Every Wednesday, join your host, Jay Houslander and Soo Thunderbird Jamie Henderson with a breakdown of game match-ups and the very latest from inside the Soo (NOJHL) Thunderbird locker room.
Coaches Corner with Saultsports brought to you by True North Radio provides a weekly inside look at hockey programs across Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma. Every Wednesday, we highlight head coaches as they share insights on the past week’s games, standout team performances, and what to watch for in the upcoming matchups. It’s an ideal way for fans, families, and players to hear directly from the coaches and stay connected to the local hockey community.
The fourth place Soo Thunderbirds take their 4-2 record in Blind River on Saturday, October 4th to take on the ninth place (1-5-0-1) Beavers at the Blind River Community Centre. This is the first meeting between these two NOJHL rivals.
What stood out most to you about the team’s performance during that stretch?
You picked up two wins in your last three outings. I think it’s just a commitment to our process here of putting in the work on and off the ice. We had a great week of practice. The players and staff knew it would be a challenging weekend and they welcomed the opportunity to play against this leagues top teams. We had great goaltending Friday and Saturday night, and our penalty kill was outstanding. We have a real committed group here who enjoy being together and working to improve.
What are some areas you’d like to see the team clean up or improve as you head into this week’s games?
Even with the success. We need to continue to execute better. Our neutral zone had some issues at times, especially yesterday, so we’ll address that this week. Our structure and commitment to details is something we work on daily. We gave up a key goal Saturday off of a faceoff for example. When you’re playing the top teams you can’t let your foot off the gas for one second, or they will make you pay. We learned that all weekend, but I liked how we embraced the difficulty of the challenge.
How important has depth and secondary scoring been in helping the team find success early on?
It’s always important to have that scoring up and down your lineup. We have some players who feel real good about their games, and others who maybe wished they had scored more often, but it’s a long season and you need to stay positive, whether they are going in for you or not.
Looking ahead, what will be the biggest focus in practice to keep the momentum going into this week’s matchups?
We will use this week to re charge, both physically, and mentally. This is an important week in the gym for the group, following three really tough games. We know BR will be charged up to play us Saturday, and it’s always a competitive game when we face each other.
