Braves need hard work ethic

Times Reporter  

 

Fifth-year Wheatland Braves head coach Keith Klemmensen wants to see better results in the later stages of games and wants his team to keep a consistent competitive level every night.

“Expectations are that we will be better at the end than we were at the start. It’s always hard to make playoffs in this league, but I think we’ll have a shot at playoffs,” said the peewee double-A coach.

Klemmensen expects his team to learn how to work hard in the games from the puck drop to the final buzzer in order to get results.

“(They need) to learn how to work. At the end of the day when they come into the AA peewee stream, they think they know how to work, but they don’t know how to work,” said Klemmensen.

The team has a few returning players from a year ago and those veterans will be expected to lead the Braves.

“We have three returning forwards this year. They all have different strengths, one’s an immensely talented guy that works pretty steadily, one is one of the five per cent that does have that work ethic and (the other) is a converted defensemen from last year that went to forward,” said Klemmensen.

Prior to the Red-and-White game on Sept. 11, the coach was hoping to see a consistent effort out of everyone on the ice to give him and his staff a better idea of whom to select.

“I hope to see a consistent effort from the start to the end. It’s important that they establish in the evaluator’s mind that they have the mental toughness to go for the whole duration of the game,” said Klemmensen. “It sounds so cliché, but believe me, most of them at peewee don’t have an idea what a whole game effort is.” 

The coaches are going to change the system for this young team to have an all-around improved effort by each player.

“At this level there are some things that are necessary to do whether it works or not,” said Klemmensen. “You have to teach them how to work, give an effort and teach them how to get out of their comfort zone.”

The Braves were in action at an evaluation tournament in Airdrie on Sept. 13-14. Their first league is on Sept. 19 in Taber.