Tag Archives: Ken Jeysman
From the Times: Winter Hawks camp opens Monday
Winter Hawks camp opens Monday There’s a feeling of anticipation filtering through the Cambridge Winter Hawks this season. Not only are they open training camp early this year, on Monday, but they will also have a good number of familiar bodies back. Last season, general manager Ken Jeysman was trying to piece together a team after the number of returnees could be counted on one hand. This season, he has possible 12 players coming back who are now a year older and have more experience in the league. “It’s a little different than last year because we have more people returning,” Jeysman said. “Instead of last year hitting the ground treading water, we’re hitting the ground running.” Already signed on for this season are forwards Josh Timpano, captain Ryan Clarke, Brandon Zimmerman, Rob Bennett, Chris Chapman, Christian Barnard and Jeff Howlett, defenceman Dylan Decker and goalie Brendan Gorecki. Scott Mitchell will return to the team if he doesn’t stick with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League and Tyler Snyder is getting in shape for a possible return. The Winter Hawks will also find out this week if Trevor Hache is returning. Last year’s team playoff MVP Colin Furlong is skating with the Hamilton Red Wings and will attend the Guelph Storm camp. If he ends up in one of those places, midget graduate Lucas Machalski is a string candidate to take his spot. The Cambridge netminder backed up Furlong in two games last year and even played a period in a 13-2 win in Owen Sound, stopping all 11 shots he faced. Besides the returnees, the Winter Hawks have signed defencemen Andrew Coupland and Elmira’s Taylor Doring, and forwards Cody Gratton and Acton’s Ben Roelofson. With that many players inked, Jeysman isn’t sweating it out prior to training camp as he was last year. “It’s a big difference,” he said. “Last year, we had to grab players in a hurry because of the mass exodus. “Now it’s different, right? We’ll probably only have three players that haven’t played in the league before. It’s a big difference; a year older and a little more experience. All of sudden we’re not sitting in the same spot.” With that many players signed, it also means that training camp – which will have 40 to 50 players – should be a spirited one with so few spots open. That means, unlike last year, the Winter Hawks can be more selective of who they want on the roster. Jeysman said the team is looking to start the season with 23 players. “I think it should be very exciting. It’s kind of nice, as we have some guys vying for these spots who are training very hard and say they’ll do whatever it takes to make it. Which is a different attitude. “A lot of these guys have a lot more grit. I’m not saying tough, but grit. We’re looking for those players that aren’t afraid to go through and work hard on the wall.” Besides spirited, training camp could also be the toughest it has been in years. “Camp starts with a fitness test that will probably have a few kids puking,” Jeysman said with a laugh. Courtesy of Bill Doucet at the Cambridge Times. See the original article here!
Winter Hawks announce new head coach
Winter Hawks get No. 1 choice Courtesy of Bill Doucet Three time’s a charm for Peter Crosby. After applying for the Cambridge Winter Hawks head coaching job the last two seasons – the Winter Hawks instead took Ryan D’Arcy, then Pat Conklin – general manager Ken Jeysman approached the Paris resident this year to take over behind the bench after the team has gone through four coaches in the last two Junior B campaigns. In fact, one of those coaches was Jeysman, who took over last season for Conklin prior to the Christmas break. Before Jeysman could hire Crosby, he had to fire himself. “Yeah, I didn’t like the guy,” Jeysman said, tongue firmly planted in cheek. In all seriousness though, the Winter Hawks coaching job has been anything but a laughing matter since the departure of Greg Bignell after the 2008-09 season. Jeysman said he is looking for long-term at the position and has confidence in Crosby, who brings an impressive resume to town. The 42 year old was assistant coach with the Brantford Golden Eagles in 2008 under head coach and close friend Jay Wells, before winning coach of the year in 2009 with the Junior C Paris Mounties. After that, Crosby moved to women’s professional hockey, where he coached Mississauga two seasons ago and was interim head coach for Brampton last season. “He was the guy I wanted right from the beginning,” Jeysman said. “He’s technically sound, he’s organized, he’s a local guy and he makes it all work. “We want some stability. So here’s a guy that’s been working his way up, hard. He’s a stabile, family-type guy, so I think he will be around for a bit.” Crosby said the decision to leave Brampton wasn’t an easy one, admitting he had a “really good gig going on”, but the drive was getting to be too much and he felt that it was the right time to move back to junior hockey. “I really enjoyed it, but coaching the guys, coaching at a high level like Junior B, coaching probably one of the storied franchises in the Junior B loop in Cambridge and coaching in the backyard of my adopted hometown is pretty exciting.” A teacher at Paris District High School since 1994 and founder of the Hockey Canada Skill Academy in 2005, Crosby says he already has a plan in place to get the Winter Hawks back to a championship calibre team. “It’s the approach of making sure we’re sound technically, and that leads into being tactically sound towards our system,” he said. “Without giving away too much, but people will figure us out quickly I’m sure, is that we’re going to be aggressive in all three zones. But that doesn’t mean total offensive-minded. It means being aggressive in the three zones defensively, and that’s going to create offensive chances.” He added that the team is also going to work specifically on special teams this season, with an emphasis of trying a different penalty killing system that is different than most Junior B teams play. But that also comes from working hard in every zone on the ice. “You go back to Bigs (Greg Bignell) and he was coaching in the league when Jay was the head coach of Brantford and I was his assistant, and you could see how his players bought into his technique, his systems and his plays, and he was a very sound coach, he said. “The whole mantra of the year is going to be buy into the process and enjoy the process, because where we start better not be where we finish.” Visit Cambridge Times for the original article, courtesy of Bill Doucet.
