WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Moose hopefuls give goaltender Rob McVicar a workout yesterday at Winnipeg Arena. Thirty-seven players are slated to take part in camp.

THE Manitoba Moose open training camp today and it's expected to be far different than the usual AHL pre-season gathering. In fact, this tryout session will bear more resemblance to an NHL camp than past AHL tryouts.

Not only will the calibre of players be higher but so will the level of competition for contracts and positioning within the club's pecking order.

In recent years, Moose players returning from a month or so at the Vancouver Canucks training camp have been handed a Moose jersey and spent a week skating together with little competition for work as part of the orientation.

With 37 players, a surplus of veterans and two excellent goalies in camp, there will definitely be a survival-of-the-fittest element to the next two weeks.

"That's what we strive to do. Provide a level of competition where people hopefully take it to the next step," said coach Randy Carlyle, wearing a camouflage-coloured Moose cap, possibly setting a tone for his players.

"The competition should be distributed throughout. There are young players with a year or two behind them, we have more veterans than we can dress and there's the prospect element. Those people can be jockeying between being the No. 1 prospect or the No. 5 prospect. "Going from the East Coast level to playing here. It's all been impacted by the lockout and there are more people here looking for work."

Players are to report today, and Carlyle will hold a group meeting late in the afternoon outlining the program he and assistant coach Eric Crawford plan on implementing. Players will take physicals and go through an organization orientation.

The first on-ice sessions will be tomorrow with a contingent of Vancouver brass expected in attendance. With no hockey at the NHL level, the Moose will be the focus of the organization until the lockout ends.

Developing prospects will still be a priority but Carlyle comes from a school where players earned the chance to learn on the ice.

"We're trying to provide a lineup that has earned an opportunity," said the longtime NHLer.

The Moose have scheduled two-a-day practice sessions as well as an afternoon intrasquad session for the first five days of camp. These sessions promise to be spirited, with so many players fighting for a long look from management and the final shot at earning a contract.

Forward Jason King and was expecting to battle for a job in Vancouver this season, but those plans are hold for now. Still he sees a battle right here in Winnipeg.

"It's one of those years where lots of guys are fighting for jobs," said the third-year pro, who spent half of last season in the NHL. "There's a lot less work out there for people. It's going to be a competitive camp and that should make our team a lot better."

Defenceman Nolan Baumgartner likes the mix of youth and experience at this camp.

"It's really different for a lot of us. Usually we've been at camp for a month or so before we get here," said the veteran. "We're itching to get going. It'll be fun to get out there and have some competition.

"They brought in veterans like Nick Naumenko and Josh Green. Green has played in over 250 games in the NHL and he's come in here without a contract. Same with Naumenko. That will bring in lots of competition."

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

PHOTO WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS