My name is Brandon Lewandowski and I just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself. I will be joining the Sabre family this spring to become the new Hockey Director. I have been involved in Illinois hockey for the better part of my 36 years here as I grew up in Naperville playing for various clubs and levels throughout the state. I have been on the coaching side of the game for around 12 years with 10 of those years having been spent head coaching, and I have been in some form of a Director role for the last 7 years as well. I'm very excited to bring a fresh perspective and philosophy on what helps make not just one team, but entire birth years, levels, and clubs successful. 

 

Success is not just winning and winning alone. Success is a culture. Winning is the byproduct of building a successful culture. 

 

Building a successful culture starts with making sure we're all (coaches, players and parents) doing our part to help create a positive environment for our players development. Not only the development in each players physical athleticism, but their development as a mature young athlete. Their development as a hockey player. 

 

Becoming a hockey player is a process. It's a journey that starts first and foremost with loving the game. We want these kids to love being a part of the Sabre family, coming to the rink every day with excitement to work hard and better themselves.

 

With younger teams the message is simple; work hard, have fun, and be a good teammate. Three easy concepts that will translate into endless aspects of what makes a well rounded hockey player. Three concepts that are, most importantly, within their own personal control. As the kids progressively get older, the verbiage matures a bit, but the message remains the same. We want to keep our focus on the things that we can control. 

 

Every single one of these kids will naturally grow bigger, faster and stronger as they age into adulthood. Some will develop faster than others, and the long term process for everyone is filled with peaks and plateaus, but outside of a few special born-to-play-this-game players in the world, their physical abilities will all generally catch up to each other's in the end. Learning how to be a part of a team with a shared common goal, and how to respond to the adversity that comes with the ups and downs of a hockey season, that is what youth hockey is for. If any of these kids plan on playing hockey at the highest level they can, the number one thing they should be focused on is becoming the best teammate they can possibly be. As they get older, there will be thousands and thousands of kids who can all skate like the wind and carry an elite release to their shot. What makes the special players stand out is their character both on and off the ice. It's how they approach the sport. 

 

Work Hard. 

 

We want our coaches to provide leadership that makes kids want to work as hard as they possibly can without that external push from someone else. We expect our coaches to work to get to know their young athletes so they can find ways to get the most out of each individual player, but we also want these kids to learn how to find their own internal drive to compete and the confidence to believe in themselves. By the time these kids reach 13-14 years old, 500 extra ice touches with the greatest skills coach in the world won't matter one bit without internal drive. It's the single common denominator of every truly great athlete in any sport. How hard they were personally willing to push THEMSELVES to reach their goal. 

 

Have Fun:

 

There are so many layers to the word fun that it can sometimes muddy up it's place in development, but as I stated earlier, every kid should be enjoying their time at the rink. No matter what level they play at, they should want to be there. Different levels of hockey carry different variations of the word fun. It's not the age, rather the level of play that carries a higher level of commitment and demand from the athlete and their families. Hockey at the highest levels is ultra competitive and takes a lot of hard work. Just like a young player's skill level evolves over time, so does their enjoyment for the commitment, demands and sacrifices it takes to play this game at the highest levels. Some kids learn to enjoy the vigors of elite training right away, some kids just want to mess around and play hockey with their buddies. There's nothing wrong with either end of the spectrum, or anything in between. We as coaches want to make sure that we're putting every kid into the proper level of commitment and demand. It doesn't matter what level a kid plays at while they're on their journey through hockey, as long as we're making sure they're in the right place for development. A place where they can be challenged, while being able to find some success. This will keep them engaged and having fun while they learn to train like a hockey player.

 

Be a good teammate:

 

Nowhere in the world are we ever going to have a scenario where you can gather hundreds of people together, and every single person is going to like every single person just as much as the next. No matter the situation, we still have to find a way to work together to make it a positive environment. This is no different in youth hockey. It's important that every Sabre learns to treat both their teammates and their opponents with respect. You can be the most skilled player to ever touch the ice, but if you've got a bad attitude and are constantly disrespecting the people around you, you'll likely bounce around from team to team until nobody wants you around anymore. An absolutely necessary ingredient in the evolution of a great young player is learning how to support their teammates, and help each other through the the bumps in the road that will inevitably come during a season. This mentality helps develop strong teammates, who create strong teams, which creates a strong club culture, which creates strong hockey players. This mentality will also provide these kids with a foundation to become positive productive members in all facets of society. Team players. 

 

What can we as the adults in this organization do to help support this message? 

 

Trust the process.

 

It's an age old cliche for sports in general, and it doesn't get any more relevant than applying it to today's Illinois youth hockey atmosphere. Many of us are so focused on what's next, what other players are doing, what other teams are doing, etc.. that we're completely missing the lessons right in front of our player in the moment. Remember that youth hockey is a long demanding process and there are so many intangibles involved. Every kid develops each specific intangible at different rates so everybody's journey looks a little bit different. Take each day, each week, each year, one step at a time and remember to enjoy this game. If you and your young athlete are approaching the game of hockey correctly, they will get to where they are supposed to go in the end. Investing in youth hockey for an NHL or bust result is a very risky investment. Investing in youth hockey for the values and foundations that it can provide your child to apply to all facets of their life is a very sound investment. If we as parents and coaches are all working to make sure the kids are properly receiving the lessons as they come to them on their journey, we'll all help create a successful culture. 

 

I look forward to getting to know every Sabre Family over the coming year and I hope to help every player on their journey through youth hockey. 

Sabre Girls Program by Carissa Baier

This past month has been all about the playoffs!! We have so much to be proud as many of our girls teams not only qualified, but also progressed through their NIHL and State Playoffs. In the NIHL playoffs, we had 3 teams make it to the championship game, the most teams of any girls program. Unfortunately, the 10's and 14's fell to their competition in their championship games, but we are so proud of all the grit and determination they showed to earn their 2nd place banner in the Girls 10U and Girls 14U divisions respectively. In a nail-biting finish, the 12's were able to pull out a win against the Leafs in double overtime to become the Girls 12U Gold Champions for the 2019/2020 season.

This season, four of our five girls teams earned their spot in the Illinois State Championship Round Robin. All four of these teams played their round robin games at the Triphahn Community Center and Ice Arena, so many of our girls were able to cheer each other on before and after they hit the ice. The 10's lost a heartbreaking 3rd place game in triple overtime to Wilmette and came home this past weekend with their State 4th place banner for Girls 10 & Under A division. At this time, our 12's, 14's and 19's are prepping for their State Championship games that will all be played at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville starting at 10:30 am on Saturday, March 7th. We would love to see as many Sabre fans in the stands as we can get, so get on your blue and gold and let's cheer these girls on!

And in some extra exciting news, the Sabres are so proud to share that our very own Coach Mike Campbell has been named AHAI's Girls Coach of the Year. We are so lucky to call him ours and cannot wait to see where he continues to lead our Sabre Girls program. Congratulations Mike!!

It is so hard to believe that we have reached the point in the year that our teams are wrapping up their fall seasons. There is a strange feeling when you look back on a fall season that on one hand, seemingly goes on forever but on the other hand, flies by in the blink of an eye. We truly hope that following this season of Sabre hockey, our players and parents can look back on a season of growth; growth in skills and game play, growth in the relationships between players, parents and coaches, and growth in the love of the game of hockey.

 

Good luck to all our players competing in State Championship games this upcoming weekend and we look forward to seeing everyone in the rink this spring and next fall.