The goals are always lofty for the Miners Red hockey team. This year, the main two goals are to defend the team’s state title and to compete well at nationals in the spring. Those goals become the standard that every coach and player is held to. If the team wins by 10 goals, they may not have met that standard. Head coach Mike Adamek believes his squad’s best hockey was played in late-November and early-December. The team is now on a nearly month-long holiday break, during which they are resting and fine tuning their games. Park City will next be in action Jan. 8 to take on Skyline at the Park City Ice Arena. The puck will drop for that game at 6:30 p.m. “The competition level got a little bit higher,” said Adamek on his team’s latest stretch. “We really stepped up to the plate.”Adamek noted big wins over high-ranked teams like South County, East and the Miners White. His team is 13-0 this season, ranked atop the state. Vince Billanti with the puck in a playoff game with Brighton Navy last season. Credit: Park Record file photo by Tyson BolducAdamek loves where his team is at during the break. He hopes they’ll only get stronger with some rest and working their football and injured players back into the fold. The Miners Red await the full return of star Jonsey Reese, who is day-to-day after suffering a leg injury months ago. “This is a really good time of the year to take a little bit of a break,” said Adamek. “Recharge the batteries a little bit.”The Miners Red will have a fun alumni game Sunday then get back to twice-a-week practices next week. Adamek knows having fun and getting rest during the break is especially crucial with many players also playing club puck.Adamek thinks his team’s practices can be some of their best opportunities to improve. They’re using competition-driven focused drills to target specific areas for improvement. “We have a lot of kids that are putting up lots of points,” said Adamek. “They know that’s all fun and games for now, but we need to make sure that when we are getting to crunch time, whether that’s state playoffs or beyond, that the level is going to rise above where we have been for the last three months, so we might as well start getting used to that practice.”Cooper Ford, Vince Billanti and William Bock have led the Miners Red in points with 27, 24 and 23, respectively. Adamek also said Ian Marsland, Jackson Gready and Alex Harhi have been having great years. The head coach loves the leadership he’s getting on and off the ice from some of his stars and captains. Adamek tabbed new assistant coach Tom Gatta as a huge piece of this team’s puzzle. He said the former Carleton State player gives a ton of technical advice to the team and is often the one holding the clipboard on timeouts and period intermissions. “He’s very detailed in game,” added Adamek on Gatta. “He’s a little bit less of the motivating type and more of the X’s and O’s (guy).”Adamek hopes his team stays locked in down the stretch of the season. While it can be easy to overlook some teams with their ranking and trophy case, the team’s form remains all-important. The Miners Red have their second and final inner-program showdown with the fifth-ranked Miners White squad on their schedule for Jan. 29. Adamek would love some further crowd support at that game and down the stretch, especially from his players’ friends and classmates. He knows how much his guys love to see their friends in the crowd and share their moments on the ice with them. “We’ve had some games where there’s 50 people in the stands, and then our first game against Park City White there was probably 300 or 400 people there,” said Adamek. “Playoff hockey and end-of-season hockey is super exciting to watch.”Adamek noted his players did spend all fall supporting the football team at their games. He added that his team gets to play and often beats larger teams that the other teams at the school do not. To track the Miners Red’s results against Skyline and moving forward, see their Utah High School Hockey page. All of Park City’s home games are free to attend at the Park City Ice Arena.The post Miners Red hockey enters holiday break playing their best appeared first on Park Record.