Petes have made many on and off ice changes
‘We want to be a high-tempo team that is aggressive’: Oke
When a hockey season doesn’t go as expected a lot of reflection goes on to see what might be done differently.
Petes GM Mike Oke and his staff reviewed a lot of things after missing the playoffs last season and made numerous changes on and off the ice.
The most significant change was hiring new head coach Rob Wilson who brings a track record of 15 years of success coaching in Europe.
He’s also a Petes alumnus who spends his summers in Peterborough so he’s familiar with his surroundings.
Oke has been impressed by Wilson’s passion, his attention to detail, organizational skills and people skills.
“There is definitely a renewed energy,” Oke said. “Rob is coming in with a great deal of experience as a coach. He’s brought some systems with him he’s had success with over in Europe that are maybe not the traditional North American style.
“Over the last two weeks a lot of teaching has been taking place introducing some of his systems that are maybe different than what he players have been accustomed to.”
Oke expects the team to play an exciting brand of hockey.
“We want to be a high-tempo team that is aggressive and doesn’t spend a lot of time in our own zone,” Oke said.
Some changes fans won’t see. The team has reorganized its daily schedule for players which had been in place for many years. The high school students used to get the last period off school to attend a 2:30 p.m. practice. Now they get first period off to join college and university players for a morning workout or skills development. They all return for a 3:30 p.m. practice. It puts all players on the same schedule and allows for more mentoring by older players.
Their partnership with Hybrid Fitness has expanded led by Josh Gillam and Broedie Birkhof to include nutrition as well as strength and conditioning coaching.
“They’ve put together a daily plan for the players to make sure they’re taking care of themselves off the ice in regard to proper stretching, proper warm-up, proper conditioning are being,” said Oke.
Skills development coach Mike Duco is doing regular skills development sessions.
They renovated what was previously their weight room into more of a video room and players’ lounge with kitchen facilities.
They added Noah Bucholtz as a video coach to break down video not just between games but during games.
“It allows the coaches to spend more time teaching with video as opposed to breaking it down,” Oke said.
“Noah has done a good job learning about the added features we have available to us that in the past we maybe didn’t have the time to take advantage of.”
They also added assistant athletic trainer Natasha Lagace to join head trainer Brian Miller.
All these moves were made to provide all the support players required to help players be at their best.
“We certainly expect to have a stronger season than we did last year,” Oke said.
“I’m excited because I think we have a group of players who feel they have a lot to prove. The returning players certainly feel we underachieved. Every player has come back and said he can be better. They’ve come back with a sense of wanting to prove last year wasn’t indicative of their individual and collective capabilities.
“The first-year players are coming in hungry to make their mark in the OHL. We have a lot of players excited to show we can be a real competitive team. The coaches are also doing a good job of showing the players this is a process. It’s something that has to take place every day.”