Sunny Disposition


The Florida Jr. Blades have wasted little time establishing themselves as one of the state’s top programs By Chris Errington


– in December. In a league that stretches through- out Florida and north to the New England states of New Hampshire and Vermont, it’s fair to say that the Jr. Blades are the most talented junior hockey league team on the entire East Coast.


O’Had.


None of which is shocking to O’Had and business partner Ron


Kinnear, who worked on hockey proj- ects together in Long Island, devel- oped the idea to start a training center and a junior team at Germain Arena in Estero on Florida’s West Coast between Fort Myers and Naples. The goal was to promote a program whose ideal was to elminate “all excuses out of the player development process,” because they wanted player advance- ment to be their “overwhelming goal.” O’Had and assistant coach Jake


The Florida Jr. Blades have an Empire Junior Hockey League title on their minds with an eye on the ultimate prize of a national championship. Photo/Aleta Bellizia/SwampHockey.com


second-year program. With the success his team has enjoyed in such a short time, not many could blame him. An idea for a team that originated in Long Island,


T


N.Y., encompasses tried and true methods of devel- opment and not only promotes the highest expecta- tions, but delivers them, has helped build a haven for teenage hockey players in Sunshine State. In just two seasons, the Jr. Blades, who compete in the Empire Junior Hockey League’s (EmJHL) Southern Division, have become a dominant force. And that’s just the way O’Had and his coaching


staff want it. “I think the biggest thing is the culture of the


team,” O’Had said. “We’ve got, from top to bottom, everyone involved with the program. We’re all very professional and work extremely hard and that’s why we’ve been able to assemble a true organization. “We expect a certain caliber (of talent and dedi-


cation) from the players, but with that, we need to mirror that with how we operate. It starts with the ownership group and funnels down throughout the organization.”


A season after finishing second at nationals and


sending four players to the league’s all-star game, the Jr. Blades are proving their initial success was no fluke. Through their first 23 games, they sported the league’s top penalty kill unit (97.78 percent), al- lowed the fewest goals (23) and were second in goals scored per game (7.04). It’s no surprise then that the Jr. Blades also had the league’s best record at 22-0-0-1 and are one of three teams to have already clinched a playoff berth


6


ad O’Had isn’t shy when speaking about the Florida Jr. Blades’ intentions or the state of the


Laime lead an international recruit- ing process that seeks to the land the best and most determined hockey players who understand they are joining an elite organization and that the demands placed upon them will be great. The Jr. Blades’ web- site announces that the organization has developed “the very best junior hockey breeding ground for its play- ers” and that they will “undergo on-ice development, off-ice training, nutrition


and video analysis, as well as be vigorously promoted throughout the U.S. and Canada to Junior A, Division I, Division III and ACHA universities, as well as the professional ranks.”


“When we started down here, we were thinking about what the ideal junior team environment is,” O’Had said. “We wanted a great arena with plenty of ice time. We’re on the ice every day, operating in a pro style so the players fully understand what it takes to not only get to the next level, but what’s going to be expected of them when they get there. “Our training center (Athletic Republic) is one of the best, if not the best, in the country for junior


hockey. We make a thousand calls and emails for the players and our relationship with other teams has been outstanding. We talk about what we’re doing in practices and go see what the Everblades (an ECHL minor-pro team that also plays at Germain Arena) are doing. Our guys are probably at the rink 5-6 hours per day and, while that may sound like a lot, it’s what we expect from them and what they should expect from themselves. “The fact is, there are hockey players and there


are those that play hockey. This isn’t a hobby any- more when you get to a certain age and since we’re putting our heart and soul into helping them develop, these are the kids that we want to recruit.” With all the success the Jr. Blades have enjoyed in such a quick period, the question remains – where do they go from here? O’Had said he doesn’t expect to make many changes to the organization’s approach in order to help continue its meteoric rise. For as much of a hu- man element – especially one dominated by teenage boys who’ve decided to devote their lives to the sport – is present, O’Had maintains that a business-like approach is always necessary. Eliminating the bottom 10 percent and increasing the top 10 percent of players, increasing on-ice time, player development training and contacts with organi- zations at the next level and further developing their brand to create an even bigger presence internation- ally while keeping as much in-state talent in Florida as possible, will remain the organization’s focus. With this approach, a national championship is


never far from O’Had’s or his player’s thoughts. That’s why he believes that expecting his entire organization to make this team its top priority during the limited number of years players have to compete at the junior level is not asking too much. “After last season, we told the guys we were


returning not to take the summer off,” O’Had said. “We want a national championship, we want to be considered a top Tier III program, just like (Empire foes) New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs or Boston Jr. Bru- ins – the top programs in the northeast. It took those programs a lot of years to get there and we think we have the players and coaches to get there. “It fires us up to see how good we can be. That’s


why we want to continually develop a winning tradi- tion.”


With a dominant start to the Empire Junior Hockey League season, the Florida Jr. Blades were able to clinch a playoff berth in December. Photo/Aleta Bellizia/SwampHockey.com


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