Photo Credi: Charlotte Rush

The Rush passed a test week. They earned a4-0 weekend against the Columbia Infantry after battling a tough Hampton Roads squad. Hear from Trevor Kleckner on the battle for the elite team, the growth of a standout player, and how they’d go on to play Columbia.

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1. Talk about the message to the elite team after the loss and how they battled for you in the finale

The message to our group after the loss to Hampton was pretty simple: details matter. Throughout the week we had lazy details on and off the ice creep into our game. We had a few of our players late to practice throughout the week and saturday’s loss, without a doubt, was karma coming around to get us. Sunday, we disciplined those players in the 1st period and ended up pulling out the win in the end. Culture is a huge part of our organization and when we hold players to a certain standard, the culture wins.

2. As an 06, how has Adam Wiley made his first impression on you and the staff in his first junior hockey year?

Adam has been an awesome addition to the Elite squad. He developed with the Phantoms Youth Hockey Organization in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania under Keith Krem and John Musella who are great friends of the Rush. What makes Adam great is his ability to play both forward and defense at any given moment. Gaining experience at both positions will only make him that much more valuable in the long run. We are that much better for having Adam a part of the team. 

3. I know you’ve seen Columbia a lot now, but is there anything different from a coaching or video standpoint you may highlight before playing such an up temp high scoring group?

In preparing for Columbia, we know we’re going up against a group that never, ever quits and has a ton of heart and compete. It’s easy for opponents to overlook them but since they’ve gotten healthier they’ve started to make some noise in this league. Jacob always has them ready to go to war with an extremely competitive group. The message this week to our guys is that we need to be mentally, physically, and emotionally ready for a weekend much like the previous one against Hampton, where we’ll be facing a team that’s going to come at us wave after wave with no signs of backing down. It’ll be a great test for us after a tough weekend in Hampton.”