Bolts honor state champs

The Tampa Bay Lightning took time to honor both of the area's state hockey champions during Friday night's game against the New York Rangers, with the Newsome Blue team that won the Division II Pure title and the Gaither/Sickles team that won the Combined division being brought out into the bench areas during the first and second intermissions.

For the players and coaches, the experience was an exciting one, and another opportunity for both sides to increase awareness of the high school game in the Bay area.

"It was a great opportunity to expose more people in the Tampa Bay community to the fact that there is high school hockey, and give these athletes a chance to be recognized," Gaither/Sickles coach Dan Bubley said. "My big thing all along has been that hockey players are athletes just like football players and baseball players, but sadly a lot of people aren't aware of the sport, or the commitment it takes. Thankfully the Lightning gave it a little bit of recognition, and a few more people are aware of it, and that's a good thing."

Gaither/Sickles saw its undefeated start to this season come to an end last week when it was defeated by rival East Lake, which now sits on top of the Lightning Conference Western Division with a 7-0 record after Joey Lindquist had two goals and an assist for the Eagles in a 4-2 victory.

Bubley said he had a lot of respect for the Eagles, and hoped his side would learn from the defeat.

"East Lake is a great team, and it was good hockey game," Bubley said. "It was a fun hockey game to be involved in, up and down, and they beat us fair and square. I know we have another opportunity to play them, so hopefully our team will continue to work hard so the next game will mean something as well."

Newsome, on the other hand, sits on top of the Central Division, but faces a key game tonight in Ellenton against Manatee, which remains the only undefeated team in the division. Newsome sits at 9-1, four points clear of the Hurricanes, who enter the game 7-0.

Win or lose, teams look at development

Some teams reached their division's final, like the East Lake Arsenal girls in the Under-14 Showcase division or the Brandon Flames boys in the Under-13 Predator division, and some teams didn't get past pool play at the Disney Junior Soccer Showcase, held at the Wide World of Sports Complex last weekend.

But what all the local coaches who took teams to the event are hoping is that the experience of competing at such an event provides a key moment in the development of their young players.

"That's why we're here," Hillsborough County United boys under-14 coach Neill Roberts said. "We're here to learn, and show character and learn stuff. That's what it's all about."

Roberts' side got a strong lesson in its opening game of the tournament as it faced a powerful Dallas Texans side that Roberts was full of praise for after the game. The key for his side, Roberts said, was to learn from the way their opponents played, and understand the amount of work it takes to achieve that level of play.

"Come here, and you're playing the cream of the crop from all over the country, and that's what it's all about," Roberts said. "I think if they're serious, they'll want to learn, and they'll remember stuff, things they did wrong, things they did right, and the things the opponents did, especially teams like (Dallas). (Dallas) was marvelous, and I hope we learn a lot."

Part of the development is learning how to win. The Flames side led the Norcross Fury in its championship game Sunday, but ended up falling 2-1 in overtime. Flames coach John Clare said he was happy with the way his side played overall for the weekend - the Flames rallied after going a goal down in their semifinal to win in overtime - as the team faced pressure situations in both the semifinal and final.

"Playing under pressure, the more they're playing for something, a trophy, playing for first place, to understand that we trained really hard, and we want to win," Clare said. "Obviously it's about development, but when you do the right things, you go to tournaments like this and your expectations are high. You want to do well. Winning tournaments is part of it, and defeat is also part of it, learning how to deal with these tough defeats."