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12/21/2016 11:00 PMJohn Peschell is no stranger to the Amity-North Haven-Cheshire girls’ ice hockey program. After all, John was heavily involved with the program as an assistant coach for the past few years. When last year’s Head Coach Scott Whyte had to step down due to an off-ice injury, John took the reins as the Blades’ head coach for the 2016-’17 winter season.
“I took over this year after he injured his back. He can’t be on the ice after he had to have back surgery, so he handed it over to me and I stepped up and took it,” John says. “I’m thrilled to have this opportunity. We have a good, young team and it’s exciting. We’re going to have a lot of fun.”
Whyte is still with the Blades as an assistant coach this winter. He and John have worked alongside each other the last few seasons and so Whyte feels confident that the role reversal will play out just fine for everyone.
“In the past, even though I’ve been in the head coach role, I always told the parents and players that we’re all co-coaches. What one says, the other backs up, and we always speak and work together. We always agreed on that,” says Whyte. “Going forward, I think the head coach role is important so the parents and kids know where to go if there’s a problem and who is making the final call. Is it going to be a power trip? I don’t think that’s going to be the case at all. We talk every day, ask each other for feedback and ideas, so it’s not just one person running the show.”
John feels excited to be in his new role and is happy to still have Whyte involved with the team. The two have developed great chemistry from the coaching the Blades together in recent years.
“I think it’s great because you still have Scott’s experience and knowhow. He’s still watching and at practice and he’s at a different vantage point than me on the ice,” says John. “It’s interesting because it’s almost like we have an extra set of eyes or, we’ve always had the eyes, but now it’s coming from a different perspective.”
John grew up playing hockey and was a forward who competed at the club level at Southern Connecticut State University. During that time, John was introduced to coaching through the Southern Youth Hockey program.
“I started coaching youth hockey in my early 20s. I enjoyed it and was coaching with that program for about eight years and then stopped all together to play in various men’s leagues,” says John. “Once my son was about five, I got into coaching again with West Haven Youth Hockey and got hooked up in girls’ hockey through a friend of mine who was coaching the Southern Stars.”
John says that his transition from player to coach was a smooth one. He’d always had an interest in coaching and so stepping into that role seemed like the next natural step.
“It was easy. My father coached me when I was a kid, so I always kind of wanted to do it,” John says. “When I was in college, I really learned how to play the game and it got me from being a player to learn how to teach it. I learned the intricacies of the game in college more than I ever did throughout youth, which is what made me get more interested in it and wanting to teach it. Being involved in hockey for so many years, you learn how to play both forward and defense.”
John has put all that knowledge to work throughout his time with the Blades. One of the reasons he loves working with his current group of players is because they have the capacity to learn more about the sport.
“They are much more competitive and the skill level is higher, so you’re always teaching,” says John. “You can get more in depth and teach people to play hockey the way I want it to be played.”
As his Blades are coming off winning the SCC Division II championship a year ago, John wants them to take the title once again, while advancing the program’s progression.
“Our goal this year right now is to repeat as SCC Division II champions and to make the State Tournament. That’s our short term goal and what we’re shooting for,” says John. “Long term, I want to see this program continue to grow. The youth movement we have here is tremendous and everyone seems to have a lot of fun. We’ve always had the support from our three schools, so we just want to continue to see it grow as we get better and better. I’m very excited to have the opportunity.”