By Ryan Laverty /
At all levels of minor hockey, success has a funny way of breeding turnover.
It’s a good problem to have. One that most coaches have grown accustomed to over the years, but its unlikely many could compare with the situation facing Southside Athletic Club Boston Pizza Athletics head coach Scott Vokey this season.
Out of the gate like a shot, the Athletics finished the regular season second in the Alberta Midget Hockey League’s North Division, only three points behind the Sherwood Park J. Ennis Kings.
“The long and the short of it is we’ve only got one returning player from last year, so we’re definitely going to have to change our approach,” said Vokey. “We did have a lot of older guys last year, but even the young guys we did have are mostly not coming back, so we’re going to have to rely on the skill of some younger guys this year.”
Fortunately for Vokey, many of the guys he plans to lean on have a history of shouldering responsibility. As many as eight members of last year’s SSAC Bantam AAA Lions could be full-fledged Athletics when the regular season starts the first weekend of October. That crew suffered only three losses the entire year in 2008-09 and with a 3-0-1 showed in the Fort Saskatchewan Fall Tournament in Mid-September, their skill is apparently transferrable to the next level.
“I think the skill is definitely there with what I’ve seen of our guys so far,” said Vokey. “It’s just going to be a matter of paying attention to detail and getting used to the speed at this level.”
Another team not lacking speed in the AMHL North Division this year will be the St. Albert Raiders.
The Raiders finished one point behind the Athletics a year ago and, like Vokey’s crew, lost their fair share of talent to the next level. Still, head coach Sandro Pisani may have the tightest competition in camp of any bench boss in the league.
In addition to the four veterans already in camp, the Raiders’ evaluation camp has been chock full of talent from last year’s Alberta Minor Midget Hockey League champion PAC Timberwolves and runners-up St. Albert Super Grip Flyers.
Sprinkle in a handful of 15-year-olds out of the PAC and St. Albert Bantam AAA programs and Pisani had himself in a bit of a horserace. Still, the veteran coach refused to put unneeded pressure on his soon-to-be charges.
“I know this league well enough to know that it’s about who’s playing the best at the right time of year and that’s all we’re looking to do, peak at the right time,” said Pisani.
“There has been a lot of competition at our camp this year and that is a good thing, but what it’s going to mean is that we are going to have to leave our egos at the door this year because we have so much talent, not everyone is going to get to play in every situation.
“If we can manage that, we’ll be fine.”
Reading between the lines – the rest of the North Division may not be. |