COVENTRY Blaze skipper Jordan Pietrus has teamed up with The Observer to deliver an exclusive insight into the Blaze locker room by writing a fortnightly column.
In his latest piece for The Observer, Jordan praises the work of defenceman Josh Godfrey, the competitiveness of the Elite League and describes how the Blaze team have all bonded quickly since first meeting as a group last month.
The Weekend:
We did a lot of good things this weekend and we’re working hard as a team – however, right now untimely errors are costing us as teams are making us pay for our mistakes.
As a team we are creating plenty of opportunities, but we need to start taking advantage of those opportunities if we want to turn things around.
Captain:
As a captain I have to keep a level head when speaking to officials after a call we don’t like or after a non-call.
I have to do my best to keep my composure and talk to them with respect, reason with them as best I can and not shout at them.
At the same time I and everyone else has to play the game hard, as such sometimes emotions can run high, that’s why multiple players on the team have letters on their jersey’s so someone who is cool and collected can speak to the officials.
In this league if you don’t bring your ‘A Game’ every night you’re in tough.
Every team is strong this year, to win you have to be ready every shift, every night.
Any team can win on any given night, teams that struggled last year have defeated traditionally stronger clubs this season.
Danny (Stewart) has worked closely with us this week on cutting down on what he calls ‘switching off’ to cut down on our let downs.
As a team we need to be engaged on the ice at all times – as such our aim this week is to ensure every pass is crisp and on the tape and every shot is on target and precise.
Imports:
Everyone has done a great job to ensure the new guys have settled in well and gel as a team.
Not only do we have a group of really good players, but Danny and the management team have recruited good people as well.
Part of our job now as a team is to find our identity – what makes us successful.
We’ve been putting a lot of pucks on net and creating some opportunities, it’s just mistakes at bad times which are costing us.
However, I’m confident we can correct those mistakes.
One man who has stood out for me is Josh (Godfrey), I played with him in North America and this may be the best and most confident I’ve seen him play.
I’ve mentioned it before but I do believe we have the best fans in the league – the atmosphere on Sunday at the Skydome was incredible.
Despite the loss our fans cheer us on relentlessly.
Their unwavering support always helps give us an edge – we want to be a good team at home and with the fans support it makes it that much more possible.