Photo Credit: Charlotte Rush

For the Elite team with the Charlotte Rush, they gained a lot more than a point against the Carolina Junior Hurricanes, defending National Champions. Trevor Kleckner breaks it down “Obviously, not the result we were looking for against the Canes this past weekend but a lot to learn from and teach moving forward.

Friday night I was extremely proud of the way we battled back after going down 4-1 early. It goes to show you that this team has a ton of fight in them and whatever the score is during any point during the season, we’re never out of it. On the other hand, we definitely didn’t ourselves any favors by taking penalties and playing lazy defensively. Those little details that we had gotten away with the first two weekends of the season definitely caught up with us this past weekend. It was a great wake up call for this group as we need to be more disciplined on the ice and in our structure. 

A player who showed grit this past weekend was Ashton Lesher. Ashton has been a great surprise on the backend with his ability to move fast and make plays while under pressure. He’s also been awesome on the Penalty Kill as he’s been more than willing to block shots.”

Trevor Jewell took a lot of time to discuss not only the Premier team’s efforts but really went into detail showcaseing what the coaches do for showcase weekends like the one coming up for the Rush in Raleigh this weekends.

“Premier:

Obviously any time we play the Jr Canes we know it’s going to be a battle. We prepared for it all week, with so many new faces in the room there was a lot to learn regarding the series with them.

We approached this past weekend the same we do every weekend. To be as detailed and thorough as possible in our game plan. Okay physical and play fast. All of which I believe we accomplished. Obviously, our discipline needs to be better, to a man. Gave them way too many opportunities.

Plenty of experience over there with the Canes and they are always a tough matchup. They play hard and compete extremely well. I believe our depth came into play in a huge way more than once over those two games and different guys continue to chip in. Very proud of that from our guys.

I’d say the player that impressed alot over the weekend was once again Peter Keese. He just does it all. From making plays, leading rushes, scoring and even the physicality he brings to the table. He brings it every game and having him back is huge.

Showcases are a different animal. Not only do we get to see different opponents, but games are more intense and the make up of the game is completely different. These weekends are extremely important to us because most importantly it gets our player exposure, but also helps us to gauge where we are with other divisions & teams within the league.

The games are three 18 minute periods with and ice cut half way through the second frame. Having shorter games means we have to have good starts and continue to play well through the entire game. We cannot afford to have lulls in our game when the game is shortened.

As far as the schedule, it gets extremely hectic. With a total of 8 games in 3 days between Elite & Premier, we as a staff are extremely busy. Leading up to the showcase we have to clip video and build pre-scouts for each team we face as well as bios gameplans for those specific matchups. Throughout the weekend we will hold our video sessions at the hotel or in the locker room prior to games depending on the schedule. There are days where the staff may have to split as Elite may be playing on a different rink than Premier at the same time. So we have to be thorough in everything we do.

Getting to play in 3 of these showcases is huge for us. Especially for our older guys. It’s gives them a platform to be in front of schools in hopes or earning a commitment. So each game brings new pressure for each of these guys to perform at their best. Being able to play these games against different opponents is big, there may be a big matchup we have against another top opponent that scouts & schools have circled. This helps to gain more interest in the games rather than just our divisional games. As I stated earlier, these teams bring excitement for us as well because it allows us to see first hand how good some of the other divisions are throughout the league. Some teams we may face later on the season which gives us a little more familiarity once and if we see them again.

Showcases also allow for team bonding. Having the guys in a hotel with each other sometimes gets forgotten. But spending that much time together is a great thing that we believe helps to build more of that family atmosphere within the room. All the meals and things we do together help a ton when it comes to creating tighter bonds with our guys.

These showcases are crucial to our players development on and off the ice and also with their advancement within the game and in their future.

We are extremely excited to get to Raleigh and get going with the Southeastern Showcase.”

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