Nathan Cull and Sam Schutt were once traded for each other in the Ontario Hockey League.
These days they’ve joined forces on the Lakehead Thunderwolves, where the second-year Cull is trying to help Schutt and the rest of the rookies make the adjustment to the OUA.
The 21-year old Cull said the message is simple.
“All the second-year guys are going to say that it’s not much different. You’re just playing against men, not against boys and you’ve just got to show up to play every single night and the guys we brought in are more than capable of doing that.”
There’s definitely a difference between the two leagues, said Cull, who managed just two goals and nine points in 19 games in his rookie season a year ago.
Just because a player spent time at the major junior level doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be able to step right in and perform at the CIS level.
In junior, graduates heading to university are among the oldest players in the league, sometimes with four and five years of experience under their belt.
But they’re often still teenagers, stepping into a league with 20-somethings, many of whom bring professional experience to the ice.
It takes time to adjust.
“It’s such a competitive sport, being in Canada. We’ve got guys that possibly wanted to play NCAA when they went to junior A, so they didn’t choose the major junior route. If you look at a guy like (Landon) Springer, he played junior A last year, so maybe a lot of guys underestimated him,” Cull said. “He showed up and he’s one of the best defencemen at camp.
“Where you played last year means absolutely nothing. And a lot of guys do a lot of growing at 20 years old, a lot of maturing.”
Schutt, whose uncle Rod Schutt was an NHL regular with Montreal and Pittsburgh in the late 1970s and early 1980s, said speed is the biggest difference he’s noticed, less than a week into Thunderwolves training camp.
“Everyone’s out there trying to prove a point, that’s for sure,” said Schutt, who scored 16 goals in 65 games for the Kingston Frontenacs in 2014-15 and expects to add speed and help out on the penalty kill in his first year in Thunder Bay.
“I think a lot of guys are four and five years older and they’re matured men now … You’re definitely starting back at the bottom of the ladder again.”
Coach Bill McDonald said the transition period is huge, and even the best major junior recruits still have to get used to a different style of play.
“It is a step up,” McDonald said, and it’s not only on the ice they have to adjust.
“The big transition, in what I’ve seen in my two years, is how they handle the schooling plus the hockey. It’s a heavy workload and it all starts off pretty good. But you can sort of see it in their eyes when you get to just before Christmas and it’s heavy on them.”
The Wolves continue training camp this week and open pre-season play at Fort William Gardens at 7 p.m. on Sept. 25 against the Manitoba Bisons.
-- With files from Thunder Bay Television's Ryan Bonazzo
