The three amigos

12/03/2008

Aram Todd along with a couple of colleagues joined Coventry ENL Blaze last summer from our nearest southern neighbour Milton Keynes.
Coach Joel Poirier saw in ‘Toddy’ experience and leadership qualities that made him a natural choice for the ‘C’ badge. Backed up by Chris Wilcox and Tom Pease as Alternates’ the choices have proven correct. Todd has an easy way with officials that means he gets his (and the teams) point across without antagonising them and is highly motivating on the bench while Wilcox and Pease bring a passion and hockey instinct that seems to be born rather than learnt.

I started by asking Toddy what his hockey heritage was?
“I’ve been playing hockey since I was nine and went straight into three seasons playing at U12s at Milton Keynes then progressed to training with the pro teams at 14, had a bit of a fall out with some people and when the opportunity came I thought I’d like to come to Coventry and have been loving it ever since. Everyones been such a breath of fresh air”.

So the team is working out well then?
“Oh absolutely - its run better than any pro team I’ve been involved with, better than any other team in the league”.

How do you think the season started out for the ENL team, did it take long to get a feel for this particular league?
“We may have started out as a very young U19s team - the guys were a little unsure for the first couple of games but by the third we really got into it. We really improved - its just a shame that the teams we could have beaten by the fifth game we played first!.

We lost four or five games by the single goal - winning those games would have made a big difference to league and cup positions...
“Definitely, everyone was trying hard but we were just lacking a bit of experience, I think skill wise we were always there and fitness.

You seem particularly comfortable in the Captains role - have you had that role before?
“No, no I was never one of those guys at Milton Keynes, it was the older guys that were the captains etc.. ,when I came here I was one of the older guys, the guys here are so easy to work with the roles easy”

Has it matched up to your expectations?
“Yeah, I help out where I can, talk to the refs, they come up to me after the game and thank me for being ‘normal’ . You’re going to get bad calls in games and some players have a go - I just talk to them quietly and I think they appreciate it. You have to be friendly to a ref to get your point across, point things out to them gently rather than shouting at them and this season we’ve had things reduced and they’ve listened.
I try and be motivational with the guys, they’re all good guys on game days and serious about it”.

The training regime under Joel and Reg is quite strict - how to the guys react to that?
The guys are cool about that - we get training twice a week here which a lot of teams don’t get, and Joel and Reg do an awesome training - on Tuesdays we do a bit of a skate and we can get a bit ill from that (smiling) - when we all do it together and everyone tries their hardest it makes you feel good, you pull together after those kinds of trainings!

So for the future for this particular league, how do you think it should develop, there are quite a few older players in the league - is there a place for them?
“You have some older guys who turn up for a game and they don’t care if they get banned or if they stop playing the next day... some of them are dangerous to be fair and some of the other guys are not really helping, they are just there to mess around and if you could get them to take the league more seriously then it would easier to deveop the younger players. The main aim of the league should be to develop the younger guys.

What do we need to be doing next year to be challenging for honours?
“I think don’t think there has to be a huge difference - I think if we were starting the season now we would be a top two or three team easily, we dropped points early on and next year coming into games we should be much more confident and i think things will start going our way. Our systems are good and I think we’ll be a stronger team next year.

Next I spoke to Tom Pease one of the ENL Blaze two ‘Alternate ENL captains’.  A member of both senior and ENL squads Tom managed what brother James hasn’t for a while and scored for the seniors in the early game against Romford. I asked if James had passed comment!
“No not really - he looked a bit disappointed, but at least he got an assist that game”. He gets a bit of stick from the older players - I guess when your seven years younger brother scores before you its pretty tough - I’m sure he’s taken it alright!

You obviously work under Thommo and Joel and Reg in training. Do they do anything differently?
“To be honest, Its more about the players themselves - on the senior team you’re really helped and influenced by them - it’s just such a big step up to a different level.  Skill wise and speed its just a huge step.  Joel helps the whole time - throughout games throughout training.

What’s it brought to your game working with the seniors?
“Understanding the game a lot more, being able to respond in the right way - its good to be there part of the team and developing.

As a team we started off reasonably well - losing a few games by the odd goal - you came particularly close in the last Oxford game hitting the post in the last two seconds which would have tied the game, what do we have to do to turn those narrow losses into victories?
“I guess its just working hard and getting our heads down and playing a full three periods, some of those games we only came out to play the second and third - that’s where we have suffered in earlier games in the first period. But it will come!

