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LonnyBohonos16 · 01-04-2019, 01:47 PM

(Word Count: 1445, Ready to Grade)

Building a Winning Culture In Anchorage

A new season brings about new hope for the members of the Anchorage Armada hockey club, as they look to turn the tide on what has been an organization that has suffered from a lack of success as of late. This year the Armada will be relying on the eleven returning players from last season as they look to climb the standings and improve on their 23-21-6 record from last season that saw them clinch the final playoff spot. Of the returning players, only three of them will be occupying the blueline meaning they will be relying heavily on veterans like Leopold Lockhart and Jacob Geza to eat up important minutes.


Lockhart, who put up 31 points in his rookie season last year, is preparing to take on a bigger leadership role this season after recently being name the captain of the Armada. With last season’s surprise post season appearance, Lockhart believes the expectations are there for the Armada to succeed going forward “I think we blew expectations out of the water last season, making playoffs when no one thought we were capable of it. So yeah, I think we absolutely have greater expectations for ourselves this season” adding that there are improvements that need to be made for them in order for them to continue growing “We need to improve our special teams, for sure. Our power play and our PK percentages were both close to the bottom last season. If we can improve those things, I think we'll be on the right track”.

  However accomplishing that will not be an easy task for Anchorage who are in the process of introducing nine new players to their roster this season, making good leadership all the more important to their success. When asked what the expectations are for himself and the rest of the leadership group this season, Lockhart states “We've got a lot of fresh faces, so I think the biggest thing for us as returning players will be showing the new guys the ropes, making sure they're feeling comfortable, making sure they're slotting into the lineup well, working on chemistry.”

Other members of their leadership group including Jacob Geza, another veteran blueliner, explained in broken English the importance of coming to the arena prepared every day "We need to hit gym everyday and work really hard. Rookies we have have come in and fit in really fast. Rookies have make good plays already. So they already think really smart in term of hockey. I think our older players just need to give help to rookies sometime. Let rookies know about things they learn, what help them, try to make rookies feel welcome too. I think our team is really good for this, so with very active rookies, we should versenyez". Geza explained that those would be important factors to help build on the success of last season, as he believes that the Armada are icing a better team this year which will hopefully lead to another playoff appearance. "I think last season was good step. Max [Brannagan, GM] tell me before I come that the team is in rebuild, so for a team in rebuild, last season is good. Was playoff mistake? Maybe... We play not good sometime, but other time we play better. Maybe playoff last season was mistake, but good élmény. Uh.... experience. Ya, good experience. I think this year should be good. Our team is more good from last year. We draft very good players that come in and make good plays and grow very fast. I want to go to round 2 or finals. I think at end of season, this is possible!” Geza played a limited role last season as a rookie for the Armada, being placed further down the depth chart, but has since made the jump to the first pairing placing him in a position to be relied on a lot more.

He addressed the difficulties of joining a new team in a new country while adapting to life in America, as the Hungarian arrived late last season and felt like he was playing catch up from the beginning. However, this year is different as Geza feels like he has a better understanding of his role which has made him feel a lot more comfortable adding that “This year is better because I talk more with Max so I know what to do. I need to work on more offense. Last year i don't help in offense, so for offseason I work on that. I hope this will help team. I still need to work on passing and maybe skating. I also take many penalty last year, so I need to be more strict and take no more PIMs".
The high expectations for the season are felt by everyone throughout the locker room, in a good way that is.

For a team that has been rebuilding or at the bottom of the standings, carrying the expectations of reaching the playoffs is an added pressure that all players love to have. The prospect of being competitive isn’t lost on any of the new players but Geza added that it shouldn’t stop them from enjoying the moment “I want rookies to work hard and have fun. I think it take some time to get used to league. And you are rookie one time. So rookies should joy [enjoy] that. If rookies work hard and do their best, we will be very strong, and I think Season 45 or Season 46 we win cup!".

This opinion is shared by Anchorages rookie Johnny Sins, who indicated that he understands what is expected of him and his teammates despite not being a member of last season’s team. “The team worked their ass off last season to get the results that they achieved and they expect all of us new players to put in a similar effort this year to build on those results. I am going to take time off of filming videos to ensure that I am laying the body instead of laying the pipe. I think the added pressure to perform can really help players as it forces them to essentially bring their A game every night.” Sins would go on to explain how he has also managed to deal with the pressure of moving to a new city stating that “It can be fairly nerve-racking for any player to join a new team or league especially in a city as remote as Anchorage but thankfully we have a good group here that has made the transition easier”. Sins was asked if he felt any pressure or concerns about him game after only scoring two points in the first nine games, adding that “I have no concerns at all, I am working on other facets of my game to become more defensively sound, so once those areas have been improved I feel like the points will come”.

One rookie standout that has performed well early on in the season for the Armada is Kalevi Karhunen. The 4th round pick of the previous draft, Karhunen has managed 7 points in his first nine games with Anchorage, tying him for second on the team in points. When asked how he’s been able to adjust so quickly to the SMJHL he indicated that “I just try to keep my head down and be humble, put in 100% every shift and make sure I don't make any bone-headed mistakes in my own end. I'm a pass first guy and am lucky to have teammates who can shoot the puck so well." Karhunen has made it clear where the expectations of himself and his teammates lie, indicating that “I always expect to win, we're off to a good start and I expect us to keep that going and finish on top".

  The Armada were off to a fairly inconsistent start as they were not able to string together multiple wins at a time but that has changed of late. They have put together four straight wins while looking stable in all areas of the ice including goaltending, something that veteran forward Maxime Bouchard felt was a weakness last year but has since been addressed by rookie goaltender Peter Larson.

Anchorage will be looking to improve their 6-3-0 record against the first place Colorado Raptors who will present the Armada with their biggest challenge yet.