Over the last three weeks, the varsity boys hockey team have travelled a total of 4,232 km. That is a lot of time on a bus, a lot of getting to know your teammates, some furious Sunday homework sessions, all mixed with nine games, meals, tests in hotel lobbies and, for some, more sleep on the bus than others. 

 

For me it is a lot of thinking time and reflecting on how our team is coming together with the positives and learning lessons early in our season. Our trip to Ridley was well documented in my previous article. Last weekend in Lake Placid, I think it is fair to say we learned the hard way about always showing up, but showed improvement from the first game to the second which was great to see. With so many new faces, things will take time, and finding our recipe for success remains a work in progress in terms of how this group should play. 

 

As a coach you need to adapt to the players you have from year to year. We all know how we want to play, but much like cooking if you’re missing something from the recipe, you need to find a way to get the meal cooked anyway. 

 

After our weekend in Lake Placid, we realized that the structure of our game needed some adjustments and with only one practice before we hit the road, we put this into place and played four highly competitive games, winning three and losing one. We were not perfect, but showed an ability to make a comeback, we blew leads and bent but didn’t break, and we worked hard. Winning is not easy, so over-analyzing wins or for that matter any game where we played well will never be something I will do too much of. 

 

The joy of our schedule is that week in and week out, our competition is always difficult. We are lucky and better off for this. In fact, I think it is one of the best parts of our program because it creates accountability within our group. We accept we will have good results and results that sting, but every time we get to drive home on a Sunday with a win, I won’t lie, the time goes just a little quicker 

 

Coaching hockey at Stanstead continues to bring me to places I haven’t been before. This time in St. John I woke up two mornings to massive cruise ships docked, and while walking around downtown saw one of those ships pull off the dock and head out of port. It is amazing how these little things week in and week out help keep the blood pumping for the next adventure