Photo by Andrew Potter Macomb Dakota junior forward Eddie Lewis checks a Utica Eisenhower defender during the Cougars’ 3-2 win over Ike Dec. 13 at Suburban Ice Arena.

Grinding it out

Dakota hockey moving
in right direction under guidance of new coach

By Alan Bojakowski
C & G Sports Writer
   
MACOMB — The Macomb Dakota hockey team worked tirelessly to perfect their skills during a mid-December practice at Suburban Ice Arena, a desire brought on by first-year coach Dave Koons.
   
“He introduced a lot of stuff you don’t think you’d need in the game,” senior captain Michael Demers, a forward, said. “He gets you thinking more in drills.”
   
And that’s what Koons and his staff want: a grind-it-out hockey team that does all the little things right.
   
“We emphasize skills,” Koons said. “We want players to become better-skilled hockey players, and we also want them to be responsible. If we give up six goals, we want the six goals to be justified.”
   
Over the past 15 years, Koons has coached for such teams as Little Caesars, Honey Baked and Belle Tire at the Bantam and Midget levels, winning four state titles and one national championship along the way, with many players landing in the collegiate and professional ranks.
   
Now in his first year as a high school coach, he has the same winning ways in mind for his new team — namely, earning a Macomb Area Conference Red Division championship.
   
“Our first goal is the MAC Red,” Koons said. “… Our goal is (also) to become a state competitor every year.”
   
In their first season in the MAC Red — they were in the MAC White a year ago — the Cougars are surely making a name for themselves.
   
As of press time, the Cougars (10-3-1 overall, 6-2-1 Red) were tied for first place with defending champ St. Clair Shores Unified in league play. Following their second head-to-head meeting of the season, which Shores won, 6-0, Jan. 6, both teams had 13 points; they tied, 4-4, in their first matchup.
   
“We’ve worked hard all summer, so we kind of expected some good results, and so far we have (gotten them),” Demers said. “We have a lot of potential, and we’ll get better as the season goes on.”
   
As far as early season highlights go, the Cougars captured the Blue Water High School Holiday Hockey Tournament title with a 5-3 win over St. Clair High, another MAC Red foe, Nov. 25 at McMorran Arena in Port Huron.
   
“We’re fortunate to have very good skaters, especially at the forwards,” Koons said. “We play kind of wide open (because) we have players where we can do that.”
   
Along with Demers, alternate captains Bobby Eastman (senior) and David Demick (junior) are also key forwards looking to take the team’s game to the next level.

“I think (the success has) been an overall combination of hard work over the last three or four years,” Eastman, a three-year varsity starter, said. “I’d like to see us first win the MAC Red and have some success in the (Division 1) playoffs.”
   
The new coach is all about keeping his players focused so those goals can be achieved.
   
“It’s work ethic with these guys,” Koons said. “We’re challenging them every day to be accountable for what they do and make sure they’re doing the right things and working as a team.”