Twenty players, six countries, one room - The first Steel Hawks are in Ostrava

Training camp opens on Monday, September 14. Before then, eighteen players have to become a group, and this week is where that starts.

Arrivals began last Friday and run through the month. They are coming from five countries, from Seoul to Mexico City, and most of them are moving continents rather than teams. So the first days are dorm keys, books, class schedules, a phone that works, and finding the tram to VSB–Technical University of Ostrava.

There is ice from Monday, September 7 at Torax Arena, but it is not camp.

"This is to acclimatize. Get used to the timezone, to life in Ostrava, settle into their dorms, get their books, get their class schedule. I will be on the ice with them, we will run drills and get to know each other, but the formal training camp kicks off on the 14th. This is when we increase the load, the fitness testing starts, and our journey together officially starts." Head coach Pier Martin

That is the useful way to spend a first week. We want players who are settled off the ice as this is a player who is available on it, and a group that knows each other's names before the load goes up is a group that gets through the load.

What we can report so far is that they have arrived in shape.

"Communication has been great in the lead-up. The guys have been working out and they're ready to get going, with the hockey and with the school side of it." Head coach Pier Martin

Camp runs two weeks, September 14 to 27.

The Steel Hawks will have ice in the morning followed by off-ice/team building sessions in the afternoons with fitness testing on Wednesday September 16th.  The first game any Steel Hawks plays is Saturday, October 3 at Torax Arena, 21:00, against Łódź Legion, and the team plans to be ready for it. 

A new league, a new program, and a roster that has not met yet. The staff have a phrase for how they intend to handle all of it.

"Adapt and Adjust. This is our motto for the start of the season. We will figure things out as we go and adapt to the situation provided to us to overcome it." Head coach Pier Martin

Twelve days until the load goes up. Everyone is nearly here.