Coming off a sub-par 11-17-3 season and a loss in the first round of the National Ringette League playoffs, the Gloucester Devils knew a change of direction was needed, and they started that with a change in coaches.
“I think most of the players were very disappointed. Some were even thinking about hanging it up,” new Devils bench boss Dave Mainwood says. “I think that’s what kind of prompted them to come and find somebody that was going to give them more of a friendly push and demand a little more commitment from all of them.”
Mainwood, a Canadian national team coach in 1998, has been coaching in the Devils minor system for many years as his daughters progressed through the ranks.
His first order of business in the young 2009-10 season is working to instill systems related to break-outs, three passes, and cycling in the offensive zone – instead of “improvising” on the fly as may been the case in the past.
A large part of the problem for previous Devils NRL teams in establishing systematic play was their lone weekly practice ice time was shared with another younger group, meaning they could only use half the rink.
“I’ve been doing it for years and it’s not a great situation,” Mainwood notes. “We do it because that’s what we’re given.”
While the shared practice time remains, Mainwood has found a solution. Since he also coaches his daughter’s Belle ‘AA’ Devils team, Mainwood gets the 16- to 18-year-old players to join the NRL group so they can utilize the entire ice for drills.
“All the defence will work together and all the forwards work together,” explains Mainwood, whose game schedules for both teams have worked out relatively well so he’ll only miss one weekend of NRL games. “We don't really split them – everyone works together as a happy family.”
It’s an added challenge to foster the same spirit and cohesiveness in the NRL group since the players – with an average age of 23, Mainwood estimates – come from many organizations where they may have been taught different styles of play.
“You’re kind of meshing three or more associations,” Mainwood notes. “Not that there’s animosity, but they’ve all grown up with their own system.”
Led by a group that includes Sadie Bulger in goal, Orléans’ Natasha Côté and newcomer Allison Biewald on forward, and Team Canada defender Colleen Hagan, Mainwood believes they have a squad with the potential to reach the top-6 in the eastern conference, which would earn them a berth for the national championships, which Gloucester last won in 2002.
The Devils’ start to the season has only been average, however, with a 2-3 record through five games, including a split in Quebec City two weekends ago.
“I’ll call it a work in progress,” Mainwood says, noting an expectation that players attend all practices and games unless there are extenuating circumstances. “Hopefully it will mean better results by the end of the year.”
Photo credit: The Devils’ Colleen Hagan (front) played for Team Canada in 2007 and was on the short-list for 2010. Photo by Etienne Ranger
