From the Expositor: Coaching Winter Hawks ‘most fun’ for Crosby
Coaching Winter Hawks ‘most fun’ for Crosby
By Brian Smiley
Posted 18 hours ago
Standing behind the bench of the Cambridge Winter Hawks is turning out to be Peter Crosby’s best job.
“It’s the most enjoyable experience I’ve ever had as a coach,” says Crosby, a Paris District High School teacher who is in his first season with the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League Mid-Western Conference team.
“Honestly, this is the most fun and the best team I’ve ever been around in all of my coaching,” Crosby said in an interview just prior to the league’s Christmas break.
“That room is so tight – it’s unbelievable how tight they are. They buy into everything, our systems, our dry land training …. They commit to two meetings, to captain meetings, they commit to video twice a week.
“They’re right into it. They do so much for the community . . . and they don’t bat an eye.”
Crosby’s coaching stints have included stops with the girls high school team at PDHS, the Brantford Blast, Brantford Golden Eagles, Paris Mounties and Brampton Thunder and Mississauga Chiefs of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.
Crosby, who lives in Cambridge, had applied for the Winter Hawks job in the past. Last June, he got the job. He hasn’t been disappointed.
“I really love the direction that they had set out, about who we are, how we build the team, where we want to go, how we want to sustain a team that is going to be successful in drawing fans,” he said.
“It was all laid out there. They’ve done a ton of work. You can see it in our fan base. Our fan base is terrific.
“They’re running it like a professional organization. They’re running it like a community-driven organization, which is awesome.”
After back-to-back Sutherland Cup provincial junior B hockey championships in 2006 and 2007, the Winter Hawks fell from the top perch.
Part of the problem was that, after the championships, the team lost a good chunk of its core and now management is working to restock the cupboard.
“We’re the youngest, or second youngest, team in the province,” said Crosby. “They work so hard, they buy in so much. The last five games that we’ve played to close out the break we’ve done it with 13 or 14 skaters at the junior B level.”
Because of injuries, illness and suspensions, the Winter Hawks had a shorter bench prior to Christmas but they are counting on those players soon returning. Also, Cambridge has acquired Brock Campbell from the Kitchener Dutchmen and recently signed Brett Gibson, who played with the Waterloo Siskins and Dutchmen last season.
Even though Cambridge is fourth in the MWC with 22 wins and 13 losses – nine points behind Elmira (26-7-1), 10 points back of Brantford (26-6-2) and 16 points behind Stratford (30-4) – the Winter Hawks aren’t looking at this as a rebuilding year.
“That would be a disservice to the guys who are graduating,” Crosby said. “Guys who are 20 years old, this is their shot.
“My focus and our coaching staff’s focus is putting the best product out on the ice right now. Next year, is next year.”
He added that the team is putting in place plans to make a run when it counts.
“We look at the year as a 51-game round robin,” said Crosby, who credits assistant coach Mike Down, a former Golden Eagles staff member, with that philosophy.
“It’s about where we start, how we implement our systems, how we implement our tactics and how we implement our group bonding.
“It’s all about getting to the point where we’re best prepared to play. I like the direction we’re under.”
No matter what happens this season, Crosby expects to be back for a second year.
“I signed a two-year contract,” he said. “This team really makes me appreciate the city I live in, Cambridge. I want to be here for as long as I can.
“If the owners want to keep me here and my GM wants to keep me here and the players keep buying in, then I want to stay.
“But every coach has a shelf life no matter where he goes, so I’ve got to enjoy the moment.”
From Brian Smiley at the Brantford Expositor.
bsmiley@theexpositor.com or twitter.com/expbsmiley
