Cameron Gaunce - Reign Training Camp Day 1

Last updated Oct 9, 2022 Edit Source

• News post

• Cameron Gaunce

Q: today was day one of of camp but you guys have been skating together now for a little while um what’s the familiarity with with everybody and how nice was it to kind of start to see a little bit more of the group form as the king starts to officially cut down their roster a little bit A: I think today was great uh last couple days we’ve been skating and it’s relatively similar group so that like you said the familiarity was kind of already there but it’s nice to be officially part of it we went back to our original numbers in the American Hockey League guys are more uh present if you will because again when you’re still considered big-league guys are there’s more longing for the potential to obey there obviously is still the kind of the thought they want to get called up you want to get brought back but you also know that right now the realities are set in a bit and that’s when you can start to really focus on your present really focus on where you are at the time being and I thought that happened I think Marco, heider, and Schulz have been doing an excellent job of staying with us staying on top of us making sure we understand that we’re the Ontario Reign right now and I thought today was a great first step

Q: what’s your impressions of Marco starting to get to know him a little bit better I know he’s not a new coach for a lot of guys they’ve had familiarity but you know what have you seen him do that’s maybe a little bit different what’s his style so far that you’ve seen A: uh I feel like he’s extremely organized which I love uh like we’ve already had a few conversations about a few dates down the road and I absolutely loved top of things has a plan in place so there’s no questioning any of that stuff that again it’s not to say that Chris heide last year didn’t have the same thing but it’s just different coming from a new voice uh he’s been the other thing that you notice right away and talking with Marco is a very caring person and I think especially in the American Hockey League that’s very key to the players understand that the coach not only cares about winning and his own career when he carries with the player uh where some disconnect can sometimes go on when players are thinking no one’s looks like Marco really cares about each and every one of us it’s present and it’s something that just adds to the overall experience as him as a coach

Q: you’ve been around this league for for a while now how do you feel like the talent level is on this roster maybe when you when you see at the beginning of the year I know that last year the team felt like they had a lot of talent too but when you look at you know some of the new pieces that have been added in some new faces where do you feel like the talent level of the roster is at? A: I think the talent level is high like again it’s we don’t have the full roster right yet with with the Kings still having a few guys which means we’re gonna be getting even more talented players so it’s we’re at a stage already where we’ve got a team that can compete and I think adding a couple more guys from the Kings will just kind of push us over that top the best thing about the American Hockey League on any given day your roster could be completely overhauled we went one weekend last year with one forward playing defense along with three call-ups and we only had five of us so the next two weekends later we had 8 D, we had too many so it can change in the blink of an eye due to injuries call-ups things beyond our control so it’s it’s hard not to look into the future you want to kind of see the type of Team you can put together but you have to worry about the team you have the team we have right now is a good team we can absolutely compete and with the systems that we have in place the better we play them the better we’re going to be as a group

Q: for you why’d you make the decision to come back you know what are some of the factors that that went into that decision and how excited are you for for a new slate your new season A: I was excited at the opportunity to come back just because of my career I bounced around quite it’s going to be my third year with the same organization what’s going familiarity as we talked about the first question it’s something that was very important for me like I come in this season the coaching staff already knows exactly who I am as a person who I am as a player so we already have that we already have that piece of this they know what to expect from me they I know what to expect from them I understand my role on and off the ice and that just makes me more comfortable than my ability to grow is that much more now that the basis is down my ability to grow as both the personal player is more I’m more capable to do that so I think that was the biggest thing was just coming back being part of the organization feeling wanted uh because again someone like myself there’s times you just want to feel relevant you want to feel like you’re wanted this was an organization that expressed want and that was something that I really enjoyed

Q: last thing this is a bit of a condensed Camp you only have a few days you get one preseason game and then all of a sudden next week you’re going to be gearing up for the home opener already so what are some of the things that that you feel that the team needs to work on in these days to make sure they’re ready to start the season and have a good start A: I think making sure that things that there’s certain tenets that we’re really trying to harp on that’s the key obviously you can start building on a few other things but if we can really start coming together as a group in terms of understanding where each other going to be we need to be a predictable team like obviously we’ve got a guy like Tynan he’s unpredictable because he’s that good but not everyone can play like like times so if we can become more predictable as a group earlier on like this week starting coming in this upcoming weekend and then moving into the opening slate of games without predictability can just make you play better within it because then all of a sudden things start happening quicker that’s where teams that’s where the term Pace really comes into play I plays with pace is one that knows what’s happening with each other moving the fast skating fastest paces and just skating fast because if that was the case we’ve got Austin Wagner who’s fastest skater of the league but playing with pace is playing as a group moving in five man units and understanding where each other they’re going to be so the better we can do that earlier on I think the more successful I would start of the year because you can’t win the season you can’t win the regular season in the opening month but you can put yourself in a big hole. Cameron thanks very much for joining us and we look forward to talking to you throughout the season of course anytime