{"id":97236,"date":"2023-09-06T15:21:18","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T19:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/editionap.ca\/?p=97236"},"modified":"2026-02-17T20:52:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T19:52:36","slug":"new-head-coach-says-hard-work-key-for-nats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visionrockland.ca\/en\/sports-loisirs\/new-head-coach-says-hard-work-key-for-nats\/","title":{"rendered":"New head coach says hard work key for Nats"},"content":{"rendered":"

Justin Pereira, the Rockland Nationals\u2019 new head coach, said he doesn\u2019t want to look back as the team prepares for its 2023-2024 season, as regular season games start on September 15.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It’s a windshield mentality,\u201d said Pereira of the new season. \u201cWe look forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pereira said he is bringing in a new system for the Nats, who missed the playoffs by just a few points last season and landed near the bottom of the table despite a confident start to the season.<\/p>\n

Pereira joined the Nats in May from the OHL\u2019s Saginaw Spirit where he worked as an assistant coach. Now a head coach, he is preaching a similar message to what got the Spirit through to the second round of the playoffs last season. He wants to see a team that is possession-based, high-paced and highly competitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s about being relentless,\u201d said Pereira. \u201cBeing relentless in everything you do. In your 50-50 battles, in how you\u2019re hunting down pucks. It\u2019s second and third efforts in battles.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the season ahead, Pereira said the club is developing a culture around the team that extends to the surrounding community as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day we want a team culture that is all about caring,\u201d he said. \u201cCaring for each other and caring about how we represent the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his eyes set on a higher position in the standings for the upcoming season, Pereira is taking it one day at time and ensuring his team is growing and getting better every week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s all I care about,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you do that, you give yourself a good opportunity to make the dance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nats general manager Carl Robillard, who joined took on the role and head coach position in December 2022, said the boys have already taken to Pereira, signaling they feel lucky to have someone as high caliber as the former OHL coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe dedicated his life to coaching. This is what he wants to do and it shows,\u201d said Robillard.<\/p>\n

The general manager\u2019s hopes are also high for the upcoming season. With a new roster of players, five staying from last year, and a new coaching staff, Robillard said all the pieces are in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll that\u2019s left to do is get these guys to gel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slow start to the pre-season <\/strong><\/p>\n

In their first exhibition game against the Nepean Raiders the Nats took a 2-1 loss in overtime at home, a team they defeated three of their five meetings last season. The Nats played the Raiders again in Nepean on Wednesday, after the Vision went to print.<\/p>\n

According to their new coach, despite the pre-season jitters, the players are taking well to the message and developing the skills Pereira wants to see them carry throughout the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve definitely seen those habits in a lot of the players,\u201d said Pereira. \u201cWe obviously want to continue like that, continue with the consistency of our message and hopefully that translates into our performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless, Pereira and Robillard said Rocklanders can rest assured that hockey in the city will undoubtedly be entertaining this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s going to be an exciting team to come watch every single night,\u201d said Pereira. \u201cIt’s going to be a team that’s going to give 101 per cent effort. It’s going to be a fun product on the ice and a chance for these young men to showcase their skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nats\u2019 regular season games begin September 15 at home against the Pembroke Lumber Kings, last season\u2019s overall last-place team in the CCHL with a record of 10-40-2-3. The Nats, who finished the 2022-2023 season at 20-23-4-8, defeated the Lumber Kings in all four of their games last year.<\/p>\n

Pre-season games against Hawkesbury are scheduled for September 8 and 10, away and at home, respectively. Their final pre-season matchup is against the Ottawa Junior Senators, the reigning two-time CCHL Bogart Cup champions, in Orl\u00e9ans on September 13.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Justin Pereira, the Rockland Nationals\u2019 new head coach, said he doesn\u2019t want to look back as the team prepares for its 2023-2024 season, as regular season games start on September 15. “It’s a windshield mentality,\u201d said Pereira of the new season. \u201cWe look forward.\u201d Pereira said he is bringing in a new system for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":97237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-loisirs"],"acf":[],"featured_media_global":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew head coach says hard work key for Nats - Vision<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/visionrockland.ca\/en\/sports-loisirs\/new-head-coach-says-hard-work-key-for-nats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New head coach says hard work key for Nats - Vision\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Justin Pereira, the Rockland Nationals\u2019 new head coach, said he doesn\u2019t want to look back as the team prepares for its 2023-2024 season, as regular season games start on September 15. “It’s a windshield mentality,\u201d said Pereira of the new season. \u201cWe look forward.\u201d Pereira said he is bringing in a new system for the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/visionrockland.ca\/en\/sports-loisirs\/new-head-coach-says-hard-work-key-for-nats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Vision\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-06T19:21:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T19:52:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.editionap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/actjc-nats_coach_Pereira-2-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1709\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gregg Chamberlain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gregg Chamberlain\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/visionrockland.ca\\\/en\\\/sports-loisirs\\\/new-head-coach-says-hard-work-key-for-nats\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/visionrockland.ca\\\/en\\\/sports-loisirs\\\/new-head-coach-says-hard-work-key-for-nats\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gregg Chamberlain\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/visionrockland.ca\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c03784f36585a6d796cecef66b57dda4\"},\"headline\":\"New head coach says hard work key for Nats\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-06T19:21:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T19:52:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/visionrockland.ca\\\/en\\\/sports-loisirs\\\/new-head-coach-says-hard-work-key-for-nats\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":675,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/visionrockland.ca\\\/en\\\/sports-loisirs\\\/new-head-coach-says-hard-work-key-for-nats\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.editionap.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/actjc-nats_coach_Pereira-2-scaled-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports et loisirs\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/visionrockland.ca\\\/en\\\/sports-loisirs\\\/new-head-coach-says-hard-work-key-for-nats\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/visionrockland.ca\\\/en\\\/sports-loisirs\\\/new-head-coach-says-hard-work-key-for-nats\\\/\",\"name\":\"New head coach says hard work key for Nats - 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