Winnipeg Monarchs Bantam 1 head coach John Fehr had a twoyear plan for a group of players that he started working with in 2015- 16 . In Year 1 , he gave them them a base of skills and strategies . In Year 2 , the players took the package and ran with it . Last spring , the Monarchs won the Hockey Manitoba Provincial Triple A Bantam Championship and it would certainly seem that Coach Fehr ’ s plan worked like a charm . |
Go undefeated in the regular season at the AAA Bantam II level … check .
Win the AAA city championships in Bantam II … check .
Only lose five games all season in AAA Bantam I … check .
Sweep the city championships in AAA Bantam I … check .
Win provincials in AAA Bantam 1 … check .
Make it to the bronze medal game in the AAA Bantam I Canadian Westerns … check .
It has been quite the ride for Winnipeg Monarchs Head Coach , John Fehr and his players over the course of the past two calendar years . Taking on the Bantam II Monarchs team for the 2015-16 season , Fehr ’ s plan was to implement systems and strategies that his first-year bantam players could use and then take with them the following season . Mission Accomplished . |
“ It was always a two-year plan with these guys ,” said coach Fehr . “ After the first year of Bantam II , The Rink Academy started up their team , so I lost four players to that , and one other elsewhere . I may have had the team for two years , but we kind of started of fresh again with somewhat of a new team this season . There was some turnover , but the new guys that stepped in also really stepped up for us and we had a good regular season going 28-5-0-1 this year .”
Although typically , one might dwell on the city and provincial championships as important points of reflection on a winning
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season , the 11-season AAA coach knows that you cannot reach the top without some challenges along the way .
“ Earlier in the year , we went to Calgary for a tournament and we really got our butts kicked ,” Fehr reflected . “ They weren ’ t the same teams that we ended up playing in the Westerns , but they were certainly the same caliber of teams . So I think that trip was really important for the kids to kind of have an idea of what was coming later in the season . I really think that we represented ourselves well out there in Calgary , as all of those western teams are generally stronger and have many more kids to draw from .”
Not only did the mid-season Calgary trip provide a sense of what was to come , but it also served as a bit of a wake up call to the young boys , teaching them patience and team work in times of struggle .
“ We started the regular season really well , going 11-0 off the bat ,” Coach Fehr said . “ But then after Calgary we actually struggled . Following the Remembrance Day weekend tournament , we played . 500 hockey up until
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Photos courtesy of Dr . Audrey Toth |
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Luc Benedictson |