The two spoke with the media Thursday before Utah HC opens their Rookie Face-Off with San Jose tomorrow afternoon in Los Angeles.
Training camp is now officially underway for the Utah Hockey Club as the rookies wrapped up their on-ice sessions at the Kearns Olympic Oval Thursday, as the club also released their full training camp schedule for the veterans starting next week Wednesday.
It also did not come without some major news, as Utah won't have no. 6 overall pick Tij Iginla on the ice this weekend due to injury.
But goaltender Anson Thornton and coach Steve Potvin's focus was instead on who will be on the ice, as they spoke to the media before the group flew to Los Angeles.
"That's what we long for; to see prospects and work with them," Potvin said. "This is a great group of kids that are wanting to take that next step. They're after growth every day."
Potvin spoke highly of prospects Julian Lutz and no. 24 overall pick Cole Beaudoin, among others; he added Beaudoin showed leadership qualities during both on-ice sessions.
Of course, some of the focus was on the new-look Olympic Oval, which appears to be in the final stages of its construction as of Thursday afternoon.
Thornton said the renovations looked "great", even with the limited timeframe, adding it only fuels his excitement to get to work.
"Anything new is always fun and interesting," Potvin said. "Everything so far is what we expected."