Friday, Jul. 25, 2008

Texans Looking to School Season With Optimism

Northwest Hockey Journal

By John English

Contributing Writer

The Northwest High School hockey team has struggled to pick up wins this summer season, but coach Wes Rose said he has liked what he has seen from his players so far and said he is increasingly optimistic about the school season.

The Texans were 2-6 through their first eight games of the season, and dropped a close one to Grapevine 3-2 last Thursday night.

Rose said a number of players have done well individually.

"We are not completely sure who is going to commit for the school season," Rose said. "We are working on that right now. I think I have a pretty good chance of having Michael James and Lincoln Redmon. [Clint] Carlisle may be up in the air ... he is a big guy that we are going to miss if he does not come back next year."

Rose said he is also excited about the possible return of Spencer Batchelor, Sean Gile, Kevin Speicher and Anthony Brooks, among others.

"We will also likely have back both goalies," Rose said. "They will probably both be playing some travel hockey, but I think they will both be able to play for Northwest as well."

Jake Ragsdale and Keenan Yarbrough are the Northwest goalies, and Rose said, if he can get most of the aforementioned players to come out for the school season, he likes the Texans’ chances.

"If I can get that group back, you betcha," Rose said. "I won’t need a whole lot of other guys to pull up from the JV."

Rose said that in spite of the team’s record, the Northwest players are still in pretty good spirits, and morale is high.

"I think we’ve kept the summer pretty loose," Rose said. "I think everybody is having a good time. I don’t think anybody is taking anything too seriously. We’ve had a number of games where we’ve not even had a whole two lines to rotate ... the guys are getting in shape this summer, and I think that all of the guys know that we want them to go out and have fun. We don’t want to be real hard on them."

Rose said tryouts for the fall season will take place right before the school year starts, and said he is looking for a couple qualities in players trying for a spot on one of the squads.

"I think the attitude is huge in this game," Rose said. "I am looking for kids that have the right attitude, which is, they’re for the team, they are not individual kind of guys, because it is a team sport. I want a good attitude, and then obviously, I am looking for good skating. That in my mind is 90 percent of the game."

The exact date has not yet been set for tryouts.

Northwest will wrap up its season at 6:30 p.m. on July 31 against Marcus White at Euless Green Arena.