Main Camp Opens Thursday; Red & Blue Game set for Sunday

Jul 11, 2016

Johnstown Tomahawks fans will get their first look at the 2016-17 Tomahawks roster this Sunday, July 17, as the team hosts its annual Red & Blue Game at Planet Ice in Richland Township.

The exhibition game is set for 10 a.m., and is free and open to the public.

A healthy mix of returning players, tendered prospects, drafted prospects and free agent hopefuls will converge on Johnstown and report to the Tomahawks' Main Camp on Thursday afternoon.

The players invited to Main Camp represent the top talent participating in the Tomahawks three try-out camps held near Pittsburgh, Detroit and Minneapolis in May and June.

The top players from this week’s Main Camp will be selected to play in Sunday’s Red & Blue Game, with the goal of earning an invitation to the Tomahawks’ official training camp, which will begin in late August.

The team enjoyed three strong try-out camps, according to head coach Mike Letizia.

Coming into the off-season we knew we had a relatively big turnover from last season's team with the amount of players moving on to college, so our camp season was very important for us,” Letizia said. “We had three full, strong camps of players hoping to earn the opportunity with our team. Pittsburgh, Michigan, and Minnesota were the locations for our tryout camps and I can say that each camp had players capable of playing for us.”

Letizia commented that the team discovered young talent as well as “solid future prospects” at the three camps.

Overall, I was happy with the turnouts we saw this summer and am very much looking forward to seeing it all come together at main camp,” Letizia said.

A total of 18 players from last season’s Tomahawks team secured NCAA commitments, which is a team record. Of those 18 commitments, seven players from 2015-16 will play Division I college hockey.

The Tomahawks begin the regular season on the road against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights on Friday, Sept. 9. Johnstown’s home opener is Friday, Nov. 11, against the Aston Rebels.

Season ticket packages are now available, with prices beginning under $99 for a 14-game flex ticket package. For information, call 814-536-4625 or visit JohnstownTomahawks.com