Moose Hit the Ice Ahead of 25th Season

The Manitoba Moose took to the ice at hockey for all centre this morning as the club took its first strides of the 2024-25 season. The Moose begin camp with 27 players on the roster. It's a number sure to grow over the upcoming week as the Winnipeg Jets continue to trim their roster down to the 23-player limit to open the NHL season.

Training camp comes and goes quickly in the AHL. With just a pair of exhibition games (Oct. 3 & 8) and one intrasquad game (Oct. 5), there's not much time for Moose hopefuls to battle for spots. The beginning of camp provides additional opportunity with so many NHL contracted players still skating with the Jets. This all comes together to provide an intense skate to open the week.

"We have guys from all over, whether its ECHL players, tryout players, some players down from Jets camp, so a different mix," Moose head coach Mark Morrison told reporters following the skate. "All worked really hard, competed hard. I thought practice was fast-paced and I saw some bodies out there that I haven't seen in a while who have improved."

Ashton Sautner is preparing for his 10th professional season. Sautner took part in the early portion of Winnipeg Jets training camp, including playing a pre-season game on Sept. 22 in Edmonton. The veteran defender feels his time with the Jets provides a boost heading into the AHL camp.

"It's nice to have that pace to start and you definitely do feel better going into the American League training camp having gone through the NHL camp," Sautner explained. "It was another good experience, something to build off of. I got into a game which was nice, so just build to the start of the season.

Sautner has appeared in over 400 AHL games. That experience makes the defenceman an important fixture in the locker room, even at this point of the season.

"That's part of my job now. It's to bring those young guys along, make them feel comfortable and welcome them to the organization and our team. Really the past four or five years for me, that's kind of part of my role I've been focusing on is being that veteran leader."

The Moose are back on the ice Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. at hockey for all centre. Practices are open to the public.

Link: Training Camp Schedule
Link: Training Camp Roster

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