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When the Kentucky Cool Cats hockey team slips onto the ice for the first time this weekend, it will be led by a trio of new coaches looking to revive a program that's returning from its first losing season in 15 years.
The club has witnessed a series of offseason shakeups. Those included the hiring of new head coach Mike Sosnowski and assistant coaches Gordon Summers and Rob Docherty after last year's head coach, Phil Sweeney, left for a job in Michigan.
Upon Sosnowski's arrival, he laid down a challenge to his veteran players, issuing a new sense of discipline and vowing that no one's position on the squad was safe.
"The first thing I told them in tryouts was that I didn't know any of them
from the man in the moon," Sosnowski said. Ticketmaster
Although some returning players were taken aback by the attitude brought in by their new coach, they have since adapted and are now looking forward to lacing up their skates for the new staff.
"They're hungry," Docherty said. "They want to be steered in the right direction."
The players are eating up what the coaches are teaching.
"They're putting as much time into this as we are and that's definitely a good thing," junior forward Josh McConnell said.
Sosnowski's disciplined approach contrasts that of his predecessor, said team officials and players.
"They bring a world of difference," junior forward Alex Poulos said. "When I came into the locker room for tryouts, it was a totally different feeling. Everybody's excited to play this year." Ticketmaster
The coaches praised the team for its newfound excitement as well as the desire it has to learn.
"They're all like sponges out there, eager to learn," Summers added. "They're great listeners."
Summers is returning to UK after a previous stint with the club as head coach from 1993 through 1999. Since then he has been known as the most successful coach in team history and he was the last to lead UK to a national tournament in 1995.
Summers said he is trying not to step on Sosnowski's toes when it comes to making head coaching decisions. Ticketmaster
"I've caught myself a couple of times and I just jumped back," Summers said. "We're going to coach the way he wants to coach. If he asks my opinion, I'll be there."
Summers may not have to wait long to be asked his opinion. Sosnowski has stressed that, like his players on the ice, the coaching staff will work as one unit and do whatever it takes to win.
"What I think we bring between the three of us is nearly 100 years of hockey experience," Sosnowski said. "We've all seen good teams, we've seen bad teams and we know what it's going to take to win."