Photo Credit: Charlotte Rush

Hear from Head Coach Trevor Jewell on the big weekend his teams had at the Tampa Showcase. The Elite team went undefeated, and the Premier team has some points to makeup against Potomac to earn the right to host Southeast Division playoffs next season. That series starts in a little over two weeks, and could determine who gets the championship banner for the south division in the Premier ranks.

“Premier:

We started the showcase extremely well. I thought we did a great job sticking to the game plan against the Rockets by shooting a ton and getting to the net. But we knew the weekend would only get more difficult. Wilkes was a tough matchup, they skated well and worked extremely hard. We too too many penalties and played a little too selfish which allowed them to stay in the game. With how resilient we are, we battled and found a way to win.

Against Toledo, we finally had a good start and got on the board early. We made some mistakes defensively and they were able to tie the game because we were screening our goalie. Then we get caught watching the play instead of having our heads on a swivel and we get beat for a break away. Then we find ourselves chasing the game. We battled hard but ultimately came up short because of our own mistakes. Beating ourselves.

Against metro, we may have played our worst half of hockey all season. Got down early and struggled. We came out a different team in the 2nd half and were able to tie it up and get to OT. Ultimately we couldn’t find the net in the shootout. It was an extremely tough loss but its motivation to be better and a learning experience that we can lean on when things get tough down the stretch.

This week we are just looking to touch on the details and habits of our game. We have been lacking a lot of what makes us so successful over the last few games and we want to take a deep dive into all of it and revisit those habits on the ice. Just have to get back to the simplicity in what we do.

Our goalies have been great all season, they stepped up in big ways all year. They are a tight group that supports each other and wants to see each guy succeed. Each of them has had a monumental game for us this season. The guys feed off their energy and know they have a last line of defense. Watching them work with Brian each week, we know we have something special. Extremely proud of that group.

Elite Head Coach Trevor Kleckner also had some thoughts on the showcase:

“ I thought this past weekend at the Tampa Showcase was a great showing for our Elite team. We had yet to sweep a showcase and that was exactly our goal heading into the third and final showcase of the season. What I was most proud about at the showcase was our ability to be defensively sound. Of course everyone sees the score sheets and thinks of how great our offense was. I saw us limiting chances against while giving up only 5 goals against in 4 games. Down the road as we inch closer to playoffs, team defense will play a huge role in our playoff success.

With the unexpected bye week coming up, I believe it’s a great time for our guys to focus on skill development rather than team systems. One thing I’d like our guys to do more is shoot. Of course we’re scoring but we’re not getting nearly enough shots on net in each game. This week our guys are focusing on building confidence as goal scorers and that all starts with simply shooting the puck.

Goaltending has also been great over the past two showcases for our team. In going 7-1 in that time span, you have to give a lot of credit to the goaltending. Like I’ve said, I’m proud of our offensive production but I’m more satisfied with where we’re at with team defense and goaltending.”

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