The Albert Lea Thunder kicked off a three month process where it will try to find 24 players to fill its inaugural roster with the first round of tryouts on Saturday and Sunday at the City Arena in Albert Lea.

The coaching staff with the turnout of players in the first leg of five tryouts as they got a better look at their draft picks and tenders.

Albert Lea’s Adam Royce was one of 10 draft picks or tenders at the first tryout.

“We’ve had a blast,” Thunder assistant coach Brian Murphy said. “It’s nice to have 75 kids at the camp. We’re pretty pleased that we’ve had this many kids come in as a first year team.”

It was a long weekend for Murphy and the rest of the staff who spent the entire day at the rink watching hockey.

“In the next three weeks we’ll probably take a look at over 200 kids,” Murphy said. “We’ve got five more of these. This stuff is what we have to do to build a team.”

The Thunder had a good mix of players from across the country in its first tryout.

“We’ve got a great response,” director of hockey operations Jim Perkins said. “We have quite a few players from different states.”

The field included Jeremy Langlois from Phoenix, Anthony Maroney from Texas, in addition to 30 Minnesota players.

“We didn’t want a bunch of Minnesota kids,” Murphy said. “It was nice to have a good mixture.”

This is just the beginning for the Thunder as the team has a tryout in Chicago this weekend, then another in Pennsylvania and New York before returning to Albert Lea July 26 for the final tryout.

“Now we’re really looking forward to getting the season started,” Murphy said. “We’re really looking forward to getting on the ice.”