Everybody feels like they are a contender at training camp. Sometimes optimism can get the best of us before the hard dose of reality can set in. Every league has a set of favorites before the first puck is dropped.

There is one common denominator within the heart of just about every championship team; confidence and unconditional faith in the system. It takes more than just talented players and just about any mega-rich guy can spend his money on hired guns to be a competitor. In most cases, it is the team that did not take the shortcuts that get to raise the cups.

How to make a champion

Foundation- There are good owners and there are great owners. The guys that provide a great foundation for a coach to work with are the same guys that get to kiss the hardware.

Support- The team needs an iron clad support staff and diehard supporters that will go down with the ship if needed.

Coaching- The right guy can make all the difference. Championship caliber coaches are made at championship winning programs. Talking about winning and having the experience to actually do it are entirely different animals. The coach needs to have confidence in the players he brought to the table and be able to actually coach them through the developmental process.

Chemistry- It only takes a single floater in the punch bowl to keep everyone from drinking the Kool-Ade. Coaches need to select guys that are going to fit into the system and get along with the rest of the group. The programs that create a family atmosphere often experience a high degree of success.

Leadership- From the guy signing the checks, to the coach and to the team captain, the leaders of the team are always going to be the most important component of a champion.

Confidence- This cannot be taught or bought. It has to be installed at the first day of training camp and reiterated all along the way with practice, patience, and execution. A champion goes the distance expecting to win.

In 1990-1991, the Anchorage Aces formed a team to compete at USA Hockey's National Championships and managed to win the hardware. In 1992 and 1993, the team worked itself to both finals, only to come up short. In 1994, everything was in place for the club's second championship. 1995 saw the third 2nd place finish. During these years, I learned about the difference between a champion and contender.

In 1995-96, I skipped out on the Aces move to pro hockey to help jump start a new junior program in Alaska. Because the closest junior teams were in Seattle or British Columbia, we played an entire season against Alaska's strongest men's open adult clubs. We begged USA Hockey's Dave Tyler to allow us to enter the "B" tournament, but he would have none of it and forced us into the "C". He can't say we did not warn him. Our team headed to Pittsburgh with confidence and a roster choke full of guys with "A" level experience. We leveled the competition and cruised to the championship.

Today, every player on that team can reach back to that season for an easy smile. I am still very proud of that group, a perfect mix of leadership, talent, and confidence.

There is an old saying that you can't teach old dogs new tricks. I have a better one. A few old dogs can teach the younger ones all kinds of new tricks.

Carry on with your summer boys.

Stephen Heisler has spent a lifetime in the game of hockey. Stephen is also working as a consultant with individual teams, coaches, and players with the Heisler Hockey Group. When not on the road, Stephen and his family spend most of their time at home in Orlando, Florida.

Original post:
DAILY DISH: ANATOMY OF A CHAMPIONSHIP - Junior Hockey News - JuniorHockey.com

From the outside, the couple seemed to have a bright future together. But a gunshot shattered that facade onMarch 10, 2007 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Just after 9 p.m. a 911 dispatcher received a call from 31-year-old Eric McLean, who said he had an intruder in his house. The dispatcher asked if he wanted to speak to an officer. But Eric changed his mind claiming that the intruder was now leaving.

Less than five minutes later, a second call was placed to 911 from the same house. This time it was Erics wife, 29-year-old Erin McLean.

My husband just killed someone, she said, according to Snapped on Oxygen.

The dispatcher asked if her husband was there with her.

No, but the... the bodys here.

Erin met Eric at a coffee house in 1994. Eric was a freshman at the University of Tennessee. When he wasnt in class, he played in a local rock band. Erin was a junior in high school. The two immediately hit it off.

I just really, fell in love with her.

After Erin graduated from high school, the pair moved in together. Within a few months, they were able to buy modest home in North Knoxville, Tennessee.

Financially it was extremely tight, but it didnt really matter that much we had a lot of fun together and we were able to get by and have a good time, said Eric.

The pair married in 1996. They had two sons together.

But being a full-time mom wasnt the long-term goal for Erin. Eric put his own education on hold and took on extra jobs so that Erin could go back to school. A top-notch student, Erin graduated with honors in 2002 and quickly followed up by earning a Masters Degree in Literature. In 2006, she re-enrolled in school to earn a second Masters in Education.She was hoping to get a Ph.D. and become a college professor. But first, Erin had to go back to high school as an intern, part of her training to get a graduate degree. During her internship, Erin met a smart but rebellious 17-year-old boy named Sean Powell. He had a troubled past and was an aspiring artist. He began confiding in Erin, who was then 28.

She started tutoring him because she said he was going to fail school if she didnt, Eric said. He said he ended up taking care of the kids most of the time while Erin was working her internship and tutoring Sean. Eric was also back in school, which he was juggling in between delivering pizzas and playing in his band. This left little romantic time for Eric and Erin, which allegedly bred resentment from Erin.

