When the curtain closed early on the Cochrane Generals' season in late February, Head Coach Travis McMillan already had his mind on what needed to be done to build the club for the 2018-19 season.

Much has been going on behind the scenes since then. A team captain has been named, a new general manager and assistant coach have been recruited and the team is holding their first spring camp this weekend at the Cochrane Arena.

"It was a long off-season but long off-seasons tend to be very productive and I wanted to get a bit chunk of the big business stuff out of the way first in terms of the group we have with our staff. This year will be great in terms of developing this program a little bit further," says McMillan.

The idea of holding a summer camp comes naturally to McMillan from when he played junior hockey and he even dropped by when the Fort McMurray Oil Barons and Drumheller Dragons held spring camps here in Cochrane to talk to their coaches.

"Smart, smart coaching staffs will have fantastic spring or summer development camps and essentially that's what I hoping to get this weekend," says McMillan.

"To gain interest from players prior to September it would be more advantageous for us to run a summer development camp. So far, the response to that has been quite good. We're going to have full teams which is a lot more than we had last year during our main camp."

"There is some interest to come to Cochrane and play junior hockey if a player can't make it to the junior 'A' level quite yet or if they don't want to play midget 'AAA'. It's good for the team and hopefully, it runs smoothly this weekend."

McMillan isn't afraid to attract players who may only stay a year or two while they polish their skills for a crack at higher level hockey. If anything, he's encouraging them to play for the Gens to get some initial junior experience.

During the summer camp, players will get four ice times, three games and practice/skills sessions. 

"After that, they'll get an evaluation. If we so choose to invite those players back we will."

That will give the players something to consider before the main camp opens the first week of September. McMillan hopes the team will have three or four pre-season games before the Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) season begins.

GM, assistant coach selected

Rick Richards is the new general manager of the Gens. He comes to the team with years experience managing midget 'AA' teams in Calgary and is familiar with some of the Gens players.

Randy Rook will be the assistant coach and reached out to the Gens organization to express interest. He previously coached in the HJHL with the Ponoka Stampeders.

Colton Wong Named Captain 

The team also reached an early decision of naming Gens veteran Colton Wong team captain

The fan favourite is entering his fourth season in the club and, unlike last season, is no longer eligible to affiliate with the Okotoks Oilers because he's an overage junior. He's 20, 6'2" a solid 185 lbs. and is known for his physical play and adds a presence to any offensive drive or backcheck.

Number 20, who is also 20, has 29 goals, 45 assists and 185 PIM in his three years as a Gen. Brother to Tyler and Austin Wong, he's part of a trio of talented hockey players that are all impact players.

With so many veterans aging out--former captain Austin Keller, Talus Hume, Slater Ransom and Will Gretton--solidifying the team leadership early was important, says McMillan, and he's pleased Wong accepted the 'C.'

"He was 100 per cent in and committed to it," says McMillan. " The guy's a phenomenal athlete, a competitor and he's a great kid. I'm just super happy he's going to be here for one more year."

"We're pretty much set for at least the top of the triangle for our leadership group."

McMillan says other key veterans, like Chris Sambrook, Jordan Fisher, Braden Bain, Taylor Girard and Brandon Aab, are also expected to return to the lineup.