Coach's Report for Newcastle Weekend 9-10 May, 2009

NEWCASTLE ...LAST YEAR'S CHAMPIONS... ANOTHER GREAT INDICATOR!

After having last weekend off the boys are chomping at the bit to get back on the ice against perennial Goodall Cup favourites the Newcastle North Stars.

The last two weeks the boys have trained well and attended a team BBQ on their weekend off. I would like to thank all the fans and team volunteers who attended, it was great for the players to meet you in a relaxed atmosphere and your attendance was appreciated by the team.

Our first two games of the season were very promising in terms of disciplined play and basic sound defensive hockey for games so early in the season, however, all will be for not if we do not back it up this weekend in Newcastle.

The challenge against the defending champs will be large, however, something the boys are up for and looking forward to, as the North Stars are always the benchmark in our league.

This weekend travelling with the team will be:

Goalies:

• Luke Fivash who will start Saturday after coming off a Shutout performance against the Bears in Sydney
• Mark Paulsen will back up Luke and has trained well

Defense:

• #27 Ross Howell "C" Ross showed true leadership in his role a newly appointed Captain over the first weekend.
• #21 Chris Martin "A" Marty played well both games and was dynamite on the Power Play.
• #88 Henrik Ivarrson, played well and chipped in with 2 goals and 5 pts the first weekend.
• #8 Cam Trew, with last year under his belt, Cam contributed strongly and will see action on Forward  and Defense this weekend.
• #5 Ben Spillane, Ben played well on both forward and defense last weekend and will be counted on for the same this weekend.
• #44 Don Burke, Don plays his first games of the season this weekend. His experience and disciplined play will be an asset over both games.

Forwards:

• #96 Dave Upton-"A" Davey logged heaps of ice time last weekend and his time with the Australian National team has paid dividends in terms of confidence and maturity.
• #10 Jon Bale, Jonny played well defensively last weekend and is starting to believe he can contribute offensively as well.
• #16 Jack Connor, Jack had numerous chances last weekend and should find the back of the net this weekend.
• #22 Marco Bertossa, Marco chipped in with a goal last weekend and was a strong team player.
• #14 Tino Sandhu, Tino joins the team this weekend after receiving his import clearance, and he will see action on Sunday.
• #7 André Selander, André showed his value to the team, playing all last weekend while not well, chipping in 2 Goals and 2 Assists against the Sydney Bears, André is healthy and ready to go.
• #9 Brad Smulders, Brad showed his class in his first AIHL game against the Sydney Bears registering 5 points and will be counted on heavily this weekend.

As mentioned in my last coaches report, staying out of the penalty box is a team priority this year and we executed that well in our first 2 games only giving up 5 penalties in the 2 games. If we can continue that trend and play disciplined hockey we will fair well this weekend.

Kevin Sands
Coach