Young Guns and team Chemistry

It's been great to be reading pieces about young talent coming to join the Rough Riders this season recently in the local papers including a nice story on Mac Bennett. If hockey even gets some spotlight it's a shock a lot of the time, and usually it seems that the stories take on a negative focus.

I think the raw talent of this season's team will really help the season be a successful one. In years past we've had a lot of "hot shot" players (I'll refrain from saying names) that simply were a one man show, would rarely pass, would often get picked off by the other team, turn over the puck, and then our team would get scored on. It's almost like Carlson took Herb Brooks' method of "choosing the right player for a certain reason" because it's true that not every player on the squad seems to have been necessarily "the best" at tryouts. I just think he picked the "right" players who had good chemistry.

Team chemistry is important for so many reasons. It goes far beyond getting the W and improving a team record. Hockey isn't just about the game. The relationships you build and the memories mean more to the players than any championship ring. The goal of reaching that point is simply what brings them together.

I'm looking forward to this weekend's preseason game to get a real look at what the team's greatest strengths and weaknesses are. It's still early to really have a true gauge of how they'll rank in the league, but it'll be great to see some quality hockey none the less!