WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Already missing NHL hockey? The Manitoba Moose are out to fill that void. The players hit the ice yesterday for the first day of training camp at the Winnipeg Arena. Because of the lockout in the big league, the talent level of players in the hunt for Moose jobs is top-notch. And excitement is even higher in anticipation of the team's move into its new arena Nov. 17. Please see stories on C1, C4.

WITH NHL players locked out and the AHL the highest level of hockey in North America right now, it would seem free-agent Mike Keane would be a perfect fit for the Manitoba Moose.

Same goes for Tyler Bouck. But when the club opens training camp today neither of these players will be in attendance.

The stumbling block is the AHL's veteran rule. Clubs are only allowed to dress five veterans and one exempt player on a nightly basis. Goalies are not covered by the rule.

A veteran is a player with over 260 games at the AHL, IHL or NHL level. Any player with over 450 games in the AHL can qualify as an exempt player.

Keane is a 17-year pro with three Stanley Cup rings and also happens to be a Winnipegger. He'd be a marketing bonus for the club as well as an invaluable asset on the ice and in the locker room.

But with nine veterans already in camp -- eight skaters and goalie Wade Flaherty -- there's no room for Keane or Bouck. Bouck has skated for the Moose in parts of the last three seasons and was the club's best player for long stretches of last year before finishing the season with the Canucks.

"There's just no room. Those guys are on the radar but so are a lot of free agents," said Moose GM Craig Heisinger. "We've had discussions with both players but right now there just isn't room."

That's not to say there won't be room in a week or even a day if one of the veterans already with the club succumbs to injury.

"Right now they're full. They have their veteran limit and that's it, I guess," said Keane, after skating with a group of Moose hopefuls at the Arena yesterday.

"We'll keep skating and just try and stay in shape. There's not much else you can do right now."

Bouck is still in the early stages of his pro career but now qualifies as a veteran and that's got him caught in the middle. He's not an established NHLer with a few million in the bank but he's no longer a prospect needing full-time development. The Canucks surely would prefer to have him playing, but the lockout has pushed Bouck into skating with the Kelowna Rockets and waiting for some kind of break. "I thought I had something in Finland but that fell through," said Bouck.

"There's not a whole lot I can do. They're (Moose) filled up with their veterans and I can't see another AHL club signing another team's prospect. The Moose said they'd keep me in mind but I'm not getting my hopes up. Those are the breaks. That's part of this lockout. I'm really feeling it but so are a lot of guys. Hopefully something gets worked out."

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

No. Name Pos.

2 Kerry Ellis-Toddington D

3 Kevin Bieksa D

4 Tomas Mojzis D

5 Joe DiPenta D

6 Kent Huskins D

7 Nolan Baumgartner D

8 Ryan Campbell F

10 Tim Smith F

13 Brad Ralph F

14 Marc-Andre Roy F

15 Justin Morrison F

16 Jeff Heerema F

17 Ryan Kesler F

18 Peter Sarno F

19 Nathan Smith F

20 Jason Lehoux F

21 Jimmy Roy F

22 Jesse Schultz F

No. Name Pos.

23 Brandon Nolan F

24 Bryson Busniuk F

26 Chanse Fitzpatrick F

27 Nick Naumenko D

28 Kyle Bruce F

31 Mike Minard G

32 Jason King F

33 Wade Flaherty G

34 Robert McVicar G

35 Alex Auld G

36 Josh Green F

37 Lee Goren F

38 Greg Amadio D

41 Nathan Lutz D

42 Wade Brookbank F

43 Alexandre Burrows F

44 Johnathan Aitken D

48 Derek Eastman D

49 Kiril Koltsov D

PHOTO WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS