Vikings try to shed their growing gorilla

By: Ken Weingartner
   Mike Slansky feels like he’s watching King Kong, but it has nothing to do with either the 1933 classic film or its recent high budget remake.
   This big monkey in this case is on the back of his South Brunswick High boys ice hockey team.
   With two losses last week, 3-2 to Hillsborough and 5-1 to Hopewell Valley, the Vikings fell to 0-4 to open the season.
   "Losing is a 1,000-pound gorilla you carry on your back," said Slansky, who is in his first year as South Brunswick’s coach. "It doesn’t matter what level you’re playing at, you get into that losing and you start pressing too hard. Once you get that first win, you get that monkey off your back and winning is contagious."
   The Vikings had a chance to shake the monkey against Hillsborough, getting goals from George Silvestro and Dan Schiatta, but saw their foe net the game-winner in the final minutes.
   "I thought we were going to win that one," Slansky said. "That’s probably the best game we’ve played all season in all aspects of the game. We played good defense, had good puck movement, got good goaltending, minimized penalties. It was a good up-and-down game, a good game for the fans to watch. Overall, it was positive."
   Slansky hoped South Brunswick could parlay that play into a victory Saturday against Hopewell Valley, but the Vikings gave up two goals in each the first and second periods. The win was the fourth in a row for Hopewell Valley. Tyler Scharff had the lone goal for South Brunswick.
   "We just laid an egg," Slansky said. "I’m not sure if the boys underestimated Hopewell’s ability. It was a weekend game, maybe they came out a little flat. I’m not sure what the breakdown was, maybe preparation on my part; I have to look at that, too. We didn’t play well at all."
   South Brunswick is scheduled to play winless Hunterdon Central today (Thursday). Despite the slow start, coupled with last season’s 5-14-1 campaign, the Vikings remain positive.
   "It’s hard when you’re 0-4 to always be upbeat, but, for the most part, the attitude is good," Slansky said. "We just need to take it a game at a time; not even a game, but a period at a time. We’re still carrying the monkey from last year, too, to some degree.
   "We just need to regroup and settle down and get back to the way we played against Hillsborough. If we play the way we did in that game, we’ll get the wins."