By Daniel Nugent-Bowman /
For the Upper Canada Cyclones Minor Midget AAAs coaching staff, the effectiveness of their teachings will be measured down the road, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t nice to see some immediate dividends.
While head coach Joel Brayman is trying to get his players ready for life after minor hockey by implementing advanced systems, he didn’t think those systems would allow the team to have this much success so far.
“Our objective with this team right from the start was to really start playing well by late November,” he said. “We were under no illusions that we were going to steamroll the league.”
Yet the Cyclones sit 18-4-6 in the Ontario East Minor Hockey League, nine points clear of second place Ottawa Valley.
On top of their strong regular season play, the Cyclones also won the Sens AAA Shootout tournament Sept. 13 in a shootout reminiscent of a “Hollywood script.”
“We started slow, then progressively over the weekend, the boys really started to execute what we’ve tried to teach them,” said Brayman. “They stuck with it and pretty had a good weekend.”
So far their teachings have paid off, but Brayman hopes the Cyclones will continue to stick to the game plan so that his players will not only have a strong conclusion to their season, but will be able to use to new skills going forward in the OHL, NCAA, or Central Junior Hockey League.
“What we’re trying to do is give them systems that will teach them the game so that when they take the step to the next level, there’s no mystery for them (next season),” he said. |