SUNDRE – With a blend of players all at different skill levels going into the start of the 2023-24 season, the Sundre U11 Huskies’ head coach wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
“We thought it might just be a fun season, play a little hockey,” said Chad Neuman, who spoke with the Albertan after the team claimed the Central Alberta Hockey League’s tier 5 yellow division banner.
But as the season progressed, so too did the players, including several who were either playing for their first season with barely any experience on skates or others who had transferred over from the Sundre Rec Hockey Association.
About halfway through the season, Neuman said he and the coaching staff started to realize the Huskies had the potential to win the banner.
“We really were hitting that home with the kids: if they work as a team together, this may happen,” he said.
By the time the regular season was over, the team was first in their league with a record of 15 wins, one loss and two ties, he said, adding that they also won a tournament in Coaldale as well as silver at their own home tournament.
“So, they had the taste of victory,” he said, adding the string of successes throughout the season seemed to boost the kids’ confidence.
Going into their league’s division best-of-three playoff series against Olds Black, the Huskies worked well as a pack and went on to win in two games.
“The coaches did a great job developing them and giving them the skills and they came together to win the banner,” said the coach, adding the players were looking forward to seeing the banner they all signed raised up into the rafters.
As the top-ranked team in their division, the Huskies chose to play the final series’ first game away in Olds, and swept that match 12-3 to secure a dominant lead going into the second game on home ice, which they handily won 6-1.
“It was amazing,” the coach said about seeing the Huskies take home the banner, later adding he was “super proud of these kids.”
For some of the players, the progression was night and day. At the beginning of the season, the coaches conducted some evaluation drills such as forward- and backward-skating with and without the puck. More recently, the coaches re-evaluated the players on the same drills and saw improvements – in some cases quite substantial – across the board, he said.
At the start of the season, several inexperienced players were essentially still learning to skate. One, for example, took about 110 seconds to backwards skate with the puck from goal line to goal line, he said.
“And when we did the re-evaluation … he did it in 25.3 seconds,” he said.
Additionally, the coach said the Huskies’ roster ended up boasting the division’s top goal scorer, Ryder Chapman, as well as the top assist-getter, Clay Bodell.
“We had some good players for sure,” he said.
The coaches’ main objective was to ensure both the newer as well as the more experienced players were provided the opportunity to improve and “to close that gap between the higher-skilled and lower-skilled players. So I think we accomplished that for sure.”
And their season wasn’t quite yet over, with an exhibition game that was held in Cochrane over the past weekend as well as plans to head up to St. Albert for a season wrap-up tournament over the week of Easter long weekend, he said.
“We can’t get enough hockey,” he joked.
The first-year coach said he looks forward to picking up next season where they left this one off.
“We only have four (players) that will be going up to U13, so we’ll have most of the kids back and we’re excited to witness the progression,” he said.
But playing minor hockey is not just about titles and trophies.
“Team sports is great for building life skills,” he said, adding it’s also important for players to learn how to get through “those character (building) games, is what I call them.”
Bluntly telling parents at the beginning of the season “that there is a 100 per cent chance that none of these kids are going to make the NHL,” Neuman said the foremost focus is on player development and sportsmanship.
“It comes down to the development of the kids and working together as a community to give kids these sorts of opportunities,” he said.
Initially waffling over whether to commit to coaching the team when he was asked to, Neuman expressed no regrets; arguably quite the opposite.
“You know it’s something that I can’t imagine, not coaching going forward,” he said. “Hopefully, we taught them something. They definitely taught me stuff too. It’s been quite the experience.”
