Macdonald Swarm looking to sting the competition
HTJHL squad working on defense to improve in their first season
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This article was published 03/12/2021 (1372 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Nearly a month in to their inaugural regular season, the Macdonald Swarm are looking to sting the competition in the Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League and start putting some more wins in the column, just as they did on opening night.
“They were anxious to get going, we were a little bit nervous where we’d fit,” said Brad Day, general manager of the Macdonald Swarm, talking about the team’s first game.
“We had played one exhibition game and lost in overtime. A lot of these guys hadn’t played in a year or year and a half so they were excited.”
“The first game everyone was pretty excited, getting the ball rolling and not knowing what to expect,” said Swarm head coach Darren Wiechern.
The Swarm, based out of Sanford, defeated the Lorette Comets by a score of 3-2 in overtime in that first game.
Since then, the team has fallen to 1-4-0 through its first five regular season games and sat last in the six-team league ahead of a Dec. 4 game vs. Lorette.
Day said there is plenty of motivation to keep building from defeat.
“It was very nice, we played a tough team and every game so far has been close,” Day said.
“We’re getting better, stronger and a little more comfortable with each other. We’re a competitive team in this league and our goaltending has been exceptional. Hopefully we have a good back half to the season here.”
“We knew Lorette was going to be one of the better teams in the league so it was a good win for us,” Wiechern added.
“My biggest takeaway is knowing that we can keep up with all the teams in the league and fine tuning the little aspects to hope they come around come playoffs. Our defensive game needs to be picked up a little bit with regards to breaking out and keeping the control in the offensive zone.”
The general manager recognized Wiechern’s concern and said many teams in the league are still finding their feet defensively.
“We need to improve our defensive play and that’s no secret amongst all of us,” Day said.
“That’s going to be the focus, work more on systems and continue to play hard.”
At press time, the Swarm had played four of the five other teams in the HTJHL and had 19 games left in the season. Day said his expectations of the league play have improved.
“It’s a very good league, when I looked at this league in the past, guys had told me it’s decent but it’s not great,” Day said.
“They said it used to be a league of just thugs, a tough-and-rough league and the quality of hockey has dramatically improved.”
The general manager said there’s a lot more skill present on ice every night which has kept the play at a high level and the competition excellent.
“It’s been very close, if you look at the first couple of weeks, just about every single game was an overtime game or a one or two goal game,” Day explained.
“For us as a new team to be able to hang in that group has been good. We’ve had some injury issues and that’s made it a little more difficult for us as well. We’re in much better condition as a team than we were a month and a half ago. It’s a bit of puck luck here and there, and now it’s a matter of winning.”
The general manager said the River East Royal Knights of the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League recently recruited Brennan Cook, a forward from the Swarm. Day said he is happy to see kids move on to a higher level of junior hockey and is grateful to both the Sanford and Starbuck arenas for giving the Swarm a home rink this season.
“After starting a team this late, they’ve been extremely cooperative in accommodating us,” Day said.
Day and Wiechern said the Sanford club has gotten a lot of interest from kids in high school and other junior hockey leagues after the season has started. The two are delighted to see the enthusiasm the team has brought to the community and look to expand their contingent base of players.
“It’s been very satisfying for me and certainly I see going forward it’s an opportunity for a lot of kids,” Day said.
“We have a couple more now, a few guys looking to make a fresh start now close to home,” Wiechern said.
“It’s great, it’s all a very close group of guys, they all enjoy playing together and our chemistry is starting to come around and you can see the morale in the dressing room, everyone is there having fun and that’s the main thing to be.”