Lumberjacks Head Coach Brad Tesink hopes to find success in his first full season behind the bench. Photo: South Shore Lumberjacks.
After being given the South Shore Lumberjacks Head Coaching position on an interim basis in the middle of a tumultuous season Brad Tesink is hopeful for a turnaround this year in his first full year since taking up the position on a permanent basis.
“I think we could have written a book on all the unique ways to lose games last year and I think that’s one of the biggest things we’ll look to address, finding a way to close games,” Tesink said.
He says in training camp which he expects to begin in late August, he plans to develop players’ skills and physical toughness but most importantly their mental fortitude.
“Any team regardless of how good can find themselves on a losing streak, with our losing streak last year we were just grasping at straws trying to find ways to win, and that can’t be the mindset, we need to slow our pace down and focus on our game.”
When training camp begins Tesink says it will be a fresh start and players will need to buy into the program, “We made it clear in all of our exit interviews last year that every player coming back will need to earn their spot and nobody is going to be given anything,”.
Bolstering Tesink’s plans for change is an owner who is fully committed to the team’s success on the South Shore and the addition of former Mooseheads Head Coach Shawn MacKenzie who is joining the team as Director of Hockey Operations.
Optimism is high as the off-season work continues and Tesink believes the opportunity for success isn’t far off, “We have a lot of exciting young players that we will be expecting big things from in the next two years, scoring has been an issue in recent seasons and we’re really hoping we can develop some of our talents into regular scorers,”.
During their struggles last season, which saw the Jacks finish bottom of the MHL, Tesink says players remained focused and practiced well, but the impact of a lackluster season paid its toll, “It was tough at times, especially playing in an arena that’s only a quarter full, but throughout that process, players showed up and put in the work at practice which makes me believe we can work together to achieve some success,”.
A strong start to the season would give the team a big advantage after they learned early last year what happens when high expectations are derailed quickly. “After five games the CHL ranked the team as one of the top ten in Canada, I think at the time players knew that was a little off than when we started losing things just began to spiral,”.
Tesink says starting the season with a couple of wins will not only be key for the players and their outlook on the season but it also is important in keeping the community and fans interested.
This story is part two of three-story series on the South Shore Lumberjacks and their revamp ahead of the 2022-23 season, in the last story we’ll have a feature on the new President and Head of Hockey Operations Shawn MacKenzie.
