Zippel named captain of Sugar Kings
Tyler Brenner, John Lunney, and Patrick Shantz all wore the captain’s “C” on their jersey in recent years.
In the 2009-2010 season it will be Elmira’s own Jeff Zippel.
HAIL TO THE CHIEF Jeff Zippel just named the 2009-2010 Captain of the Elmira Sugar Kings.
After some three seasons with the Sugar Kings, Zippel will step into the captaincy at the start of next season. The coaching staff went public with the news just this week, but broached the subject with the player at the end of last season.
“I think this is going to be an easy transition because Jeff and I always had a really good relationship and he displayed so many good, great leadership qualities already,” said head coach Geoff Haddaway, explaining Zippel’s selection.
Already an assistant captain last year, Zippel, who is entering his fourth and final year with the Kings, is one of the most veteran players on what will be a young squad that takes to the ice in September.
According to the coaches, it was an easy choice asking the local boy to assume the leadership role.
“I think it was the next logical step. For our team’s sake and continuity’s sake and the fact that Jeff’s been a real great Elmira Sugar King for the last three full seasons, going into his fourth year. What makes it more special is not only is he a deserving candidate but he’s a local guy too.”
Indeed, for Zippel, the opportunity to lead a team he watched as a young boy is particularly rewarding.
“I’ve always wanted to play for the Kings; to be captain’s just a greater honour to have,” he said.
Zippel, a gritty, stay-at-home defenceman, will not only offer some steadiness and assurance on the blue line, but also some leadership and guidance for the young guys.
“I think Jeff’s really well respected league-wide because he’s just a true teammate; he’s a consummate teammate in that it’s always about the team foremost,” said Haddaway.
“Jeff is the first guy to stand up for his team and he’s the first guy to make sure that no one’s taking advantage of our goaltenders or our young guys, so this (captaincy) is a choice that really in the end was an easy one.”
Zippel will form a core part of the Kings’ blue line corps, but might also be called upon from time to time to jump in on the attack – something he has done frequently in the past.
“The two of us have always talked about him sort of becoming the next Scott Lepold in Sugar King history in that Scott went about his things very honestly, very quietly, and was just a reliable player and Jeff has certainly taken that on,” said Haddaway, alluding to a player who was a key component in the Kings’ 2008 Cherrey Cup win.
“He’s the kind of guy that on any given night I could ask him to do something new and he’d be game to do it.”
Kings see big changes for next season
It’s still early in the preseason but at this point it looks as though, come September, the Elmira Sugar Kings are going to be a younger – and larger – squad than that of last season. With a number of key players graduating out of the system or moving on to other clubs, the Kings are slowly filling the ranks in preparation for next season’s campaign.
“We’re going to be young; we’re going to be really young this year. I think we’ll be competitive,” general manager Keith Stewart said in an interview this week.
Head coach Geoff Haddaway and assistant coaches Jim MacEachern and Kyle Campbell “are going to want them to be a really hard working team, so basically we’re going to be a pain in the ass to play against.”
With a number of returning players and new acquisitions the Kings are currently in full-out rebuilding mode, and places on the roster will have to be won in the coming weeks. A training camp is set for Aug. 24.
“Guys are going to have to work real hard,” said Stewart.
“We’re pretty excited because we know, in another year from now or whatever, we’re going to be real good with some of the guys that we’ve picked up.”
Climbing to the top of the standings in the early going isn’t expected as the Kings deal with the growing pains of a vastly changed lineup. Gone are some of last season’s key players: captain Patrick Shantz, speedy playmaker Brent Freeman, who notched a ninth place finish in the conference’s scoring leaders’ race with 30 goals and 46 assists; and forward Kyle McNeil, who joined the squad midway through the season and still managed to pick up 24 goals and 23 assists in 32 games. All graduated out of the system.
Blue liner Trent Brown is also leaving the Kings, having accepted an offer to join Lake Forrest College in Illinois. Goalie Jake Williams and forward Philip Teri are also currently courting other clubs.
Preparing to deal with these losses, the Kings were, however, surprised with the departure of newcomers Josh Ranalli and Kyle Blaney, whose quick and energetic play towards the end of the season signaled promise for a growing team. The two players have recently signed contracts with tier-two hockey teams.
