmieri would have been a big addition because he would have given the Storm the guts of two solid lines when teamed up with Holland, Beck and Latta.  But now the Storm is a little thin up front.  Yes, if you were to put the above trio all on one line it might be the best line in the OHL but after that the Storm would be hoping that guys like Cody McNaughton, Carter Sandlak, Tyler Carroll and Zack Mitchell could form solid number two unit.  In junior you never know how young players will advance but you wouldn’t be talking about a championship without more depth.

In reality, the Storm are one or two big name forwards and a defenceman away from being serious contenders.

It is possible that Russian defenceman Andrei Pedan could come in and be a top four guy, but seeing is believing.

So the good news for returning players like McNaughton, Mitchell, Sandlak, Francis Menard and Connor Tresham is that they will be given every opportunity to prove themselves in training camp.  But Brooks wants to know his entire hand before wheeling and dealing.

From the Land of Oz….Guelph will have several athletes competing at the Ontario Summer Games this week in Sudbury.  Representing their region in volleyball will be Tim Warnholtz and Sam Bibby of the Guelph Grizzlies Volleyball Club.  Playing rugby will be Owen Brombal, Charles Carrier, Jordan Hofstra, Simon Laughlin, Bennett Osborne, Graeme St. Clair and Nick Teri of the Highland Rugby Club.  They will be part of the team representing the Niagara Rugby Union, which includes Guelph and Fergus within its confines.