Finishing the regular season one game above .500 with 43 points in 42 games and advancing to the second round of playoffs, the second year for the South Muskoka Shield Jr. A hockey club in Gravenhurst was a success, says head coach Jeff Stack.

“I thought it was a good season, right from the beginning of the year,” Stack said in a telephone interview Friday. “We pretty much met all of our goals for the year. We wanted to make sure we weren’t a last-place team. We wanted to be a competitive team. We figured we’d be .500 or a little above .500, which is where we finished, and we also wanted to make sure we did something in the playoffs, and actually though we didn’t win, we made it to the second round.”

General manager Gord Carey agreed, the team did better than last year and certainly won more hockey games.

“I think we did well with our forwards as far as recruiting, but our defence is still suspect and a priority,” said Carey. “Our goaltending was a lot better since we had Coté for the whole year. We’re better off than we were last year even with our backup goalie.”

Carey said his trades for 15-year-old Steve Vince and American boys Derek Rodgers and Ricardo Avila for Drew Millar and Mike Wilkinson worked out well and were an advantage to the Shield.

“We gave up our fifth-round draft pick to get Will (Rinaldi) back, but he had a good back end to the season as a forward,” Carey said.

The Shield played through the first half of the season winning 13 games and losing only eight, but lost 13 games and won only four in the latter half of the season.

Stack said the long season, the team’s schedule and inconsistencies in play contributed to the Shield’s seventh-place overall standing in the Greater Metro Hockey League (GMHL).

“We had a run-in in November where we played a lot of the weak teams,” he said. “We won seven or eight games in a row that were basically against the weaker teams like Douro and Tamworth.

“I don’t know if we had a weak second half; I’d say we had inconsistencies in our play. We competed most nights but just weren’t very consistent,” he said. “Part of it is the long season for a lot of these guys. A lot of people keep forgetting our team has 12 rookies that never played junior hockey in their lives. They’re used to playing 28- or 29-game schedules, not 42.”

Stack said injuries and strains on the players’ bodies also contributed.

“That’s mostly because the guys who come from minor hockey aren’t used to having to keep their bodies in as good of shape to not get injured,” he said.

When asked if he believes there were discipline problems during the season, Stack said no, but some players took the season more seriously than others.

“When you come from minor hockey where a lot of the time you do what you want to a more structured system in junior hockey, it’s tough sometimes to make that adjustment,” he said. “There were issues with a few boys from time to time, but they’re boys. Overall, I think we had great kids. I think all of them are going to be successful in whatever they do.”

Carey said he perceived a lack of discipline, which he said comes from the coach all the way down. He would also like to see more teaching instead of flow drills.

In terms of what the 2008-09 team could look like, Stack said it’s a crap shoot at this point in time. Staff will be regrouping, and evaluating the season and the players before looking forward.

“For the most part we’re hoping the nucleus of the team will be back,” Stack said. The Shield has the rights to all of the players until they are traded or released, he noted.

Carey added there will probably be a couple of changes within the operation of the Shield.

The Shield will get sixth pick overall in the draft weekend on May 10. From trades during the season, the Shield has two second-round draft picks, three at the third round, and a couple of fourth-round picks from other teams.

With vast improvements from a 4-34-0-4 season in 2006-07 to 19-18-0-5 in 2007-08, Stack said there is pressure on the organization to do better in year three.

“There’s always pressure to win,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s pressure from the community. This community is amazing; I think they support these guys no matter what. I think the pressure comes from within us to continuously grow the program and make the team better for the community as well.”

After leading the league in attendance last year, Stack said the Shield is definitely among the top two in the league for fan support. The Temiscaming Royals, a new team this year, saw consistent crowds like the Shield, but having local players on the team is something that helps bring in spectators, Stack said.

He agreed it will be tough to replace the Shield’s No. 1 goalie Ryan Coté who will not return due to age restrictions.

“Hopefully with (Eric) Pye getting some experience during the year, he can be the guy to step up,” said Stack. “We also have Steve Brown with some experience as well. So we have two young guys coming back next year. It’s tough. You can’t replace a 20-year-old like Coté. When Pye’s 20, he’ll probably be in the same spot. But goaltending is really something that’s perfected with age and experience.”

Other big contributors include high scorers Travis Saltz and Dylan Sontag who tied for most points at 56 points each, though Sontag had 34 goals, over Saltz’s 28. Nick Leigh had 47 points and a team high 160 penalty minutes, while Anthony Neville, who left partway through the season, managed 42 points in 28 games. Forwards Troy Storm and Chad Meagher rounded out the top five in scoring, while Dale Hatfield was the Shield’s leading defenceman with 24 points.