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As the Neepawa Natives work through their current recruiting process, their staff has one mandate they will not compromise.

 

That mandate is to look at things through the eyes of the player.

 

"We refuse to over recruit," says Natives' coach Bryant Perrier.

 

Over recruiting, in the coach's words means "when you bring in too many qualified players for a position and they don't know where they stand on the depth chart."

 

"There are so many options for players now, that having someone give up a better possibility without the knowledge of where they stand with us would be wrong and it won't happen here. We tell them where we see them."

 

As a former player, Perrier knows what it feels like to be treated dishonestly.

 

"I remember giving up a job in pro hockey for another one I was assured of getting," he said. "I got to the place I was going to and they had recruited 27 players for the one position. It was not a very good feeling."

 

"All people want is honesty. We tell each and every player where they stand."

 

As for the current Neepawa Natives recruiting season, the coach and his staff are employing a policy of honesty first, even if it costs the team a player.

 

"If a player goes somewhere else because we tell them that their other option is more realistic, we can live with that."

 

A deep and rich recruiting class and an ever improving protected player list has the organization's staff in constant communication about what next season looks like.

 

These conversations and estimations are open information to the team's recruits.

 

"We have made some commitments to players and we choose to make those public for a reason," the coach said. "They are public because we are proud of our signed players. But, we also want no surprises to our recruits."

 

Perrier is proud to call the team's 2010 training camp roster "deep" and  the team "challenging to make." 

 

He is equally proud that current Natives' players and recruits know it.

 

"From the goaltending positon all the way through to the forward position, each and every player who attends Neepawa Natives Fall Camp 2010 knows that our team is deep right now."

 

Some may think that players do not want to go to a place with a reputation of depth and an open policy of announcing signings.

 

The Natives have found the opposite.

 

"We have had some long talks with parents and players about the depth of our organization's talent pool and we are finding that people are gravitating toward the challenge and the openness."

 

The goaltending position is a classic example.

 

"We have some very good goaltenders on our list and we have a very, very good returning guy in Bembridge and  we have Washburn coming in and they all are prepared to battle for the positions. Guys are coming in from all over to win a spot, and not one of them has backed down from the challenge."

 

"We know the guys who make it in that position are winners just because of their willingness to compete here for a job that has not been promised."

 

Despite a good recruiting season and some publically announced early signings, Perrier says there are still plenty of spots available.

 

"There are absolutely spots available on our team," he said. "We have spots open on defence, we have spots open up front, and our goalie position is wide open and the best two guys will be the ones who get the position there. We still have import spots open too and we will keep spots open through camp."

 

Although Perrier knows some players avoid teams with a reputation for being deep, he sees his organization's depth as a positive in helping in the selection of players.

 

"Players who show up after knowing about our depth and the success of our recruiting have confidence and they are  players who don't back down from a challenge. That is step one in making an impression."

 

"We want confident players who want a challenge and who are preparing to come in to work hard for a position."