In the Icer’s Blue-White game, Coach Joe Battista discovered some exciting new dimensions to his hockey team’s game, namely depth and size.
“I think that we’re going to have the kind of team that we have the potential to have a different group of guys come to the forefront each night,” Battista said. “I don’t think that we’re going to have to rely on any one individual. There are a lot of guys capable of scoring the goals.”
The Icers have 31 players this year, and many of them are returning veterans.
With all of this returning talent, Battista plans to use a platoon system this year to take advantage of the Icers’ depth.
“There will be games, where on a Friday night we will come at you with one line up,” Battista said. “Then the next night we will come back at you with five or six new fresh players. We’ll use our depth to our advantage, it is an advantage that a lot of other teams won’t have. It does make a difference, we saw that last year. And it keeps us honest too. If anybody gets complacive, there’s always someone anxious to take his place.”
Knowing that this is not a young team, Battista said that he plans to push the team hard this weekend.
“We only have four true freshmen,” he said. “By far we are not a young team, so my expectations for the team is going to be high. I plan to challenge them.”
The team is well aware of its plentiful talent, and a lot of what will happen to the Icers depends upon what they make of it.
“This team can take one of two routes” Battista said. “They can look around and say ‘hey we’ve got a lot of talent, we’re good,’ and just go through the motions, in which case this won’t be a good year.
“Or, they could look and say ‘hey, this is tremendous, this is an opportunity’, and if they remember this, and work they could make this a great season.”
Battista said that he feals that a lot depends on the team’s work ethic, character, and their commitment. He said that when those three intangibles are present a certain chemistry comes out, and this is something Battista wishes he could give directly to his team.
“I wish I could bottle it and give it to the team,” Battista said. “You never quite know how the team is going to mesh, and that is a big thing.”
The Icers have become known for their small, quick offensive teams, but this year they find themselves with four players who are 6-foot-3 or bigger, and even more who are at least 180-pounds. Battista says that he looks to see a more physical Icers team than previous years, but still hopes to hold the offensive quickness.
“I don’t want this to be a solely physical or a solely offensive team,” Battista said. “I would like to see a balance of the two.”
Battista was also pleased with the defensive effort, and he felt that all four goalies had a strong showing in the intrasquad scrimmage that resembled a regulation match.
“Our goal keeping was solid,” he said. “It is good to know that if somebody is having an off night, that we have two or three good men to back him up.”
Derek Lecours, who Battista felt had been struggling lately, performed well, and Battista attributed that to his hard work.
“He’s one of the hardest workers you’d ever want to see,” Battista said. “He had a great game tonight, and I think that will be a great boost to his confidence.”
Paul Graf, an assistant grad coach, was the coach of the white team and is the Icer’s goal coach.
“All four goalies looked great,” Graf said “Right now Johnny Gray is our number one goalie, and we’re still looking to find number two. All three had a good showing, and it makes the decision even harder, but it is good to know that we have that kind of choice.”
Assistant Coach Bill Masullo, was coaching the Blue team, and said that he felt that the Blue-White game shows more than would a regular controlled scrimage. He said that he saw a “lot of good stuff from the younger guys.” Masullo said that his team was stacked with some unexperienced players, and he had a better chance to look at them.
Battista said that everybody is fighting for positions, and said that the Blue-White game is important because this is the player’s chance to showcase themselves.
“When you look at evaluating players, it is a lot like looking at the stock market,” Battista said. “Some guy’s stock rises, some guy’s fall, but tommorrow is a new day. If a player had a good or bad game today, it doesn’t mean that the same will hold true tommorow. What you are looking for are the players or the stock that is the most consistent.”