Head coach Eric Blais 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 get the desired results from his club at the 惭补肠鈥檚 international midget hockey tournament.
But if the lessons learned mean the Okanagan Rockets are a better team for the rest of the season, then Blais will consider every moment spent last week in Calgary to be well worth the effort.
鈥泪 hope we learned how we need to play and what we need to do to win against the very best teams out 迟丑别谤别,鈥� said Blais. 鈥淲别 have to play hard on every shift and show better discipline, because 迟丑补迟鈥檚 what it takes to compete with the 产别蝉迟.鈥�
In one of the 飞辞谤濒诲鈥檚 best and largest tournaments of its kind, the Rockets went winless (0-3-1) at 惭补肠鈥檚 over the Christmas break, but Blais felt his team had a legitimate chance to come out on top in every game.
Okanagan lost 4-2 to the Calgary Royals, 5-2 to the Saskatoon Contacts, tied the Austrian national team 3-3, and fell 6-1 to Sherwood Park in a penalty-filled affair in their last game of the week.
The Contacts went on to make the championship game, before losing to the Belarus U18 nationals.
Blais said his team showed flashes of promise at 惭补肠鈥檚, but simply not enough consistency over the four-game span.
鈥泪 saw lots of good things, there were probably a couple of games where I thought we deserved a better 蹿补迟别,鈥� he said. 鈥淭丑别 last four periods, I thought we forechecked hard, we battled hard (against Sherwood Park) and the boys stood up for each other in what was a greasy game.
鈥沦辞尘别 things were encouraging, but 飞别鈥檙别 just not putting full games together and discipline has been a problem, 迟辞辞.鈥�
The Rockets (17-5-0-2) have a busy stretch ahead as they return to B.C. Major Midget League action this weekend with two games in Squamish against the Vancouver Northwest Giants. Then the Rockets will play a minimum of five games next week at the 麻豆精选 International Elite Midget Tournament.
Blais expects the next handful of games will reveal his 迟别补尘鈥檚 true colours.
鈥泪 think (惭补肠鈥檚) was the low point of our 蝉别补蝉辞苍,鈥� he said. 鈥淓惫别谤测 team goes through it, now 滨鈥檓 interested to see how we react. If we want to accomplish anything, we have to be hard on the puck on every shift. 滨鈥檓 going to demand a lot of the boys the next while and 飞别鈥檒濒 find out how they 谤别蝉辫辞苍诲.鈥�
