“All you’re basically doing is juggling lines and seeing who matches up with who, see if there’s any chemistry within you lines and within your players, and see what limitations you have to work with,” said Hoffe. “You want your goaltenders to get lots of shots to see how they maintain…and we had a lot of new faces this year, guys I haven’t seen, or saw little of, so it was quite the experience for me to see what I have to work with.”
Competing for a spot on the roster include Gander’s Josh Fitzgerald, Thomas Hedges, Ryan Kane, Michael Mason, and Graham Oldford; and Centreville-Wareham-Trinity’s Bruce Glover.
When Hoffe assembles his final roster, and if the stars align properly, he believes the IcePak could earn another trip to the league’s championship series at season’s end.
“We have a shortened five-team league now, so we need to have a lot of practices, and the players really need to buy into the system, just like they did last year. That’s one of the reasons why we were so successful,” said Hoffe, noting the Northern Huskies won’t be competing in the league this season. “If the players buy in, and if they show up to all the practices and games, I think we’ll be quite fine, and can possibly exceed where we were last year…providing if all things go right.”
If there are any players who are interested in playing for the IcePak, but haven’t tried out yet, they should contact Todd Manual at 541-2077.
The Beacon
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