Jackals off to perfect start this year

ELMIRA HEIGHTS, N.Y. - Things couldn't be much better for the Elmira Jackals these days.

The team is 7-0, looking to become just the third team in league history to start the year 8-0 when they host the Trenton Devils on Friday night.

"Things are going pretty good, we are 7-0, I don't think we can complain about anything," goalie Chris Holt said of the team's success during a luncheon Wednesday.

For Holt this year has been a success 4-0 with a 1.79 goals against and a .938 save percentage, since taking over when Michael-Lee Teslak was called up to the AHL Adirondack Phantoms.

"I feel good so far," Holt said. "I've been playing well, everyone has been playing well in front of me, I haven't been terribly busy. The biggest thing for me right now is consistency, I've been playing consistent."

And it helps that the Jackals are a high-scoring team these days, capable of putting up big scoring numbers game after game.

"That's big," Holt said. "For example against Cincinnati, we went down 2-0 in the first five minutes and I had to remind myself that we were still in it. We would probably get five or six goals. And, we came back and won.

"It's a rare instance where one mistake will cost you an entire game. If I do make a mistake, I know the guys will pick me up."

As good as the Jackals are playing, one challenge for Holt is keeping mentally focused when the team is not giving up shots often.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it when about seven or eight

minutes go by without a shot, and then you have to kill off a penalty," Holt said. "Mentally, you just have to overcome that."

While teams can start to look ahead when they are on long winning streaks, coach Steve Martinson is confident with this being at the start of the season his team still has it's focus.

"I think it's still pretty early in the season for the guys to be looking past hockey," he said. "I think right now we are playing pretty well as a team. Our goals allowed is coming down and we are still scoring goals."

As well as the team is playing Martinson knows it can bet better.

"Systematically I think we can still get better," he said. "It's just about working on, and improving the little things."

One of the challenges for the Jackals with the 7-0 start is that every team has them marked on the calendar these days.

"Teams don't take you lightly," Martinson said. "We do play a lot of interdivision games, we have some pretty good rivalries we play, so we are used to this."

The more success the team has more players, like Teslak, will get a chance to be noticed and maybe promoted to the next level.

"The record does draw the most attention right now," Holt said. "Everyone is talking about it, we just had two guys featured on NHL.com, so everyone is starting to know who the Elmira Jackals are.

"We just have to remember to bring that intensity everyday, because the reality is someone is always watching."

And while success can also mean call-ups, that's where the Jackals depth comes into play.

"We have pretty good depth, if we lose some guys we feel like we can replace them," Martinson said. "You never know when someone may get the call, it usually happens on a weekend. I think our depth helps us a lot with that."

While the streak is nice it's not something Martinson talks to his players about.

"I don't talk about that, I just focus on the next game," he said. "I just think the guys need to keep getting ready for the next game."

One of the positives to the success is an already supportive Elmira crowd has been even more fired up this year.

"I didn't know what to expect when I came here, but the fans have been great," Holt said. "I gave them full credit for one of my saves last game. They have just been tremendous."