Last weekend, the Park City Junior Moose went through what many first-year franchises do in their inaugural season opener.
The Moose were thumped on their home ice by the Idaho Steelheads Friday and Saturday. Park City fell 8-1 Friday and 12-2 Saturday at the Park City Ice Arena to an Idaho squad that was the runner-up for the national junior hockey title a year ago.
“We haven’t seen what our team is capable of doing yet,” said Moose general manager and coach Aaron Kinslow. “We’re just slowly starting to see what these kids are becoming. It slowly takes time to come together as one.
“Friday and Saturday was kind of a rude awakening as to what it takes to play at this level. The score didn’t show what we’re able to play as.”
As the Moose accumulate players from around the globe, the team now sits in a unique position: it must continue to build on the go in its first season of existence.
“We’re just keeping a positive outlook and we want to establish a system and we’re still recruiting new players,” Kinslow said. “We’re not at a full roster yet. We have some players coming in right now that are going to create a little more depth and ability to compete with the top programs in the country.”
Park City already has some talent on the roster. Kinslow said the better players on the team were able to showcase their abilities in the two losses last weekend.
The Moose have some threats up front, headlined by Finnish forward Ville Rantanen. But Kinslow said one player can’t make a team successful; it takes the whole lot.
“We need to have 20 leaders on the ice, not 20 passengers, and that’s about having a full team effort,” he said. “They’re learning what it takes to learn and compete.”
More crucial than talent or even wins, Park City must be able to establish a team identity first; if that happens, everything else will follow, Kinslow said.
“An identity consists of team character,” he said. “My team character, what I understand, is to never give up, dig and claw and never give up on a puck, but at the same time, provide smarts.
“We want (opponents) to be worried every time we’re coming into town or they’re on our home ice and realize they’re going to be in for one heck of a three-game series.”
The Moose head into a three-game series this weekend in Boulder, Colo., to take on the Boulder Bison. Kinslow said he isn’t too familiar with the Bison, but knows the coaching staff there and knows they have a slew of knowledgeable former pro players behind the bench.
“They’re going to be a hard-working, skilled team and compete in all the little areas on the ice and make it difficult for us,” he said.
“They are a younger squad than they have been in the years past. They might have less experience, but they’re still going to be an amazing club to play against.”
The first-year Park City franchise has its work cut out heading to Colorado and the Moose are undoubtedly hoping to return to town with at least one win.
“It’s a three-game series in 48 hours,” Kinslow said. “It’s going to be a bit of a battle from our guys, but if we have the right mindset, we’ll be able to send a message to the league that our first weekend was a fluke.”