Hockey Ops. - October 7, 2016

Good Evening Hockey fans on the Peninsula!

Welcome back tonight as we welcome in the Oceanside Generals for the first of two meetings here in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre.  The Generals have a solid squad after returning almost all of their players from last season and they will give us everything and more this evening.

I thought I would talk about the happenings around the Club right off the bat.  Marshall Brown and Trevor Owens are out of the lineup once again but Brown is getting closer to skating.  He had his cast off ten days ago and is due back to get another X-Ray on October 13 and I would think that he will get the go ahead at that time to begin skating.  I would think he would need about a week or so to get ready and we will try and get him out with the Midgets and our own Club to get him game ready in a hurry.  Perhaps we might see him in uniform and in a game on October 21, fingers are crossed shooting for that date.  Owens is a bit behind.  Although he was injured eight days after Brown, his injury was lower on the leg and was much more involved.  I would not expect to see Trevor back until mid-November at the earliest but we will know a lot more as the end of this month nears.  And Holden Cochrane will once again be a game-time decision.  He was out at practice after getting treatment for his injured ankle and put in a significant effort.  I’m sure he will take the warmup and then Coach Tippett will decide if he will be in the game.  Holden has only been in three games and in one of those games he was injured midway through the 2nd period and was done.  He is a ways behind the others but is more skilled than anyone so should be able to make up some of the ground really quite quickly if he wants.

Coach had a meeting with the players last Friday night right before the game and he has named some of the “Letters” on the Club.  Josh Poland will be the Captain and so is sporting the “C” tonight.  Trevor Owens will be wearing an “A” when he gets back from his injury.  Ty Hermsen and Koby Hale will be wearing the “A’s” on the Blues while Michael Sproule will be wearing an “A” on the Whites.  This is a unique way of passing around the letters, I have seen a few coaches do it in the past.  I do believe that it allows more players to be in a leadership role and that should be a situation for everyone.

I watched and enjoyed last Friday’s game.  I see some of the young kids getting better and that is very exciting to see.  Carson Cox played his best game of the season.  Shota Yamamoto is getting better and better.  Thomas Spink, Zack Evans, Joe Stafford-Veale, the list goes on and on.  These kids are improving and the results are going to be right around the corner.  I have seen this situation play out so many times and what Management of the Club need to have is a strong will, understanding and patience.  I believe there are three steps to the process and most all of the youngsters have moved onto Step #2.  The first step is playing in their first Junior games, say ten of them.  They are timid and are not the players they were in Midget Hockey.  Many of them are just happy to wear the tracksuit and hoodie and they do not compete at the Junior Level.  Step 2 is understanding that they actually can compete at this level and in the later stages of Step 2, they compete as hard as their competition.  Step 3 is the final stage.  The player lines up and looks the other player in the eye and knows that he can and will beat him on the evening.  When the majority of our players get to this step, wins will come.  Once again, we are getting to the early stages of step 2 with many of our guys.  They have talent and it is going to all come together.

At practice this week we saw some good things from a lot of the guys.  I saw Michael Sproule in a 2-on-2 drill and it shocked me how good the kid could be.  I saw Josh Poland working his tail off, the young kids doing the same.  I saw both of our targets battle.  I saw kids laughing but serious at the same time if that is possible.  Nobody in our room likes our current record but it is just part of the process we have to go through to get to the other end of the tunnel.  I was talking to Brad and he is really pleased and surprised at the young talent we have.  In Sask. Junior “B”, there are really no young kids.  It’s a much older League and obviously we are the youngest.  Be supportive.  Keep coming out and bring a friend or two with you.  These kids are going to bring you out of your seats at some point and when they finally do, they will keep you standing!

Thanks so much for your ongoing support - I hope you enjoy the game this evening. We are hoping to have our program out next Friday night!  Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! Cheers!
Pete Zubersky