This is posted on Jeff Bromley's Kootenay Ice Blog:Holick coaches U-18 to gold
by Jeff Bromley
Kootenay Ice head coach Mark Holick returned home from Piestany, Slovakia Sunday after a stint as assistant coach to Canada's U-18 team with somewhat heavier luggage. Souvenirs for the family will do that. His biggest souvenir however was the gold medal around his neck and it’s one he’ll cherish for a very long time.
Team Canada’s U-18 entry in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament - formerly the Junior World Cup - in the Czech Republic and Slovakia came away with yet another gold medal after the squad dumped Team Russia in the final by a lopsided 9-2 score. “We were as good against the Russians as anytime in the tournament,” said Holick following a gruelling 20-hour trip home through Vienna, Frankfurt, Calgary and finally Cranbrook Sunday afternoon. “We studied some video our guys got from Russia’s game the night before in Braclav and they like to skate, make the pretty pass and make the long-bomb down the ice. We took that away and were very physical with them and once we got the lead it didn’t seem like they wanted any part of it anymore.”
Team Canada ran the table with four wins at the eight-team tournament with their closest game a 3-2 decision against Team Sweden to open the annual summer gathering of 17-year-olds. The next night they doubled Switzerland 6-3 before trouncing the Czech Republic 9-0 Thursday night to gain a berth in the tournament championship. Though you’ll never hear him say it, from afar it looked very much like one of the easiest gold medals Canada’s ever won at this tournament. Though things almost got derailed in an early battle with Sweden. “We viewed the start of the tournament with Sweden as potentially the gold medal game right out of the gate,” continued Holick. “We were fortunate and after the first five minutes it easily could’ve been 2-0 Sweden. Our goalie, Calvin Pickard, played really well for us in the opening minutes and allowed us to get our legs. We were a little bit shell-shocked.”
After the 3-2 win against Sweden Canada took Team Switzerland for granted somewhat in the second contest. Tied 2-2 going into the second period the score garnered the club a less than cordial motivational speech from head coach Bob Bougher along with Holick and the other assistant coach, Oshawa Generals bench boss Chris Dipiero. “We had to get after the guys in the intermission and made sure where their focus was,” said Holick. “We had a couple words to say and Bob (head coach Bougher) took charge and obviously nothing you can print but certainly he got their attention and why they were there and that there were people sacrificing their time and energy for those players to get together. When you put that Maple Leaf on your chest be prepared to battle. After that we were better in the second, took care of it in the third and got better as the tournament wore on.”
The tournament win continues a growing tradition for both Ice players and coaches who have struck gold in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, including Brayden McNabb and Nathan Lieuwen last year, John Negrin, Ben Maxwell, Nigel Dawes, Jarrett Stoll and Steve McCarthy before them but also former Ice head coach Cory Clouston, presently the Ottawa Senators head coach, who won gold as an assistant in 2005 and then as head coach in 2006.
No comments:
Post a Comment