A team of Novice-aged Warriors has been rewarded for a lot of hard work and improvement, and as a result, remains undefeated.
Through 20 games played (including pre-season and a December tournament) the Tier 4 Novice 2B Warriors boast an impeccable 19-0-1 record.
“It’s been pretty cool to see,” said coach Ryan Rau.
“The amazing thing at this age is how fast they improve throughout the season. If you saw our team at the first practice of the year and look at them now, you’ve seen some amazing improvement from a lot of guys.”
Rau says the magic of his team is in his hard-working and fun-loving players that show up to the rink with a good attitude and work ethic, something you might not expect from such a young team.
“It seems like we’ve got a special group of kids that are pretty competitive, even though it’s little kids playing hockey and you think it’s full of laughs and falling down and stuff,” Rau said.
“When they’re on the ice, they want to win and they want the puck and they work for it.”
Rau said the team got off to a good start, won some games, and gained even more confidence after a tournament in Millet before Christmas.
“We played two really strong teams in that tournament and managed to pull of wins in both of those games and the finals went to a shoot-out and was really an intense one,” he said.
“I think that really propelled us to new heights. We came back to league and it felt a lot easier.”
The streak continued Saturday, Jan. 22 with a 9-1 win over Drayton Valley at home in a dominating, yet sportsman-like display.
“Earlier in the season I think guys got a little over the top in games like that and they’d score and they’d still be whooping it up,” Rau said.
“There’s a time and a place for that, but we don’t want to make them feel too bad out there.”
While their streak might not last the entire season, the team’s mindset is simple: focus on improving.
“It’s fun to see and the kids are excited and after the game it’s always just smiles all over the place,” said the coach.
“Wins are one thing, but the main thing as a coach is that you see smiling faces on the bench, win or lose.”
