Calcut carrying culture with Plainsmen

Cale Calcut will be the first to admit the Crocus Plainsmen’s performance on the ice to start the year has simply not been good enough.

The Plainsmen, who have yet to win a game this year, enter the weekend in the basement of the Westman High School Hockey League standings with an 0-7 record — and being outgunned in those seven contests by a combined 29 goals.

Everything that could go wrong has, but Calcut, a Crocus senior and assistant captain, believes his club’s slow start to the year can be easily solved on the ice barring some changes off the ice.

“Morale kind of just wasn’t in a good place,” said Calcut on Friday morning. “Obviously, we’re kind of off to a little bit of a slow start, and a lot of it is just that our team chemistry was off. We had lots of poor attitudes on the bench, and that’s definitely played a factor in our performance and how we’ve started the season off.

“Some new guys, some new faces, and unfamiliar people coming into the team, there was definitely some poor attitudes with specific players that definitely kind of affected the whole team and brought the whole team down and depreciated our performance.”

The 17-year-old was blatant and clear as could be, but sometimes that’s exactly what’s needed in order to escape the tides and steer the ship back to shore. Calcut feels some added pressure to turn his squad’s fortunes around, being one of the leaders on the team, but he also knows it’s going to take each and every person in that room to make it happen — which he’s starting to see come to fruition.

“I definitely feel like I put a little bit of responsibility on myself as well as some of the other seniors on the team to kind of try and push away from having those sorts of issues … it’s definitely kind of put on my shoulders to improve that as well as everyone else, but I think progressing through the season, it’s gotten better, and it’s definitely improved the way we play our game.

“I think curbing that issue right away is definitely going to move towards more positive headspace on the bench, and I think as that gets better, we’re definitely going to see more improvement throughout the season.”

Crocus will have a great opportunity to right the ship in Dryden’s annual tournament this weekend, with the Plainsmen kicking off action against the Red Lake Rams on Friday evening. If they are to finally lock down their first win of the season, there’s no doubt Calcut will have played a big part in the game, as he is currently tied for the team lead in scoring with five goals — three of which came on the man advantage — and nine points.

If past years are any indication, Calcut is preparing for a war of attrition on the ice.

“Usually, from what I’ve seen the last few years, our competition ahead is very physical, so it’s going to be some good tests,” he said. “They’re strong teams, and it’s going to be interesting to see how we can compete against them.”

In years past, that heavy style of game would have thrown Calcut off his game, but now he’s able to thrive in it. He credits that to his consistency in the gym over the last two summers, when he’s been able to train around five days a week to increase his strength and durability during the season.

Ever since Calcut began skating at age six and was introduced to hockey, his main asset that caught the eyes has always been his speed and his ability to blow right past his defenders, but during his freshman year with Crocus, he had a changing of the guard where he realized speed alone wasn’t going to be enough given the physical nature of high school hockey.

So, he put in the work, and now it’s clearly paid off.

“I’ve always tried to build my game off speed. That’s kind of just one of the things that I’ve been able to hold above everyone else, just the fact that I’ve just always been one of the fastest players on the ice, but I also kind of picked up on that, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I need to turn this around’ and definitely strengthen myself so that I can compete at the level that’s being played here,” Calcut said. “I think that’s not only contributed to, like, my speed factor, but also just being strengthened and harder to play against.”

In Calcut’s freshman year, he registered six goals and 14 points for the Plainsmen and then nearly doubled his totals with 13 goals and 27 points last season. He said he’s gotten a lot more offence by getting the more “greasy” goals, you could say — the classic crash the net and hope something good happens. And while that may be an overused expression, it works.

“The majority of the goals have just been in front of the net,” said Calcut. “I’m just trying to be in the right place at the right time and definitely trying to counter on mistakes that the other team makes, and I think that’s where most of our success has been so far and where it mainly is going to be going forward as well.

“I think it sets a good example, especially for some of the younger faces on our team, where they think that they’re just going to dance through a whole team and score a lot of goals. So, I think it’s definitely important to kind of show that’s not what needs to be done. If you can put the puck in the net, like I said before, being in the right place at the right time, that’s all that needs to happen.”

After the Plainsmen tournament in Dryden, they will shift back to the WHSHL next weekend, when they will play a back-to-back set at home against the Minnedosa/Erickson Chancellors (1-6) on Saturday and then the Virden Golden Bears (4-1) on Sunday.

And as Crocus searches for answers and looks to find its way, there’s no doubt Calcut will be front and centre, helping his team get back on track. After all, his role model growing up was Sidney Crosby, so he knows where to look to find a locker room that breeds selflessness and success.

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com