Grizzlies building with young talent

Glenwood Grizzlies midget major A hockey coach Tim Cota described his 2007-08 players as a "blue-collar" bunch.

That, in part, is due to the team's youth. Cota and his staff will have to mesh veteran and young talent to be successful, with a number of minor level players (15- and 16-year-olds) up on the major squad (17-18).

"We're going to have to win games by playing blue-collar hockey," Cota said. "We don't have any Gretzkys out there. It'll come down to hard work."

The Grizzlies do have some solid returning talent in key positions, namely at goaltender, where Seth Carmitchel remains between the pipes. He's a senior at Glenwood Springs.

Carmitchel foresees a rebuilding season.

"We've got a lot of young, promising kids," he said. "We are kind of looking at this as a rebuilding year, although we do have a lot of young talent on the team. It's just that not a lot have played as a unit."

That aside, Carmitchel's coach believes he has one of the most balanced teams he's ever coached in his seven years as a Grizzlies coach.

"Everybody's going to have to contribute for us to be successful," Cota said. "This is the smallest roster I've had in my seven years but it's probably the most balanced as well."

Some of Carmitchel's veteran sidekicks include defenseman Soren Phibbs, a junior at Roaring Fork High School, and Glenwood junior Dru Avery, joining Phibbs on defense.

Glenwood Grizzlies Midget Major A Hockey • Head coach: Tim Cota, seventh year. • Key returners: G Seth Carmitchel, D Soren Phibbs, D Dru Avery, F Chris Abshire, F Nate Miller, F Tony Bosco. • First games: This weekend at the Jake Brock Memorial Tournament in Eagle. The Grizzlies lost their opener to Vail/Eagle, 6-1, on Friday.

Up front, Glenwood senior Nate Miller, Glenwood graduate Chris Abshire and young Tony Bosco bring speed and talent to the forward positions.

"We've got good team speed up front," Cota lauded.

And then there are a number of players up from the bantam level looking to contribute.

"We had a good skilled bantam group," Cota said. "The kids did great at bantam so we hope they have an impact right away."

Phibbs, for one, is impressed with the young newcomers.

"Most of 'em are pretty good," he said. "We practiced with them last year. They seem to have a good sense of what the team is about, and they're picking up on the whole rookie thing."

While this year's midget roster is small, at roughly 18 players, don't take that as a sign of things to come. Participation is booming in the lower age groups of the Glenwood Grizzlies program.

"We had a couple years where the pee wees and bantam numbers were low to begin with," said Cota, who coached high school hockey in Minnesota before moving to Glenwood Springs. "Actually, with the mites, we have more out at that level than we've ever had."

The future of hockey in Glenwood Springs appears bright.