Lynx on the road: Get used to it, kid

The Augusta Lynx at the same time showed their promise and their inexperience in last weekend's season-opening split with Columbia and Gwinnett.

Now the young team (average age 24, seven rookies) hits the road for a brutal stretch that, as rookie goaltender David McKee said, "will be a true test of this team's ability."
Starting with Friday's game at Columbia (which won the opener 7-3 at James Brown Arena) and Saturday's game at South Carolina, Augusta plays six straight away from home, 11 of the next 12 and 13 of the next 15 on the road.

More than a handful of Augusta's players aren't used to that kind of grind, coming off 35-game college schedules that require mostly weekend play.

This stretch may not be a true test of this team's ability, it may be a true test of this team's mettle.

Young players are prone to "hit the wall" in their first full professional season, as the grind of the schedule takes its toll on the body and spirit.

It is early, very early, but this stretch of road games will go a long way in determining which players coach Bob Ferguson will be able to rely on in pressure situations in unfriendly arenas, where things can unravel quickly.

Coach Bob Ferguson has been around long enough (25 seasons) and has plenty of experience with young players, so he knows how to handle the flip sides of youth - inexperience and vigor.

A young team may be physically more able to handle the grind, but at what cost to the team's record?

"No question, I'm very concerned with what we're facing the next four weeks," Ferguson said. "But this is the best time to do it, at the first of the year when everybody's healthy."
The Lynx need to pick up points during this stretch. Don't expect them to surge to the top of the standings with this schedule, but they need to hang around in the middle of the pack until Thanksgiving so that a favorable schedule later on can help.

Ferguson's experience, along with that of some of the "older" players, if you can call 27-year-old Louis Goulet and 29-year-old Joe Cardarelli "older," should help.

"It's a good opportunity. We've got a good bunch of older guys who know how it goes, who can teach the young guys a little bit about what to do on the road and get to know each other," Goulet said. "Hopefully, we'll get off to a good start this weekend."

With youth though, you don't really know what you're going to get until it's tested. And it will be the next four weeks.

Ferguson likes to say it takes until Thanksgiving to know what kind of team he has. With this schedule, he should find out a lot between now and Dec. 1.