Carrying the puck up around the face-off dot, the Mansfield Hockey team picks up the tempo, making sure the drills will improve their skill sets for the competition they’re about to face.
Coming off of a playoff run, Mansfield Hockey looks forward to a long, event filled season. With new players and a new coach, Mansfield has high hopes for the year in varsity and JV.
“Everyone seems to have gotten bigger and stronger and matured since last season,” JV Coach Tanner Thomas said. “I don’t see us being intimidated by some of the other teams like we were last season.”
New players for Mansfield include Chandler Davis and Jacob Gray. Varsity also has Nick Culter, Chris Pressley, and Adam Schreck moving up from JV.
“We should be able to build on last year’s success,” Varsity Assistant Coach Dave DePaul said. “We have more talent spread across the entire team.”
Mansfield went to state last year, and ended the tournament with a 1-2 record.
“As a team I hope there is a feeling of a mission unaccomplished last year,” DePaul said. “We want to take that next step to state champions”
JV has picked up a new assistant coach, Kenny Tyler, this year. Tyler most recently coached Midget Minor and Major for the past two years.
“Kenny Tyler has been great so far,” Thomas said. “He brings a lot of experience to share with the team.”
The Mansfield Hockey coaching staff has kept most of their players and look to prepare them for the season.
“Most of the players already having knowledge of the usual drills,” DePaul said. “We should be able to expand on those drills, run them at a higher tempo, and have that translate into game situations.”
