INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – The Missouri Mavericks will open their regular season on Friday, October 15th against the Odessa Jackalopes in front of a sold-out crowd at the Independence Events Center.
The team is looking to build on an impressive first season of play, in which they made the playoffs and advanced to the Northern Conference Semi-finals before being swept by the eventual league champions, the Rapid City Rush.
Many new players have signed and many familiar faces have returned to the team. A few players who have gone elsewhere to new teams. So, how can the Missouri Mavericks avoid the “sophomore slump”?
Making the post-season in any sport is a difficult task. However, the Mavericks organization has a bigger goal in mind than just making another trip to the playoffs. They are looking to take that next step forward – they are looking to compete for a championship.
Looking at the roster, there is no doubt that this is a talented team, however, talent can only take you so far. In hockey, chemistry is one of the most important aspects of a successful team. Players must know what their teammates are going to do, before they do it. Mavericks players must be on the same page if they want to have a chance of improving upon the successes of last season.
There’s also a new obstacle standing in their way – during the off-season, the Central Hockey League and the International Hockey League fused their combined near-century worth of hockey history and tradition to form a n 18-team AA league encompassing the American heartland. Now, Mavericks players and coaches must now learn the ways of five new teams they are unfamiliar with.
Keeping all this in mind, the the weight of the upcoming season for the Mavericks rests on one man’s shoulders – Head Coach Scott Hillman. It’s up to Hillman to make sure of two things: that his team plays as one cohesive unit with one goal in mind and also that the players are properly prepared for their opponents, both new and old.
Fortunately, these areas seem to be Hillman’s forte, which is why he received consideration for the CHL Coach of the Year Award last season. There was a common response provided by players last season when asked how they had success against a particular team and that was something on the order of “Coach Hillman had us prepared for what they were going to do,” or “Hilly had a game plan for tonight, and we executed it.”
The Mavericks have the ability to score a lot of goals. They also, with a revamped defensive unit, have the ability to shut other teams down. However, there are many tiny intricacies that can have a drastic effect on the success of a hockey team.
Last year, Hillman conquered those tidbits one by one. He always had his team in the best possible position to succeed. There is no question that Hillman has the respect of his locker room. That alone makes Hillman the most important Maverick for the 2010-11 season.
Contact the author at joe.rozycki@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at daniel.russell@prohockeynews.com
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