Hockey at John McCrae

You might have noticed the temperature dropping recently, and you know what that means; it’s hockey season. I have just recently done an interview with Mr. Martin, the coach of the boys varsity hockey team, and he has given me an amazing insight into the program and what it’s about.

*Note: This interview was conducted on Thursday, October 21, before the first hockey games were played

Question #1:

Can you give me a brief overview of the hockey program here at John McCrae?

Mr. Martin: Not last year but the year before, (the 2019 season) was the first year that we moved to a non-contact hockey league. With that, the program caters to a different clientele of student athletes. So, there is no contact and in my experience having run the program in the last ten years, prior to 2019, it was always contact. We made a move for a variety of reasons, and ultimately what we found is that the commitment level is higher (more commitment attending practice, commitment attending games), less conflict (in the contact league we found that a lot of kids were running into conflict with their community hockey and it created some challenges when it came to game day and there was limited availability in terms of players), and I like that you select the team and they're there ready to learn and develop their skill set.

Question #2:

Are there different types of teams, like grade 9, grade 10, etc?

Mr. Martin: Hockey is a varsity sport and as such we take players from grade nine to grade twelve. Some years we’ll have some grade nine players, and that sets them up nicely if we’re playing multiple years on the team, being a big part of the program, so there is a really diverse range of students. Most come from a house league background and most have more than enough time to dedicate to making sure they're ready to play and ready to practice. That makes for a much more enjoyable experience as a coach.

Question #3:

Are kids who do competitive sports allowed on any of the hockey teams or is it just house league players?

Mr Martin: There are rules in place that limit participation, so any player from rec b down to house league is eligible to play. So any player who is playing double A, single A, they don’t fit the requirement to play in a non-contact environment, those are the NCSSA rules.

Question #4:

What has changed in the hockey program since COVID-19? (Ice times, locker times, certain regulations)

Mr Martin: We’re just getting started so I guess the big change right now is masking and the format of how we’re going to roll out the season. What has been decided is that rather than playing a game here, a game there, a game a week, we’re actually playing kind of like a mini-tournament within the south division. So, within the south division we have St. Mark’s, we have St. Joe’s and we have St. Francis Xavier as well as John McCrae, who will on October 27, next Wednesday, we will participate in a one-day tournament to be able to play out our games.

Question #5:

So those are going to be the only games that the team will play for the entire season?

Mr Martin: No, there will be ANOTHER similar format tournament in November where we play and then following the second tournament styled day of gameplay, then the results of that will establish the playoffs. The playoffs will be a more traditional way in a sense that we’ll do it after school.

Question #6:

Do you know how many games will be played for any given hockey team?

Mr Martin: Currently, I imagine next Wednesday, we will have three games, and then the following tournament we will have three more games because the maximum amount of games you can play in a day is three. And then, depending on playoffs and how you do, will determine how many more games you play.

Question #7:

How many teams will there be in our league?

Mr Martin: There is a tier one and a tier two. You as a school decide in which tier your hockey team is best fitted. So, if you think you’re a lower-skilled team, then you would consider putting yourself in a tier two division. John McCrae is traditionally a tier one school, and that’s where we are at. We are in the south division and then the east division consists of four teams, and the west division consists of four teams. The first tournament will be played against the south teams.

Question #8:

Is there going to be a boys team and a girls team?

Mr Martin: If there is a female team that’s run, that means there will only be two hockey teams (girls and boys)

Question #9:

Do you have a philosophy about coaching?

Mr Martin: What I like to see is hard work, like when people are out on the ice and they're on their shift is that they’re playing 100%, and that means both ends of the ice, so that is probably the biggest thing.