HFX Wanderers FC head coach Stephen Hart said there were a few “surprises” in Halifax during the Canadian Premier League’s #GotGame Open Trials, with players who Hart admitted he had “never seen before” that did indeed catch his eye.

As the second and final day of Halifax trials came to a close at Wickwire Field at Dalhousie University, the CPL’s head coaches got a first-hand look at the chosen list of 28 players as they scrimmaged in 11-v-11 matches, having survived two rounds of cuts to earn their shot at impressing.

For Hart, the talent on display has set the “measuring stick” for the rest of the trials – the coaches now head west toward Montreal for the second of seven stops, kicking off on Sept. 27. In Montreal, the CPL’s tacticians will see, as Hart puts it, “exactly what the quality is like out there.”

“That’s the whole thing – did Halifax set the standard?” Hart told CanPL.ca. “That’s what the next tryout is going to show, because you might go to the next tryout and realize, well, this was the first one, and there was some quality here, but then you might go to Montreal and it’s been taken to another level. If it’s not, well then you can say Halifax was the standard. It’s a grey area, a dark zone at the moment.”

The CPL’s #GotGame trials now head to Montreal (Sept. 27-28) before making stops in Hamilton (Oct. 1-2), Toronto (Oct. 11-12), Winnipeg (Oct. 18-19), Calgary (Oct. 25-26) and Vancouver Island (Nov. 5-6). Think you’ve #GotGame? Register at CanPL.ca/GotGame.