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Coach Morry realistic in what he expects in provincial AAA peewee league

Western may be still looking for its first win of the year in the provincial AAA peewee hockey league, but coach Gerard Morry says the word quit has never come up.

Western AAA Peewee Kings’ Spencer Caines gets set to accept a pass during a practice drill Wednesday evening at the Kinsmen Arena II in Corner Brook.
Western AAA Peewee Kings’ Spencer Caines gets set to accept a pass during a practice drill Wednesday evening at the Kinsmen Arena II in Corner Brook.

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Morry is the head coach for a Western side that sits in the cellar of the five-team provincial AAA peewee setup with 16 straight losses. The Western boys have scored only 20 goals while the goaltending tandem has allowed 185 goals in those 16 blowout losses.

Western has no intention of folding from the league, however.

It’s been a challenge for Morry to prepare his players for competition because most of them have never played at such a high level before.

It’s been a tough adjustment for the team, but Morry believes a lot of things can be fixed over time and he’s going to be patient because he’s realistic in his expectations.

“The pace of the game, the level of play and the attention to detail is probably not there like it’s got to be,” he said. “They don’t understand how important it is for certain aspects of the game to succeed at the AAA level.”

Rolling his lines is something he has been doing all year. He said it’s nice to be able to use the top players for a power play in a close game, but when the scores are so lopsided he doesn’t see the point.

“When you’re down 5-0 with five minutes gone in the game that’s no time to be breaking hearts, in my mind,” he said. “You get more out of playing them all and making them learn what we’re doing wrong than it is to use your best and make it 10-2 instead of 10-0.”

Western will host Central Ice Pak for three games this weekend — Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 11:30 a.m. — at the Kinsmen Arena II.

The Western team held a practice Saturday night to prepare for the series.

Morry wants to see his players continue working hard because he believes they can close the gap with Central and TriPen by the time the final weekend rolls around. But he’s not going to mislead his players when it comes to the tough test of competing against St. John’s and TriCom.

Morry is the head coach for a Western side that sits in the cellar of the five-team provincial AAA peewee setup with 16 straight losses. The Western boys have scored only 20 goals while the goaltending tandem has allowed 185 goals in those 16 blowout losses.

Western has no intention of folding from the league, however.

It’s been a challenge for Morry to prepare his players for competition because most of them have never played at such a high level before.

It’s been a tough adjustment for the team, but Morry believes a lot of things can be fixed over time and he’s going to be patient because he’s realistic in his expectations.

“The pace of the game, the level of play and the attention to detail is probably not there like it’s got to be,” he said. “They don’t understand how important it is for certain aspects of the game to succeed at the AAA level.”

Rolling his lines is something he has been doing all year. He said it’s nice to be able to use the top players for a power play in a close game, but when the scores are so lopsided he doesn’t see the point.

“When you’re down 5-0 with five minutes gone in the game that’s no time to be breaking hearts, in my mind,” he said. “You get more out of playing them all and making them learn what we’re doing wrong than it is to use your best and make it 10-2 instead of 10-0.”

Western will host Central Ice Pak for three games this weekend — Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 11:30 a.m. — at the Kinsmen Arena II.

The Western team held a practice Saturday night to prepare for the series.

Morry wants to see his players continue working hard because he believes they can close the gap with Central and TriPen by the time the final weekend rolls around. But he’s not going to mislead his players when it comes to the tough test of competing against St. John’s and TriCom.

Morry
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