Moose break camp and head to Philly to start the season!!!

The 2009-2010 Metro Moose Junior B team is in full preparation mode for the upcoming 2009-2010 season. This year’s team will try to build on the success of last year’s squad who won the regular season CHA title and had a very strong showing at the USA Hockey Junior B Nationals.

The 2009-2010 Moose headed to training camp on August 19 and began to work both on and off the ice to prepare for the season. The workouts were grueling as the coaching staff wanted to see who was working out during the off season as well as prepare the team for the level of expectations they will face all year long. The off-ice portion of camp featured daily drills consisting of running, plyo metric stations and speed and agility drills. The players were put through various drills each with specific goals in mind. In addition to the workouts and drills, the team was also challenged by the staff in a number of team bonding exercises. The staff feels it’s very important for the team to come together as quickly as possible as chemistry and cohesion are extremely important to any team’s on ice success. The on ice portion of camp featured a number of different drills and exercises. Conditioning and speed were the main focal points all camp long. The players were challenged daily to work harder, skate longer and make plays quicker. The coaching staff had prepared all off season since the National tournament on what they wanted to improve on starting at training camp and they wanted to start working on them from Day 1. All in all, the coaching staff felt training camp went very well. They believed the players knew what the expectations were for the season and they began to work on the systems and skills to help them achieve their ultimate goal of winning a National Championship. The camp was closed out by the first annual rookie costume contest. Each rookie had to wear a costume to and from the final day of training camp. The costumes were all great but the winner of the contest was forward Anthony Allogio who came to camp as Assistant Coach Vic DiRico. The entire team enjoyed a great laugh and they voted Anthony as the winner for his efforts.

After breaking camp the team headed down to Philadelphia for the Jr. Flyers Pre-season Showcase. This would be a great pre-season test for the team as there were some good Junior B hockey teams on hand and the Moose could get a feel for how far they had come and what they need to still work on. The first game on Friday featured the Moose taking on the Philadelphia Revolution of the Empire Junior Hockey League. The Revolution has previously been known as the Tri-State Selects and are coming off a very strong 2008-2009 campaign that saw them as a National Semi-finalist. This would be a great first game for the Moose. The team didn’t play particularly well and found themselves down 2-0 with fewer than 10 minutes to go in the game despite some great goaltending by Steve Laris. The Moose would finally get on the board on a power play tally from defenseman Kevin Drudy. Kevin was set up for the goal on a great pass from Keegan Travers. Just seconds later the Moose would tie the game at 2, with Travers getting one himself off a rebound shot from Steve Kelly. The teams would go back and forth after that but no one was able to light the lamp again and both teams skated away with a point each.

Game 2 of the weekend would feature the Moose taking on the home team Philadelphia Junior Flyers of the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League. The Moose simply didn’t come to play at all. The team was dominated in every aspect of the game. They would go on to fall by the score of 7-0. The team took over 25 minutes in penalties and were horrible in the defensive zone all game long. Despite out shooting the Flyers, the Moose couldn’t generate a single goal. This put them into a tough spot heading into game 3.

The third and final round robin game of the weekend featured the Moose taking on the NY Applecore of the CHA. The Moose and Applecore have had some great games and this one would be no different. Despite controlling much of the game early on, the Moose found themselves down 2-0. The team couldn’t muster any offense despite having numerous power play opportunities due to an undisciplined Applecore squad. Finally late in the period, rookie forward Joe Gilhooly would get the team on the board with a great effort goal by driving to the net hard and redirecting a Steve Kelly pass past the goaltender. The Moose entered the break trailing 2-1 but feeling confident. They came out of the break and scored the next 4 consecutive goals to cruise to a 5-2 victory. Forward Gavin Grogan got the game tied at 2 with a nifty backhand finish of a rebound in front of the net. Gilhooly and Grogan would finish the day with 2 goals apiece as they really set the tone with all their hard work and fearlessness. Forward Keegan Travers also netted his second goal of the weekend off a pass from Kevin Drudy. Thomas Dorsey and Steve Laris split the duties in net and got the victory.

Despite failing to advance to the playoff round of the Showcase, the staff was happy to get to evaluate the team against some tough opponents. Coach Bob DiRico stated”This is what these showcases are for; the team to establish its identity and learn how to play together and for us the coaches to evaluate each player and the team as a whole”. The team will now get back to work at practice before traveling to the Brewster Bulldogs Labor Day Showcase where they will face off against three more great local Junior B teams.

The team would like to thank the staff at the Aviator for their help and professionalism throughout all of training camp. The facility was great and the team was treated very well and had every resource made available to them. The Junior B would also like to welcome Vinny Smith, the newest member of the coaching staff. Vinny, who is the head coach of the Greater New York Stars Midget Minor team has come aboard to help out as much as he can. He will be an assistant on the Junior B staff while also overseeing his own team. Vinny’s background and knowledge will prove to be a valuable asset to the staff and players.