Thank you, Newcastle: Ray Sheffield

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292-game Newcastle North Stars veteran Ray Sheffield retired earlier this season. As the side’s long-time captain, Sheffield has insight into the North Stars’ success in the past and why he thinks the team could be close to a record fifth Goodall Cup.
   
My time playing for Newcastle came to an end in the pre-season when I hung up my skates. I’ve had a great stint here, which was part of what made it so hard to move on. To here from when we first got our butts kicked in 2002 to that very next season when we walked away with it all - 292 games, you could say we’ve come a long way together.
 
I like to think you take a little from every loss and learn that little bit more. You always need to take something away from a loss to pave the way for the future. After last years’ loss, we had to take a step back and look at how we got here. When we did we see we had to start doing things better, we realized things had gotten away from us for a little bit and everybody else in the league had improved right along with us. We found the right people who do a fantastic job and it’s shown in how the team has come together and how well they’re playing.
 
We’ve won four championships and five minor premierships. NHL players always say their first Cup is unexpected and the second time around they realize how hard it was to achieve. It wasn’t like that for us.
 
In the early years there were some really strong teams. We had to get over that fear factor of the Ice Dogs and Adelaide, both really strong clubs, but once we got over that hump, it seemed to come fairly easy for us. Passes connecting, goals scored and that great chemistry on the ice when a team comes together.
 
I remember back in 2004, we only lost one game that whole season. Can you imagine that? One game. And it was the grand final. You always hear people say it’s really hard to win, to repeat, but the first one I will always think of as the hardest.
 
After our last win in 2008, you could see things had started to slow down for us; they got more difficult. Everybody else had put in the hard work and gotten better. We had a solid core of guys for about the first five years. It’s important to have that core because when you bring in your imports, and they’re going to be good, but the better your core group of guys are, the ones who will always be around, the more successful you are going to be. We got better as a group from the start and together were able to string those few important wins.
 
When I think of that core group, guys like Gicu Oprea come to mind. He was a Romanian import that stuck around for eleven seasons, not just a solid player or an older sensitive guy but someone that you could rely on and a real leader in the locker room.
 
Another guy that comes to mind Rob Duchemin, played for a couple of years and was a beautiful skater to watch. Just a great guy you like to have in a team and scored some big goals for us.
 
Matt Ezzy. The best goalie in the league for years and not being an import player was huge for us; he carried us for a long time. Rob Starke, we got him in 2004 and he stayed. Bob LaJeunesse an American came and stayed, so you can see a theme here. We had seven or eight guys that just kind of came, fell into our laps and stayed.
 
You might wonder what got us to stay? It was probably girls. We got married, settled down and fell in love with the place. We’re really a family here and everyone is treated well; we all just loved playing here and representing Newcastle. It’s got great beaches, a laid back place so its not just the girls you fall in love with it’s the city itself.
 
When guys started moving on, getting the next generation in was good. Some of these guys playing with the club started here when they were just little kids. It took a long time for them to come up, probably too long, to have that group of guys coming through but they’re solid players now. Every team goes through that change at some point and its great to see them out their on the ice. To see them succeeding, getting their regular ice time and seeing that growth in the player.
 
I actually coached a few of the guys that are on the team now. Matt Wetini, Mat Lindsay, Hayden Sheard and Hamish Powell, these are guys I remember first starting hockey. They’ve all certainly gotten taller over the years but it wasn’t a big adjustment when I went from coach to teammate and now coach again. I’ve always been friends with them so for me I’m just happy to see them doing what they’re doing out there and it feels pretty good to think I helped them along the way. It’s easy to get along with hockey players because its something that we’re all very passionate about, something in common and these guys are no different so we’ve been friends a long time whether I’m on the ice with them or not they’re just great guys.
 
These guys are the next generation. Those first couple of years they didn’t get a whole lot of ice time but you see them start to come out of their shell once they start to play, they’re learning a lot more this year because they’ve gotten more ice time and that’s really good. Some of the older guys, we like to take guys under our wing. Guys like Starke, J.F.K and a few of the imports we all like to help them get along and its good to see them improve and find their own way. They’re all solid players now and deserve their spots and I couldn’t have a bad thing to say about them. I’ve been there right with them, I know how hard they’ve worked, how many years they’ve sat on the bench to be able to get the responsibility they’re getting now and it’s good to see. It’s good to see a guy get pissed off about missing a shift because you want to see a guy who wants to be on the ice.
 
My last two or three years with the team I really felt like a father figure almost. These guys were all coming to me about more then just hockey problems. It was whenever they needed someone to talk to and I felt pretty comfortable that they could come to me like that, giving whatever help I could and some great preparation for me as a father to my own children. There are a few guys that have won championships now with other teams so they’ve got guys now to talk with about what it takes and to find their own path as a team.
 
In 11 years of going to the playoffs with the team, we have only missed the finals once so I appreciate what the guys are going up against. Hockey is a funny sport; you never know when you’ll run into a hot goalie carrying his team or where the puck will bounce so it makes you appreciate the good and the bad. That’s what we had to do in Newcastle and we’re better for it, the team is better. Things can fall differently on the day, you play a whole season and it comes down to just one weekend, one game, or one goal. I’ve been looking at these guys all season, all their hockey careers for some, and I think they’re definitely deserving. They’ve come together to be the best team this year, our goalie is on fire and our offence is fantastic so if things keep going the way they are we should come home with a championship and I couldn’t be prouder.