Coventry Blaze Head Coach Kevin Moore is preparing for his third season behind the bench, with his side set to begin pre-season at home to Gothiques d’Amiens this weekend.
Moore was able to enjoy some time back in the United States over the summer, although recruitment remained a constant part of the off-season.
“I had a great summer. The roster building is extremely time-consuming and you feel like Jerry Maguire sometimes, where you’re with family or friends and then you leave for an hour because you’re recruiting, but it was awesome,” said Moore.
“I drove around America and was fortunate enough to go to the New York Knicks parade and ended up in a photo as part of a large crowd which was in the New York Times! I also ended up on TV during the World Cup when Côte d’Ivoire played Curaçao in Philadelphia, with my best friend and his fiancée, so it was a lot of fun.
“It was great to see family and friends, see their kids growing up too, and spend some time with my parents as well.”
Last season saw Moore guide Coventry to the Challenge Cup Final, something he believes was important for both the club and its supporters.
“It was really important to make the Challenge Cup Final last season,” he explained. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve never been shy about our goals of having opportunities to play for trophies.
“We’re very process-oriented, and you have to put in the work every day to be able to do that. Certainly with us last season, I felt like it galvanised the fan base, and they were thrilled, so for me it’s really important.
“Our fans are our lifeblood and we want to make them proud. It was also big for recruiting this year, and for belief starting the season. The name of the game is consistency, and we’re not satisfied with just a Cup run. We want to get the job done in any of the competitions we’re in.”
Moore says Coventry’s recruitment was not simply about correcting issues from last season, although there were specific areas the Blaze wanted to strengthen.
“I don’t think you always put a roster together based on what you might have been missing the year before,” he said. “Every coach has a plan to start the year, but we’re all smart enough to know that it always changes, adapts, and you have to problem-solve as the season goes on.
“We didn’t love where our faceoff percentage and centre support was last year, and when we were recruiting centres it was important that we had more depth at that position, and with faceoffs and exit support.
“Outside of that, I don’t think our blueprint has totally changed. We’re always looking for guys who fit our identity, which is being aggressively competitive, hunting together and having creative speed.
“Sometimes within that recruitment, the players themselves will dictate which one of the identity pieces comes to the top, but the goal is to hit on all three across the board. We certainly think we’ve done that and improved the roster, but it isn’t totally based on what we thought about last year’s team.”
With Coventry beginning pre-season this weekend, Moore is more interested in how his players respond to mistakes and learn from them than the final result.
“These four games, we just want to see guys playing hard,” he said. “We want to see our players making mistakes and learning from them quickly, making adjustments quickly.
“For me, pre-season is about making mistakes and teaching, and making corrections. It’s not about the final score of any of these games by any means. As long as we’re taking the steps to reveal our identity and problem-solve any mistakes, I think we’re getting what we need out of these games.
“We can also get used to playing in front of our own fans and see our process for a road trip, so everything is about teaching and getting ready for the start of the regular season.”
Photo: Scott Wiggins
