In this JB SportsCorner exclusive, we take you behind the scenes of what it’s like to be a head coach in the eyes of Byron Pool. The native of Unity, Saskatchewan, Canada took over for the now departed Dane Litke as head coach of the Bismarck Bobcats. Byron is now in his first full year at the helm.
During Tuesday’s practice at the VFW SportsCenter, I noticed that Coach Pool was talking to his troops about passion. When asked what that comment was about, he stated, “I think that they could show a little bit more love for the game. I think when our guys are here, they work really really hard, but I think sometimes there is just a little bit of passion missing.”
After Bismarck’s recent setbacks over this last weekend in Mason City and Owatanna, I asked the coach what he told his Bobcats. “I think we were the dominant team in both games. I told them that if they could keep up with that work ethic and that attitude the goals will come,” Pool stated, “it’s pretty early in the season yet, and were looking to get better throughout the year.”
One of the outstanding areas, so far, in the 08-09 campaign is Bismarck’s ability to kill off penalties. “Right now it’s been good. We’ve only given up one goal in our last twenty-three chances. We’ve only given up two goals in our last three weekends,” Pool said, “We’ve brought it from seventy percent at the showcase, and now it’s eighty-four percent. Hopefully we can continue with that trend.” Coach Pool hopes to be the top in the league with penalty kills.
When asked who would be tapped to play in between the pipes this upcoming weekend, Coach Pool hadn’t determined a starter for Saturday, but said #1 David Bosner would get the start on Friday against the Outlaws.
