Sean Williams/MDN – The Minot Minotauros have a busy week at the Maysa Arena with main camp beginning on Wednesday and running until Saturday.

Main camp is underway at the Maysa Arena, where the Minot Minotauros are able to be on their home ice and in their facilities for the first time ever during camp.

As important as it is to be able to put together the best roster possible, Tauros’ head coach and general manager Cody Campbell having a chance to display the team’s facilities and what they have to offer to potential players and families is equally as important.

“I think it’s been outstanding to be honest. You can look at it on videos and stuff but that doesn’t do it justice,” Campbell said on the reception they have received this week.

He added, “For the families and players to see a handful of fans out here for these games and to actually see the support that we talk to them about has been pretty cool. The other thing I keep hearing from players and parents is how much they enjoy town in general. It’s pretty cool to see their perspective and overall thoughts on the community and our organization.”

While there are a lot of new faces making their way to the Magic City and the Maysa Arena this week, Campbell has a handful of returning players that are participating in camp. In having them here, it has helped with the evaluation process and allowed the players to step up and be leaders on and off the ice.

“We hope that they can set the bar a little bit for our evaluation, they know what to expect…We also expect them to be leaders in this kind of atmosphere and I think they’ve done a good job of that. It has reiterated what I already knew in that we have a good group of men coming back here.”

In addition to the returning players, there are draft picks from this year that are getting their first taste of life as a Tauro. “It’s their first experience here, so what I’m happy about the most is that they all seem to be enjoying it.”

Campbell added, “They all bring different things, whether its draft picks or returners and some of the free agents, and I’m starting to be able to get a picture in my mind of what the team is going to look like and what some of the strengths could be. We have a long way to get to that point even, but the puzzle pieces are falling into place a little bit here.”

Some of those strengths Campbell has seen include size, even mentioning that the returning players have done a good job of adding muscle this offseason. Campbell has also been impressed with the overall speed of the camp.

Also, Campbell has been impressed with the goaltending from top to bottom of the position group. This proves to be important because the Minotauros will be without both goaltenders from last year in Lawton Zacher and Noah Rupprecht.

“Goaltending overall in camp, even from some young goalies has been really, really good. Obviously with losing both guys from last year that is something that is encouraging. At the end of the day, this is hockey in July. We want to make sure that it looks really good in May.”

Overall, Campbell has been pleased with the ability of all players who have made their way to camp. Some of those players include members of last year’s Minot High team with Mackley Morelli, Carter Coleman and Caelton Eslinger all taking the ice this week.

Still, even with the impressive talent across the board, another thing that has stood out to Campbell goes back to the warm reception they have received from a variety of players and families. During an important time where they are working on roster construction, he has seen the community step up and show their support.

“I’ve been really impressed and excited about the overall reception of the organization and the town from people that haven’t been here before. I’ve been really impressed with the support as well, there are fans and billets here. The billets are organizing a tailgate before one of our upcoming games this week. All that stuff reassures me of the things we already believe in. We have a special organization and a special community,” Campbell said.

This morning the Minotauros will be back on the ice for a session starting at 10 a.m. Later in the evening, the Tauros will have their Prospects Game beginning at 7 p.m.

With the upcoming Prospects Game tonight and the All-Star Game on Saturday at 10 a.m., Campbell believes it will be high-paced, competitive hockey as guys fight for rosters spots. All sessions are open to the public and there is no admission charge.