Park’s boys’ hockey played Spring Lake Park/Coon Rapids Dec. 3 and came out with a 9-6 victory. With the first game of the season being Nov. 22, the Orioles have a 4-1 win-loss record so far in their season.
Coach Tyler Brodersen said he was looking forward to their game against Spring Lake Park/Coon Rapids because he knew they were a strong team. He said despite the first period being a struggle, the team was able to turn the tide and respond strongly.
“We’ve been playing good hockey, so I was excited. I knew this would be a better team than we’ve seen, other than Champlin Park,” Brodersen said. “I was excited to see what we were going to do, and I did not like us in the first period, but I thought we responded really well.”
Senior captain Jack Betzer said Park played well and made a solid comeback after trailing by two points. He said senior Trey Janssen had a great game, scoring five goals.
“(The game went) pretty well. We were down six to four going into the third (period) and (we) just found a way to win,” Betzer said. “Trey Janssen had five goals, that was definitely a big part (of our success).”
Senior Trey Janssen, with five goals and seven points of his own, said the team played a good game. He said a moment that stuck out to him was his assist from senior goaltender Brennan Hogan.
“I thought it went pretty well. I got seven points—had a rough start but came out with the W (win),” Janssen said. “(A good play was) Brennan Hogan blocking a shot, and then I went on a breakaway and scored.”
Brodersen said the first goal in the third period stood out to him during the game. He said it was a good reminder that the team had a chance to win.
“Scoring the goal 10 seconds into the third period (was a moment that stuck out for me). You go from a two-goal deficit to being like, ‘Oh, we’re in this game, all we need is one more,’” Brodersen said.
According to Betzer, the team has been working hard in practices to perfect their passing, especially when they’re up against fast teams.
“We’ve been focusing on our passing a lot. (It’s a) pretty important part of our game because they’re such a fast team and passing is so important because it’s a big part of the game,” Betzer said.
According to Brodersen, he views the three periods in hockey tournaments as three separate games and uses the breaks between them to reset the players so they feel good going into the next period. He said he approaches the game in this way to help prepare the players by having them focus on the upcoming period so they don’t get hung up on previous ones.
“It’s all about trying to reset. If we try to look at the game as three separate games, three separate periods, if you win each of them, you win the game,” Brodersen said. “Just trying to reset and not let what happened in the first period affect what happens in the second and so on because it doesn’t matter what you do the first two periods if you can get it done in the third.”
Janssen said the team uses the breaks between periods to regroup and reorganize if they are having a bad period.
“(We) regroup if we have a bad period, just come back and lock in and talk and see what we need to fix,” Janssen said.
Brodersen said he hopes to see Park continue to improve and become more consistent with their strong plays because he believes in the team’s potential.
“(We could improve in) consistency, playing good defense from the beginning of the game. I would love to not give up six goals,” Brodersen said. “We are too good as a team to be given up six goals a night, so just improving on our defense.”
Park boys hockey will play their next game against Hopkins 7 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Rec Center.
