Written By Alan Good
SPORTS - As the year ends, so does over half the Junior C regular hockey season for The Yeck Division. What are some managers’ thoughts about their teams playing so far—and hopes for playoffs.
Kory Green Head Coach and GM of the North Middlesex Stars feels good about his team, however he said they, “need to take advantage of our games in hand as we move into the second half of the season”. He hopes their defensive play will see improvement in second half of the season.
“The Yeck Division has the most balance and parody since before the pandemic, we have to be prepared to play at a high level every night,” Green added.
Sandra Neubauer, President/GM of the Lucan Irish feels her team, “has faced some tough challenges this season, but shown a lot of heart and determination”. She stated some team building was completed as the players didn’t know each other. The focus, come 2025, will be on “positives like speed, the experience of our over age players, and our strength in net”.
Falling behind from the start of the season, the Irish won three in a row just before Christmas break and determination is the watchword for this young team.
“Building a playoff mindset,” going into 2025 with the help of a new coaching staff, plus being consistent and finding chemistry will win the day—and the season.
“The plan is to push the envelope in our division to tilt the scoreboard in our favour more often,” Neubauer added.
The Port Stanley Sailors have done well this season, so far, moving up to third place. This year they added an extra hour of ice every week and hired a skills and skating coach to focus on some of the fundamentals of the game.
“The Team has made tremendous strides to get where we are today largely in part due to the great volunteers that our organization has,” glowed Ron Fish, Director of Hockey operations.
Fish believes that with their commitment to putting team goals first over any personal attributions, and strong goaltending, “we can compete with the top teams in the Yeck Division and our goal of finishing at the top of this division is within reach”.
As the Mount Brydges Bulldogs look toward 2025 Andy Friyia, team president, is pleased they are 3 points from first place in the division and intends to remain in the top four going forward.
The Thamesford Trojans GM Wayne Ostermaier said, “We are always on a constant learning curve, learning from all game situations, looking for improvement in an ongoing manner, and focusing on working on one philosophy, team first.”
Time away from hockey is important, especially this time of year. Many players are close to home and will take time with family and friends over the holidays. One will be returning to Calgary for the holidays. All teams will come together early 2025, to vie for the remaining 15 games of the regular season.
