Let the games begin

• A sure sign that summer is almost over. Smokey skies. No that's not it. I should say Kelowna Rockets rookie camp is about to start at Prospera Place. The Rockets are getting the quickest start of any team in the WHL when it opens camp on Monday with close to 100 - fourteen and fifteen year-old's lining up for registration before officially taking to the ice on Tuesday. The Kamloops Blazers, by comparison, don't start camp until Thursday. The Victoria Royals open rookie camp on Tuesday. Heck, with the grayish skies outside, why not focus on hockey. It sure isn't beach weather.
• Is rookie camp intriguing or a bit of a yawnfest? For the average fan it may be a little dull, but it is often my first chance to see the crop of players that Director of Player Personnel Lorne Frey and his scouting staff selected in May's WHL bantam draft. My eyes are on those players specifically. That doesn't mean the 80 or so other hopeful's don't have a chance to impress, but it is often hard for me to weed out the real players from the pretenders. That said, I was able to identify Ethan Ernst out of the huge pack of players at last years rookie camp as a standout. Ernst will now attend main camp this season and is a sure bet to make the roster in 2018-2019 unless something horribly goes wrong. 
• I attended last years rookie camp with only one intention. I wanted to see Ethan Bowen up close. I had never seen him play. Bowen was the Rockets first pick in 2017, but they had to wait to take the Chilliwack resident in the second round as they had no first round pick after dealing it away in the Reid Gardiner trade. The question remains. Will Ethan Bowen attend main camp despite making a verbal commitment to the University of North Dakota? 
• Who am I really watching at rookie camp? The honest answer is Trevor Wong. Wong was the Rockets first pick, 18th overall, in the 2018 WHL bantam draft. Highly skilled, Wong is an elite player and his offensive  numbers are no fluke. I won't come on this blog and lie to you by suggesting I know much about him. I don't. I've seen video clips. I have looked at 'Elite Prospects' to get a better idea of his success over the years, but I need to see him first hand. I spoke to both Trevor his father Ed after the draft and both seemed excited about the Rockets selected him despite his verbal commitment to play NCAA hockey down the road. It will be interesting to chat with them both, face to face.
• For the record, I have already made the mistake of calling Trevor Wong, Tyler Wong. Tyler Wong, for all of you WHL followers, was a marquee player for the Lethbridge Hurricanes who scored 51 goals in his 20 year-old season as the team captain. If Trevor Wong indeed chooses the WHL, let's hope he generates the type of numbers Tyler did in his time in major junior hockey.
• The Rockets selected 11 players in the 2018 WHL bantam draft, including one goalie by the name of Justin Dueck. Dueck is intriguing for me for one reason only. The 10th round pick grew up where I did, in southwest Saskatchewan. While I am originally from Swift Current, Dueck is from Waldeck, Saskatchewan and played bantam hockey in Swift Current. Dueck is still too young to make the team, but if he does down the road, he would be the first Saskatchewan born goalie since Kristofer Westblom to wear Kelowna Rockets colours. Westblom was taken in the 4th round back in 2002 and was born in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan.  
• As always, on-ice sessions are open to the public. Rookie camp starts with registration Monday and on-ice scheduled from Tuesday through Thursday. Main camp begins Friday with the veterans arriving for the start of physical testing under the watchful eye of athletic therapist Scott Hoyer. I will dive into main camp and what I hope to see in a blog post later this week.