Coach’s Report: Rampage vs. The Coast – Round 1

What an exciting time for ice hockey in Brisbane.

For the past 10 years Queenslanders have been patiently waiting to see a local team once again compete for the chance at winning a national championship. With the start of the 2022 Pacific Hockey League season coming this weekend, the wait is finally over.

The team has been working extremely hard on and off the ice over the past 12 weeks. There have been many late nights and some very early mornings, some blood, sweat and possibly even a few tears.

The level of commitment and effort put forward over this period of time has far exceeded anything I could ask for as coach and I have been privileged to see this group of talented hockey players evolve into a tight knit team with a single united goal in mind – ‘ To compete hard every shift, support each other and enjoy the experience’.

If we can do this this every time we hit the ice I know we have the tools to win hockey games.

There are a lot of unknowns coming into this season after minimal hockey being played through the pandemic. I’m sure every coach and players have looked over team lists and have made some assumptions based on players they know, but the reality is a lot has changed in the past 2 years and until we face each team on the ice there will be questions that need answering.

With regards to our opponents this weekend, I know they have some very talented players, I know they will be extremely well coached under Andrew Petrie and I know they will not want to lose their first game at home.

I expect to face a well prepared team and i know we will need to be at our best in order to secure a win on either day.

I’m confident in our preparations and the work that our team has put in to get prepared for this season.

I believe if we are able to implement our game plan we will have success and I’m truely excited to finally get the chance to see this team take the ice and show everyone what they have to offer.

Our line up for this weekend:

• Derry Adler
• Harley Anderson (C)
• Josh Anderson (A)
• Jon Bale
• Anthony Barnes
• Marco Bertossa
• Ethan Conford
• Jack Connor
• Luca D’Arsie (G)
• Darryl Dunsford
• Nick Jones
• Jordan McTaggart
• Nick Novysedlak (G)
• Patrick Popovics
• Anthony Santilli
• Owen Sobchak
• Stefan Speck (A)
• Jakub Terc