Goals higher as training camp opens for Macon Mayhem

Macon Mayhem head coach Kevin Kerr has plenty of reasons for being optimistic.

A year ago, the Macon Mayhem were patching together players to build a roster for the team’s inaugural season, leaning on many players getting their first taste of professional hockey. A flurry of signings and acquisitions as the season went on followed.

There’s a big difference as the Mayhem enter their second season and start this week’s training camp at the Macon Coliseum, where the Mayhem have the task of whittling down their roster to 18 players by Tuesday for the season opener Oct. 21 against Columbus in Macon. Between now and then, team will hold three days of training camp as well as Friday’s exhibition game against Columbus at 7:30 p.m. at the Coliseum.

Training camp is from 10 a.m. to noon and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday at the Coliseum, and all sessions are open to the public.

“People who are out at training camp, they’ll see the talent we have this year at training camp is miles ahead of what we had last year,” Kerr said. “We’re a totally different team. We’re going to have some very tough decisions to make. Last year it was a lot easier.”

Kerr and new assistant coach Leo Thomas will use those sessions, plus Friday’s exhibition game to craft together an opening-night roster for the Mayhem as they look to build on qualifying for the SPHL playoffs last season.

“The way we finished the season last year after Christmas, I felt we were in the upper half of the league. We made some trades and did some things with the roster, and I thought we were a top-five team in our league,” Kerr said. “Moving forward into this year. I think the expectations for our team are higher with our returning players and guys we’ve recruited in the offseason.”

The Mayhem have a strong mixture of players to build a roster from, ranging from the nucleus of last year’s team plus an influx of new faces, including a handful of players now available after not being signed during ECHL training camps.

Reigning SPHL MVP Garrett Bartus is among those returners in addition to back-line leaders Nick Grasso and Ryan Michel from their defenseman positions. Center Daniel Gentzler and wingers Mark Rivera and Jake Trask are the top players back at forward, and they willl be part of a group aiming to make up for the loss to the retirement of Shawn Skelly, one of the SPHL’s top scorers last year. Trask had 13 goals for Macon last year while Gentzler had 12 and Rivera seven.

They will be help by the offseason signing of Dennis Sicard, an SPHL veteran who also holds the league’s all-time record for penalty minutes. He scored 12 goals and tallied 16 assists for Knoxville last year and has earned a reputation around the league for both clutch scoring and his toughness.

“With the exception of probably two or three players, I’ve seen every player play at least once, which is a little different than last year,” Kerr said. “Last year, we didn’t have that luxury. This year, I’ve seen at least 20 of them ones we have coming to camp play.”

This story was originally published October 11, 2016 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Goals higher as training camp opens for Macon Mayhem."