Hawks reach Christmas break sitting ninth in SJHL standings

“It’s been an up and down year, we’re kind of riding the rollercoaster right now,” he said. “We started off 4-0 and then took some on the chin and dug ourselves a hole. Obviously, a coaching change in the middle there and I have six games under my belt now.”

For this group which has dealt with a lot already this season, especially with their former coach being let go, Kozun said he believes the break was quite timely and much needed for his team.

“It’s huge, any time you can get a break for Christmas, it’s obviously big,” he said. “The season’s a grind when there are 58 games in a year and we’re through 33. There’s a lot of hockey left to be played in only two months and a week. For how busy our schedule is, they needed to go home, reset, take their ten days off, regroup, get their bodies back to where they need to be and be ready to go into the second half, so we can hit the ground running.”

And for a team that is currently on the outside looking in, as far as a playoff spot is concerned, Kozun said one thing has to remain the same if they are to make it into the postseason.

“Just to compete every day, we need to show up and compete every day, work hard and make sure we’re doing things right,” he said. “If we keep doing things right every game, every day, we’re going to get rewarded. As soon as we start to cheat and start to take shortcuts, that’s when things fall off the wheels. If we can stay committed to the process and keep pushing the process forward, then I believe in this team and we can have a lot of success in the second half.”

Luckily for the Hawks, they will have the ability to prove themselves in less than two weeks, as they will face the same Mustangs in yet another home and home series. Kozun said despite losing both to Melfort, he’s taking positives into the team’s first games, post-Christmas break.

“Friday night’s loss was obviously tough, gave up a lot of goals,” he said. “Saturday I thought we played much better, the compete was there. Obviously, the first goal, a 5-on-3 goal, you expect to score on 5-on-3’s and you expect other teams to score but I thought our penalty kill did a heck of a job. It’s something we can definitely build off of. Having those two games before the break and then two games after, we can come up with a game plan and be ready to go against them.”

And for Kozun, now having a few games to adjust to his new role, he said he’s going to use the break to recharge and prepare himself to get the most out of his club moving forward.

“I’m fully prepared and can help these guys do anything we can to make sure we’re making them better hockey players and better humans. That’s our key, we’re going to make sure we make this town proud and we’re going to do everything we can to ensure that.”

Nipawin will play Friday, Dec 31 in Melfort, before returning home, Saturday, Jan. 1 to host said Mustangs.

–

Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8

by Ben Tompkins

Hawks reach Christmas break sitting ninth in SJHL standings

What's Trending