3View: Sheridan Hawks
The 3View series will feature an in-depth look into all NA3HL teams in preparation for the 2022-23 season, with two teams being highlighted daily, leading all the way up until the start of the regular season. 3View goes in-depth into each NA3HL team and will include interviews with all the head coaches in the NA3HL, as they provide fans with their expectations and outlook for the 2022-23 season, including taking a look at their potential roster and their strengths as a team for the upcoming season. It will also take a look back on the 2021-22 season and how each team fared and what they accomplished. Best of all, 3View will provide the fans of the NA3HL with an inside look at their favorite team and what to expect.
Sheridan Hawks
2021-22 Record: 6-40-1, 13 pts. (8th in Frontier Division)
2022 Playoffs: Did not qualify
Head Coach: Chad Bailey
2022-23 Division: Frontier
Head Coach Chad Bailey enters his second season as bench boss for the Sheridan Hawks and is excited to get the year going. Now a year into his term, Bailey has witnessed the positives and negatives of what it takes to be a successful team in the league and has gained perspective of the level that needs to be played to be a fierce competitor in the league.
Bailey took over in late November last season and said that the experience has been a good one thus far. “I was excited and honored to be named Head Coach of the Sheridan Hawks,” said Bailey. “The Sheridan community has been kind and supportive to me during my time here, and those experiences have helped me along the way. I am looking forward to building on what we have accomplished the past few years. We plan to be a much more competitive team this year as we look to get back on track and back to the Fraser Cup.”
After a six-win season, the Hawks have learned a few lessons in how to compete in the NA3HL along with the Frontier Division and how to get back to where they were in the 2020-21 season at the Fraser Cup Tournament.
“We learned you must have depth to compete at a high level in our division and our league. We focused on adding that depth this off season and I believe it is going to help us have a successful year and program,” Bailey said.
The depth of the Hawks will revolve around the return of some returning players including Mac Billings and Teejay Torgimson who have exponential experience in the NA3HL including a Fraser Cup Championship Tournament showing.
“Defenseman Mac Billings will return for us this year as a 4th year player. Mac has developed a lot the last three years as a player and we look forward to seeing him take another step forward this year,” Bailey said. “Then Forward Teejay Torgrimson is also returning after having last season cut short. Both players bring Fraser Cup experience to our team, and we will count on them to lead this team into the 2022-23 season.”
After missing the playoffs last season, and now with a new mindset behind the bench, Bailey and his staff are setting new expectations for the upcoming season to return to be contenders for the Fraser Cup.
“With the returners we have, the expectations are set high,” Bailey said. “The new guys are going to compliment the returners and they are going to push each other to be better every day. To get over the hump, we have to continue to grow as a team on and off of the ice. We want to build on our daily habits and show up every day ready to work.”
Playing in an 8-team division, the Frontier had two teams in the 2021-22 Fraser Cup Championships Tournament with the Helena Bighorns and Gillette Wild. While last year 6 of the 8 Frontier teams clinched a spot in the Fraser Cup Playoffs, the Hawks did not, which is fuel for them this upcoming season.
“The Frontier Division is always competitive. I believe the bar will be raised this year with respect to the change in the league where only 4 of the 8 making it to playoffs this year. Every point is going to matter in the race to the end of the season in order to give your team a chance for the Fraser Cup,” Bailey said.
The Hawks kick off the 2022-23 season with a series at Yellowstone starting on September 9th.
Next Up: Rochester Grizzlies