“We thought Ranalli and Blaney both had pretty good years last year and we were hoping to have them back so they could expand on that, but they made the choice to jump to tier two, so we’ll see what happens,” explained Stewart.
“You just have to reload every year. You’ve got your work cut out for you every year scouting and things like that – plugging the holes.”
Despite the losses, the Kings will have some returning players such as defenceman Jeff Zippel and creative forward Mike Therrien on which to build the team. And a prospect camp held May 9-10 is already yielding some positive results: some 30 players out of a prospective 68 have been asked to return to the August camp. Management has already signed a handful of players.
Some of those acquisitions include two players coming from the Waterloo and Guelph Midget ranks and Tyson LeBlanc from the now-defunct Owen Sound Greys and former Kitchener Dutchmen netminder Matt Smith.
“It’s going to be pretty competitive,” said Stewart, describing what is to come of the August training camp. While the roster will, without a doubt, be vastly different from last year’s the coaching staff isn’t planning on tinkering with the Kings’ traditional penchant for speedy players and quick movement of the puck.
“We’re not going to change things up much; it will take these young guys we’re bringing some time to get adjusted. We’re pretty excited.”
Ending seasons on a festive note
It proved challenging, but the coaching staffs of the Elmira Sugar Kings and the Wellesley Applejacks were able to come up with a list of winners for their respective awards banquets last weekend.
“It makes for difficult choices because you certainly want to recognize significant performances or achievements but you don’t want to leave anybody out. We have a tough time with it because in hockey we’re not supposed to recognize the individual, it’s such a team game that that contributes to making it hard to pick anybody,” said Elmira head coach Geoff Haddaway.
Front row: Elmira Sugar Kings captain Patrick Shantz (Don Duke Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and leadership; coaches’ Cup for perseverance and dedication to hockey) and Brent Freeman (Elmira Insurance Agencies Trophy for top scorer, and Twin City Trophies – regular season MVP.) Back row: Kyle McNeil (Sugar Kings Alumni Award for playoff MVP), Jeff Zippel (Award of Excellence – best combines academics and hockey), Trent Brown (James Austin Memorial Trophy for top defenceman), Tyler Kuntz (Norm Hipel Memorial Trophy for outstanding defensive forward), Josh Ranalli (Elmira Sports Trophy for rookie of the year); Elmira Sugar Kings president Jeff Seddon, and Jarred Parent (Dave Uberig Memorial Trophy for top local minor hockey grad).
“You won’t find a bad kid on the Elmira Sugar Kings.”
While neither team ended the season the way it wanted to, there was more than enough camaraderie and positive vibrations throughout the organizations – including players, coaches, staff, parents billets, and fans – to warrant one final celebration.
“It means a lot to me: we all walked out that afternoon [with] a good feeling … it was a good way to wrap up the season,” said Haddaway.
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On Jan. 30, playing with a short bench and missing some key scorers, the Kings just couldn’t hit their stride. Coach Geoff Haddaway said the team “just didn’t compete, right from the opening faceoff.”
Things were tied 1-1 at the end of the first period, thanks to a goal from Michael Therrien five minutes in. But Stratford added three unanswered goals in the second period and another pair in the third to walk off with the win.
The Kings turned things around on Sunday and put on a good show for the fans who decided to forgo the Super Bowl for hockey, shutting down Cambridge’s offence and hammering the Hawks around their own net.
Kyle Blaney wheels toward the net during the Sugar Kings game against Cambridge Feb. 1. Blaney notched a second-period goal for Elmira in the win.
Cambridge now has the two top scorers in the league, as Anthony Colizza and Greg Virgo have moved past Brantford’s sharp shooters to top the standings. The Kings held the Winter Hawks to 29 shots, while firing 48 of their own at Cambridge keeper Dave Clement.
“I thought we were good right from the opening faceoff to the final buzzer,” said coach Geoff Haddaway. “They certainly have three or four really gifted offensive players, but we made a concentrated effort to make life difficult for those guys and I thought for the most part we did a good job.”
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