The powerplays are particularly effective - I know these have been worked on hard in practice.
“its just experience that helps, just understanding the game responding a bit quicker, we’re playing against players who have played at the top level and managed to make some of them look silly.

A number of teams that have a lot of older players have been, not necessarily embarrassed, but certainly surprised by the speed and the skill we’ve displayed, are we doing better than you expected or are we where you thought we’d be?
“I’d say better - the effort and commitment is what makes teams so successful, we’ve dominated games but still lost, its just experience - it will come!

How do you think the league will develop over the next few years?
“Well,  the older players have been where we are now, the younger players are always looking for their chance and the older players generally help, giving advice and helping you to understand the game. The more respect you have for the older players the more fun you’ll have. Thats what its all about - having fun.

You’ve had some fun with referees this year?
“Yeah I always chirp and have a laugh with them - especially Mr Evans - he’s a bit of a character, I enjoy it it’s part of the game.

What do we need to be doing next year to be challenging for honours?
“I’d just say effort, we just put the effort in through the whole season - a bit more experience will help us so much, maybe a few new players with a bit more experience and go out and have fun.”

Chris Wilcox is currently studying Sports Rehabilitation at Hull University, working out in the gym mid-week and getting down for ENL training on Fridays.
How’s the season matching up to your experience last year when you were with Solihull Barons in the EPL?
“I had a few concerns about this league from last  year, how it was a ‘whack and hack’ league but its not at all like that, playing for the ENL Blaze is more professional than I experienced last year. We get respect, we get to use the senior Blaze dressing room, we get their VIP bus, what more could you want? - and the league is great, there are a lot of good young players that just want to play hockey to the best of their ability.

So what’s the atmosphere like with the guys in the dressing room?
“This is probably the best dressing room I’ve ever been in, everyone has a laugh but there’s a time to think hockey. At the start of the season there were some that didn’t seem to take it too seriously but that was soon gone, especially with Joel being so intense and the will to win from him and Reg - I think we’ve now got a great set-up.

The training is very strict, having watched first hand for several months now, how do the guys respond?
“I love it - I’d much rather be part of a team that wants to win and I’ve always been told that training should be the hard part, and that games should be fun, that’s what your training for, the harder you try in training therefore the easier should be the games.

How do you think this team compares to others in the league? Other teams seem to have many older players, do they have a place?
“The likes of Alan Armours of Swindon and Jesse Hammill of Peterborough those guys have played at the highest levels and still love the game and have just moved down because they still want to be part of hockey... without naming names there are some players who just want to pick a fight, we all know who they are... as long as you’ve got the guys with the right mentality and are there to help the youngsters with their experience then that’s fine.

You’re obviously passionate about hockey and I know you don’t like taking penalties - the game in Oxford when you got a 10 minute, what happened there?
“Well, I was having a little discussion with the ref, he told me to be quiet, and I’ve been playing long enough to know that when a ref says be quiet - you shut up. I have my elbow pads quite loose, so between plays I was pulling my right elbow pad back up and he thought I meant “me and him” - I don’t know what he thought I was going to do but that’s why I got the penalty!

How do you think the team will develop for next season?
“We’re a young team and we’ll be gaining experience, we have the fitness and skills so we want to develop - there has been quite a lot of interest from other players about coming to play for Coventry because its such a great set up - not only have we got Thommo and the Blaze looking at us, which is great for opportunities, there’s a great coaching staff Joel, Reg and Andy, great back room staff. We’ve got a good core of guys that really want to play, work hard and win and that’s the direction we need to develop in.

By doing these things we should be looking for silverware next season?
“Oh without a doubt, we should be competing with teams like Peterborough, turning teams like Oxford over, we lost to Cardiff, we shouldn’t have lost to them. But I think the start of this season we won’t repeat, it was fear and nerves, we didn’t know what to expect in our first senior games - that will all be out of the window next season for sure. I can’t wait!

There's obviously a lot more to come from these young guys, next years ENL team will have  gained so much confidence and experience that they are going to be a real force to be reckoned with. We all wish them the best of luck for next year and hope they will be challenging to for top spots!

I can't wait either!

Report Dave Martin
Image Mark Tredgold