They may have a whole week yet before their State Tournament, but that doesn’t mean the Manitowoc Breakers Peewee C team is any less excited.
The Peewee level is an age group older than their Squirt counterparts and consists of players 11 and 12 years old.
Coach Ben Webber says his Peewee C team has been working hard all year to earn their spot at the tournament, which will be held in Rhinelander next weekend.
“I’ve been coaching a lot of these kids for the last half a dozen years,” he explained. “I’ve seen them come from the HIP program all the way up to Peewees. We’ve got a really good group of boys and girls. We have grown a lot this year and are continuing to grow.”
Coach Webber also told us that he has been focusing on growing his team off the ice.
“After we won our playdown game, we had quite a few of them try the escape room here in Manitowoc,” Coach Weber said. “We thought it would be a good team bonding experience. [Also] they have off ice once a week here. Not all kids are required to do it, but most kids show up. It’s just as important hard off the ice as it is on the ice.”
Goalie Fred Busse told us that he has been working hard all year to improve his reaction time. In fact, his coach has played a major role in that.
“Coach Ben, he gave me a present for Christmas,” the netminder told us. “A ball, so I can throw it off the wall and catch it in my glove hand.”
Busse said he has also worked on directing traffic while in goal by letting his players know where the open players are from the other team.
Defenseman Lewis Kamien meanwhile has been focusing on some of the fundamentals that can make or break a player.
“I’ve worked on my edges and skating,” he said. “I’ve also worked on keeping my head up while passing.”
This is not Kamien’s first rodeo, as he and his friends were able to play at state last year but as he described it, “We didn’t do so well.”
We asked Kamien what his goal is this year at state, and he said with a smile, “To hopefully do well and get a trophy.”
Tomorrow we will hear from the other Peewee team in Manitowoc, as they prepare for their state tournament.
