Peterborough Petes switched into glide to become a great team

When all the great Peterborough sports teams over the years mount the virtual podium, the 2022-23 Petes hockey team will be there.

They may not have won the ultimate prize they were after, but their long, intense and exciting journey grabbed the interest of an often complacent Peterborough sports community.

The top step of that podium is reserved for national champions or the equivalent. Currently we count more than 30 senior and junior lacrosse teams, a 1950s Intermediate football team, a 1950s ornamental swimming team, and two hockey teams — the 1959 Petes and the 1972 Junior-B Canada Games winner.

This year Petes were a team in transition from the opening game last September. They emerged from the COVID-19 shutdowns with a solid mix of talent and depth throughout the roster.

After the trade deadline in January they seemed to lose focus. With the addition of a number of high-level players, the team struggled at the .500 level for the rest of the schedule.

With many fans second-guessing the additions and some rumours of internal uneasiness among the players, they entered the long road of playoffs.

One Toronto paper had them losing to Sudbury in the first round. Many fans had their doubts whether they could pull in together.

It was then, with the confident input of the coaching staff and the coalescing of the team leadership, things turned around.

Their run to the semifinal of the Memorial Cup was nothing but thrilling and inspiring for their fans. As the national television broadcasters gushed about the strength and depth of the other two league champions, Quebec and Seattle, the Petes just seemed to glide along slightly below the glare.

Over the years Peterborough sports fans have seen a number of the city’s teams excel, some going to the limit and winning their championship.

It brings up the question, what makes a great team?

One coach used a flock of Canada geese flying south as an example. He said, they always rotate the one at the “V,” who leads the way and breaks the wind. The flock put their trust in that particular bird and encourage it with their incessant honking. This is repeated as each bird takes its turn up front.

Good teams become great when they all put their trust in each team member. That trust happens when everyone feels all players are pulling their weight.

This trust extends to the coaching staff and the training staff. This, in winning coach’s minds, makes that winning culture.

Looking over the local teams over the years, the great ones had a few elite players but the entire roster had and accepted their particular roles.

In team sports such as hockey and lacrosse, of which Peterborough has had extraordinary successes over the years, the teams that are able to push it through to the end shown undivided loyalty to all elements of the organization.

Sports fans in Peterborough had been fortunate to have two great teams in the last year.

The Century 21 Lakers, coming off the COVID interruption, won its fourth Mann Cup last fall. Much like the current Petes team, they had a cohesive group of players who had complete trust in each other.

As for this year’s Petes, it seemed to take to the players awhile before that trust and cohesiveness meshed on the team. As they progressed through the various rounds, facing a number of adversities, that trust seemed to solidify.

Unlike the Lakers, the Petes were exposed to a national spotlight at the Memorial Cup and again they pulled together, against essentially highly financed all-star teams from the other two leagues, and did their city and fans proud.

Thanks Lakers and Petes for the last 18 months of excitement.

Don Barrie is a retired teacher, former Buffalo Sabres scout and a member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame. His column appears each Saturday in The Examiner.