By Dan Marshall

A new season and a new attitude for the North Island Silvertips

Sep 21, 2017 | 10:02 PM

NANAIMO — One of the last hockey teams to start the current season is the North Island Silvertips of the BCMML.
 
The ‘Tips start with a weekend series against the Vancouver Northwest Giants at Frank Crane Arena Saturday and Sunday.
 
Last season North Island finished with a 9-30-0-1 record and new coach Dave Johnston believes his team will increase that record significantly in 2017-18.
 
Johnston wants to see day by day improvements from his players so they’ll be well prepared if given the opportunity to play junior hockey in the future. 
 
From a team standpoint, Johnston sees potential for a league title with this current roster.
 
“I really believe we’ve built a team here that can compete every day. We’re very confident in the crew we’ve put together here so our expectations are to compete to win a championship,” said Johnston.
 
The Silvertips are going to take some time to hand out letters for their captains and assistant captains.
 
Johnston believes the burden of a leadership role can be detrimental if a young player isn’t mentally mature enough to handle it.
 
“Having said that I think we’ve got leadership from 20 guys,” said Johnston. “Of course we’ve got some of the returning guys that we have to lean on too.”

All the players are in the same school program at Nanaimo District Secondary School.
 
One of their classroom blocks is for hockey and Johnston says the players are hitting their stride in terms of getting used to their new schedules.
 
On the academic side there have been a few challenges especially with integrating out of province players.
 
The Silvertips have three athletes from Whitehorse this season.
 
Johnston says the hockey club will be represented thoughout the entire north island zone this year as well.
 
“We’ve got four Campbell River kids on our team, for example. We need to get to know the kids in all these communities, to allow people to get to meet us and know what we’re doing so we can continue to build this program,” said Johnston.
 
North Island will continue to build their brand through Johnston and General Manager Zed Malenica.
 
That means getting the message out that local hockey fans can come and watch the future stars of junior hockey for free.

The Silvertips play Saturday at 4:45 p.m. and Sunday at 8 a.m. at Frank Crane Arena.
 
 
dan@nanaimonewsnow.com
 
On twitter: @danmarshall77