Portland, ME – Competition is fierce.

With the limited number of positions available on the Portland Pirates roster, it’s all about making the right first impression.

The Pirates opened training camp on Monday at the Cumberland County Civic Center with hearty welcome from the fanbase as nearly 100 fans were in attendance through the two hour spilt practice session.

That was one of many first impressions made throughout the day as it was immediately notice by several players including Coyotes prospect Brett Hextall as he said Portland lived up to it reputation by players around the league.

“I’m really excited just because of the hockey culture in this town. The history as of late has been solid.” said Pirates forward Brett Hextall.

“I’ve talked with several players from North Dakota – former Pirate J.P. Lamoureux, Colby Genoway and Jason Ulmer – that I’ve played with over the last number of years, who have played here in the past, and everybody raves about this town and how great it is to play in Portland. We’ve been here for a couple days now and it’s definitely an awesome town. It’s a place that a lot of guys what to play in and want to call home.”

Phoenix is in it’s first season as the affiliate of the Pirates after spending the last several years with the San Antonio Rampage. Portland affiliation with Buffalo ended in May after three seasons when the Sabres returned to Rochester, NY where they spent 29 years prior to coming to Portland.

Players themselves are trying to make a positive first impression to not only Coyotes Asst. General Manager Brad Treliving, who was in attendance, but to the Pirates head coach Ray Edwards and his coaching staff.

“Today is all about for me to get to know them a little bit,” said Edwards. “We’ve got some depth in camp and have handful of guys fighting for one or two positions. But, we’ve got some really good players that have played in the league. It’s exciting for us and it’s what we need to find out over the next week.”

With only a handful position open on the roster and as many as nine players in Portland on a tryout. It’s going to make every day of practice intense.

“From a player’s standpoint you spend all summer getting into shape. We train hard to get ourselves physically and mentally ready for opening day of camp,” said Joey Haddad, who is under contract with the Pirates ECHL affiliate in Gwinnett, Georgia.

“It’s that time that prepares us times like this when we are fighting for a spot on the team. It was a solid first day (for me). I thought I pushed myself and I’ll get another workout in, a little rest and get ready for another day tomorrow.”

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Gwinnett head coach John Wroblewski was part of the coaching staff on the ice with Pirates head coach Ray Edwards, assistant coaches John Slaney and Mike Minard and Development Coach Dave King for sessions.

The Pirates will skate tomorrow morning at 9am before holding in a Black/White scrimmage at 10am, followed by another practice.

Edwards said that a decision hasn’t been made yet as to when first cuts would be made, but most likely it will come within the next few days prior to the Pirates heading to Springfield, Mass. where they will play the Albany Devils. He also indicated that he’d like to have the final group in place when they begin practice next Tuesday.