THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Chill had one constant through their first 15 years of existence, a stretch that included the peak of a league title but the valleys of missing the playoffs for their first seven seasons.
But this year, for the first time, that one holdover won’t be leading the team on the sidelines.
Tony Colistro, the only head coach the program had ever known, stepped down in the offseason and has been replaced by Giovanni Petraglia, who had spent the past couple seasons as an assistant being groomed to take over.
Even though it’s his first year holding the reigns, make no mistake, Petraglia knows there is pressure to live up to the established Chill brand after a disappointing season that resulted in the team missing the playoffs for the first time in
“We all do because we don’t like when we don’t make the playoffs. I think our natural habitat is in the playoffs. The Chill have to be in the playoffs,” he said.
“It doesn’t really matter who’s the coach or the players, we need to be there and we need to find a solution to be there.”
The Chill opened their training camp this weekend, holding sessions on both Saturday and Sunday in advance of their Premier Development League season kickoff on May 23 against the St. Louis Lions.
For the most part it was a new group taking to the pitch, with only captain and defender Zetroy Robertson, striker Sullivan Silva, midfielder Dominic Roberts and keeper Daniel Alvarado slated to come back from the 2014 squad.
While only the four players return from last season’s group, the organization turned back the clocks a little further inviting back franchise-leading scorer Brandon Swartzendruber as well as forward Sergio Campano Franco and midfielder Kyle Andrade from the 2013 team that lost in the PDL final.
Petraglia already has the full attention of his charges, only two days in.
“I think he brings a younger, more intense sort of personality and I don’t think he’s shown it a lot yet,” Swartzendruber said.
“You can see he’s a real intense guy whereas Tony was a little more reserved…It’s a good thing to have.”
Which is a good thing, because Petraglia is not about to apologize for it.
“We need to know intensity is part of the game,” Petraglia said.
“If you want to make the playoffs and want to go through it’s not enough to be on the field. You have to be on the field with intensity, with purpose. We have to be prepared physically, mentally and tactically.”
Many of the players say, all in all, there hasn’t been a drastic change switching to Petraglia from Colistro. Petraglia played a major role last season in leading practices so it’s already a role in which he feels comfortable.
The style of play should remain similar to what fans have come to know, though there might be some new subtle nuances.
“It’ll be more of a possession game rather than a direct game. We have the quality in the midfield and backline to do that with possession and then with Brandon, (Campano Franco) and (Silva), those guys can finish,” Andrade said.
“As long as we’re doing our job defensively those guys will put the game away.”
