The young Siberia Icecats skated out onto the ice in their practice facility and there were plenty of relieved faces. Not long ago, this same young team had perplexed looks on their faces after a rough 1-3 start. This team had a good preseason, prompting a lot of expectations for the Icecats. We caught up with the captain, Conor McDavid, to ask him about his team's current perspective. "I think we had high expectations set for us from the beginning and it was like a big weight put on us. We struggled early, but we also lost to some tough teams. We had a team meeting and we decided that we were just going to go out there and have fun." And fun is what this team seems to be having now. After a 1-3 start, they have won 4 in a row, with a recent 8-2 win over Victoria. This team still has a lot of work ahead, but they seem to be trending in the right direction. We also caught up with the head coach, Brian Leetch, who had this to say. "This team has a lot of young leaders that are learning to step up and lead by example. Connor is a great captain, but we also rely on veteran leaders like Jags, to inspire and teach our youngsters. While Jaromir has not had any playing time of yet, he is a valuable leader in the locker room." Time will tell if the Icecats can continue their uptrend, but if their last 4 games are any indication, they will be a tough team to match up against the rest of the way.
In other news, Mika Zibanejad has announced that his recovery from a broken leg is going well, and will be taking off his cast in 4 weeks. He will be taking it easy until then, enjoying time at home, while watching team videos to keep his mind on the game.
Also, Icecats General Manager has announced that he is already beginning to think about contract extensions to several players who are in the last year of their contracts.
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