Plainsmen start season with clean slate

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This article was published 28/11/2023 (714 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When rookie coach Darren Galatiuk gathered his players following tryouts, he told them they were playing from a clean slate.

This was especially true for his senior players — Will Galatiuk, Ren Durward, Evan Asham, Merrick Smart, Charlie Cantello, Gilbert Teneycke, Landan Nadeau — who had not experienced on-ice success the past two seasons.

“With only seven seniors who were used to losing in the past, (the coaching staff) had to get them into a mindset that they can win, and bring the younger players along, too,” said coach Galatiuk.

“We pressed the reset button, and those kids in Grade 12 who have played the past three years, we back to basics, from the systems we play to the structure we want in how we play the game.”

With the 2023-24 season 12 games in for the Plainsmen, the plan has seemed to work with Galatiuk’s squad sporting a 5-6-1 record in the Westman High School Hockey League, good for eighth out of 16.

“Our seven seniors have all played a big role in and we have had some success, to my top line leading the scoring, top two defencemen leading the way, plus two of them are my top penalty killers,” said coach Galatiuk.

When it comes to the Plainsmen having success, coach Galatiuk knows all about it, having played for the inaugural team which won the high school’s first of six league championships. He was on the team that won its first during the 1989-90 season and followed it up with a second the next season.

“We were a team with lots of character, hard workers, decent scoring and goaltending,” he recalled. “For me, I was a role player … a grinder.”

While dad knows the taste of victory with the Plainsmen, he’s had two of his sons wear Crocus Plains colours. While his youngest Will is on the team he is coaching, his eldest son Justin played in his Grade 11 year during the 2019-20 season.

“I’m pretty proud of it,” he said of his two boys following him playing Crocus Plains hockey, and now being able to coach the youngest.

Looking back to the past two seasons, the Plainsmen were 3-27-0, with 87 goals scored and 252 allowed during the 22-23 campaign. The previous season, the team went 8-24-0, allowing 151 goals against, while scoring 90.

“I think it’s working what we are doing as a team,” said coach Galatiuk. “Making our changes, having the senior players work with the kids in Grade 10 and 11, let’s hope with some success and going forward that we don’t have another three-win season.”

While his team handily defeated the RGG Raiders 6-2 on Nov. 25 at home, the following night in Killarney was a different story. Plainsmen dropped an 11-3 decision facing the K/W Raiders.

“It seemed that every time we did something wrong, the puck was in the back of our net,” he recalled. “It was just one of those nights where you learn from the experience. We spent a decent amount of time in the offensive zone, but we could not find the back of the net.

“So I told them afterwards to shake (the loss) off. That’s what happens when you take a shift off. What I want them to do is learn from our losses.

“In Killarney, we came out of our structure quite a bit. So it’s back to square one for our next practice, where we’ll build on our options for breakouts, and build on our powerplay options for the top unit.”

While his wife knows his goals for the team for this season, coach Galatiuk only lets the players know when they are reached — like the team’s fifth victory earlier in the season.

“This is not about always wins and losses when you play as a team,” he explained. “I’ve set some goals for us, and once the season is over I’ll go over them with the players. We’ve checked off a few of my goals so far.”

Key for changing the culture of winning from losing, according to coach Galatiuk, will be for the whole team to buy into what the coaching staff is selling, taking what they learn in practice, working hard on every shift, and execute the Xs and Os from the drawing board.

“And we have to rely on our seven seniors to lead the way, to bringing our younger players along.”

So, when the Plainsmen host the Vincent Massey Vikings on Dec. 17 there might be a different outcome.

“We might have lost to Massey 6-0, but we battled them for 60 minutes,” he said. “It will be an exciting game because all of the boys know each other from hanging out, playing baseball and golfing together.

“But once the game starts, there will be an exciting atmosphere with the arena filled with fans on both teams. Crocus is still the underdog, and we’ll give it our all to win.”

Crocus Plains hosts its four-day tournament starting Thursday with 24 teams involved. Games are being played at the Keystone Centre’s three rinks, plus four games in Rivers on Friday.

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