The young Orlando Solar Bears have had to grow up quickly and succeed. Even with some wins, some shaky results are showing how much maturing is left to do.
The average age on the Orlando Solar Bears this year is 24.1 years old. There is no player older than 28 years old, and there is only one player that age.
As expected for a minor league team — and an AA one at that — there are a lot of rookies too. The Solar Bears have 11 rookies on the roster out of a 27-man roster. There is a lot of youth and inexperience on the roster.
That has not changed expectations. Not with the talent level and ambitions of this franchise along with the goals for the organization as a whole — and the expectations for development as part of the Toronto Maple Leafs farm system.
Even with a strong start to the season — nine points through six games — there is still a lot of growing to do. A lot of that growing was evident in the season’s second weekend against Norfolk.
In the first game, the Admirals manhandled the Solar Bears physically. If not for a seven-minute spurt of goals in the first period and a few empty net goals at the end, that game could have very well gone a different direction.
Coach Anthony Noreen and his team were still learning the ways of the ECHL.
“I think it’s getting used to going from a little of a boy’s game to a man’s game,” Noreen said. “You’re playing against some big strong men out there. It’s just something our forward group without a ton of size is going to have to get used to.”
How these players are getting used to this “man’s game” is constantly getting put to the test. There is definitely a boost in physicality that players have noticed quickly.
There is the way the Solar Bears responded to that rough outing against the Admirals — still a 6-3 win, but not the way Noreen wanted the team to play at all. Orlando came back against Norfolk two days later and won similarly 6-3 but dominated play much more and were the physical aggressors.
That is more the style Noreen wants.
On the road this past weekend, the Solar Bears dropped a frustrating game against the Elmira Jackals, the Bears bounced back to take a three-goal lead and hold off the Reading Royals.
That ability to bounce back has been critical to the Solar Bears’ early season success. And critical to the learning process the organization wants for this young team. It will be something to watch as the maturation process for this team continues throughout the season.
They will be adjusting again this weekend as they play the Florida Everblades on Saturday and Sunday at Amway Center. And adjusting too with starting goalie Rob Madore called back up to the Toronto Marlies.
It will be a new challenge for a young group. But that is life in the ECHL too.
The fortunate thing for the Solar Bears is that they have depth. While they may not have been able to control when this would happen, Ryan Massa has played extremely well in two starts this season. The rookie certainly has shown capable of playing at this level.
In addition, Orlando has had 11 players score at least one goal in nine games. That includes five with at least three goals. That is some incredible balance and each line seems to have at least one or two scoring threats.
“We feel our biggest asset is our depth,” Noreen said earlier this season. “We’re not going to be a team to just ride one line or one d-pair or one goaltender. We feel we have depth up and down our lineup. If you are going to make a run and win hockey games, you are going to need different guys to chip in on different nights.”
The Solar Bears’ depth has been a major weapon early on and eased concerns about transitioning to the professional game — even for Noreen, who is coaching his first non-juniors team.
Yes, this is a very different league than what many of the Solar Bears’ players are used to at this point. They all have been able to pull the slack at various times to get them through.
And the team is playing with the weight of some expectation to perform. This is not just a development business with the Solar Bears.
There is a lot of growing up still to do for this young roster.
