John proving to be a capable captain

The hockey team was waiting for practice to start in the Fieldhouse. The coaches were late and some of the players were talking about leaving. The week was about to get off to a bad start.

But Scotty John was determined to make something happen.

“Alright guys, let’s do a lap and then do 50 push-ups until coach gets here,” he said to his team. And they did it.

John is a co-captain for a reason: He’s a leader.

“He’s definitely a guy I look up to,” five-year veteran Chad Johnson said. “He leads by example. He’s a gifted and talented hockey player.”

This is the first season in which John has officially been a team captain, but he doesn’t feel like it has changed him.

“I felt like I’ve always been a leader,” he said. “Wearing the C on my jersey was helpful for when the new guys got here. It demands respect.”

Defensive coach Ned Hillyard said John had to establish himself as a captain this season.

“He’s young, but they give him respect,” he said. “At first, they didn’t, but he earned it.”

Johnson said John does not have any enemies on the team.

“Most of the rookies look up to him and the coaching staff believes in him,” he said. “He’s a great kid.”

John said as a captain, he deals with the coaching staff much more.

“I’m kind of an intermediary,” he said. “They look to me for a hard-working play to get a spark started.”

Hillyard said what makes him so good as a captain is how well he gets along with both sides.

“He sticks up for the players and he sticks up for the coaches,” he said. “That’s what a captain should do.”

John said his game has vastly improved since he joined the team three years ago.

“I feel like I’ve become a two-way player,” he said. “I started on offense and now I’m a defenseman.”

Hillyard said John is one of the best defensemen on the team.

“He’s solid and conservative,” he said. “He reads the ice better and better and better.”

John and co-captain Robert Hashimoto had big shoes to fill as team leaders. For the previous six years, the hockey team was led by all-American Aaron Burrell, but this is the first season without him.

“At first, there was a lot of pressure,” John said. “Burrell commanded so much respect just by being a six-year veteran. Hashi and I didn’t know how to be captain.”

Many players blamed a lack of leadership on the team’s uncharacteristically slow start. At the winter break, the Aggies had posted a record of 9-14-1 against Division-II competition after going 12-4-1 at the same point last season.

But the Aggies have started the second semester by winning three out of four games and out-scoring their opponents 33-8.

John said the pressure of all the expectations for the team was too much.

“We came into the season with one of the most talented teams we’ve ever had,” he said. “The fact that we were being second-guessed got to us. We wanted to prove everyone wrong. Now we don’t care anymore. We’re just playing.”

John said all the pressure on the team is gone because of last semester’s poor performance.

“It’s so much easier,” he said. “I feel like we’ve loosened up and relaxed.”

Hillyard said John’s maturity has been a great example to the team.

“He’s consistent,” he said. “That the best thing to say about him. He’s not flamboyant, extravagant or moody. He has a desire to see the team succeed.

“That C on his jersey should be an E for effort, because that’s what he’s got.”

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu