VB Hockey: Training Put to the Test

Days have consisted of on-ice practices, off-ice workouts and the odd team building activity. It was clear that players and coaches alike were ready to see how the team would fare against an opponent after this month long “training camp.” Our practices are truly game-like. However, even with that there comes a time when you need to see your strengths and weaknesses against another team. To make a comparison, it would be like studying every night but never testing; at some point you need that test to see what you know, but also more importantly, you need to see what you don’t know.

Two weekends ago in Lake Placid, New York, the Spartans opened up the season with two games against a familiar foe in Northwood School. Last season Northwood made a deep run in the USA National 18U championships, and this year they once again did not disappoint and proved to be a skilled, hard-working and game-ready squad. The two-game set did not disappoint, with the two teams splitting the results. The first game ended in a 2-1 shootout win for the Spartans, while the Huskies from Northwood took home the second match by a score of 2-0. Following the second game, players scattered for Thanksgiving with many of our players who live a fair distance away joining their teammates to celebrate the holiday with some turkey dinner.

After returning from the break and with three more practices under our belt, we welcomed Trinity College School from Port Hope, Ontario for two games. TCS is a CAIS school with a great history, much like us here at Stanstead College. A revamped varsity boys hockey program – or in the case their “Big Side” team – has been working hard to put the best product on the ice. The Bears showed themselve to be a hard-working group who really never backed down despite a pretty constant attack from the hometown Spartans. The results were 5-3 and 11-2 wins for the Spartans.

With campus being a busy place with our senior girls hosting CAIS soccer, it was great to see so many people out at the rink on both Saturday and Sunday. As Mr. Spirk said at assembly on Friday, boarding schools are places where people should get out of their rooms and go and do things, support your roommates and your friends and have some fun. Not to be forgotten, when you come to the rink for a game, you can always count on some good snack from Resto Mario.

By the time, I sat down with my family for dinner on Sunday night after a successful home weekend, my mindset was beginning to switch to our upcoming week. On Wednesday, we will travel down to Burlington, Vermont for a midweek game against Rice Memorial, and then on Saturday we will be back home to take on Académie St-Louis from Quebec City.

Throughout the year, I will use these posts to keep the Stanstead community as up to date as possible on the ongoing adventures of the varsity boys hockey team. Some posts will focus on the on-ice product, others will look at things that come up in practice, at school or on the road. As in the past, few times will individual players be mentioned. We see ourselves as a team, and because of this our success, failures, and learning will all be presented in that light. I look forward to a great year that will see us travel to many wonderful prep schools and can assure you I will do my best to make you feel like you are there with us whether you are reading from Canada, Finland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Switzerland, the United States of America or beyond.

- Coach T