It was almost like she was regressing back to her teenager kind of emotions. She just stopped talking to me all together in November. It was like there was no communication at all, said Eric.

Well, at least no communication with Eric. Erin was spending her time communicating a lot with someone else: Sean.

I would come home and find you know the phone on the floor and the sleeping bag on the floor whered she been up you know all night talking to him on the phone, Eric said.

Sean got suspended from school after being caught with alcohol and was sent to a rehab facility. He turned 18, left school, and soon moved in with the McLeans. Eric, who didn't suspect an affair, put Sean up in his bands practice studio at Erins request, thinking that the favor could help out their relationship. Eric even befriended the troubled teen. They all hung out together. Sean would watch movies with the kids. Sean may have watched G-rated movies with the children, but he was having an X-rated experience with their mom. It got to the point where Erin and Sean walked into a club where Eric and a band mate were watching a performance, and Erin was openly hanging all over Sean, sticking her tongue in his ear.

Just one week before the shooting, Eric walked in on Erin and Sean having sex.

I said, you know, I should have known that you didnt care about me at all thats basically all I said to her and she didnt even care, Eric said.

On the night of the shooting, Sean Powell drove up to McLean house. Eric told him to leave, that he wasnt welcome there anymore.

He just ignored me, walked right down my sidewalk and walked right into the house, Eric said.

According to Eric, he immediately called 911, only to hang up once it looked like Sean was starting to leave. But, Sean didnt fully leave. Eric claimed that Sean and Erin began taunting him.

They were making fun of me for calling 911 like I couldnt even get him out of my house on my own like Im just a big [expletive] or something.

Erin allegedly began telling Eric that Sean was twice the man he was. She allegedly told Eric that she didnt want the kids to grow up like him. She then threatened to leave and take the children with her.

Thats when Eric got the rifle. He claimed that he just wanted to scare Sean. But, Sean wasnt scared. In fact, he laughed and allegedly said something along the lines of, Hey, in two weeks theyll be calling me daddy.

Then, according to Eric, Sean had lunged forward and grabbed at the gun. And, thats when the gun went off. At least thats what Eric later said on the stand. But when Eric turned himself in to police after the shooting, he didnt mention anything about Sean lunging for the gun. The contradiction was brought up in court.

The news got hold of the shooting and the salacious scandal, and it made national headlines. Despite being negatively portrayed in the media, Erin wasnt charged with any crime. There was no evidence shed had a sexual relationship with Sean until after hed turned 18. Erin packed her bags and headed west with her two boys. She hid out at her mothers home in Nashville. A few days after the shooting, Erin attempted suicide. She took a bunch of pills and locked herself in a bathroom. 911 was called and she was brought from her mothers house to a hospital where she was diagnosed with PTSD, put on medication and started therapy.

Shifting the blame for Seans death to Erin was Erics only chance at not going to jail for murder. The fact that Erin had an affair with her former student more than ten years her junior would give Erics attorneys plenty of ammo.In a taped interview aired on the Today Show, Eric came across as a heartbroken man driven to desperate ends by his wifes betrayal.

Matt Lauer: Why not leave her?

Eric: I know, I just couldnt leave her.

Matt Lauer: Explain that. Why not?

Eric: Cause I love her [sobs].

Erin soon resurfaced in the news after a story broke that she had gone back into teaching. She had used her maiden name to get hired at a private school. Several parents accused Erin of inappropriate behavior at that school: allegations of her inviting boys over, and giving them alcohol. Once those allegations broke, Erin left her kids with her mom and checked herself into a mental health facility in Nashville. Two days later, Eric filed for divorce. He also, despite having a murder trial only months away, requested custody of his two sons. The week after Eric filed for divorce, Erin left the mental hospital, snuck into her mothers house, and grabbed the kids. Her sister called 911.

My sister has taken her children and shes completely unstable and shes a harm to her herself and to her children. Shes not supposed to have them. DCS has put her kids with my mom.

Erin and the kids disappeared, and began traveling around with a man Erin met at the mental hospital. She didnt show up for the divorce hearing. Erin didnt know there was a divorce pending. She was living in and out of hotels with her friend from the mental hospital along with her kids. The judge ordered the McLean children to be placed in protective custody and granted Eric visitation rights. Eric got what he asked for: the property, the house, and fifty-fifty time with the boys.

Erin was not asked to testify during Erics 2008 murder trial.

The prosecution said in court, Look, youre not going to like her. We dont like her. Shes, you know, a bad woman she had an affair with a student. They claimed that Eric was aware of the relationship between his wife and Sean. The prosecution alleged they were in an open relationship, and that Eric just got jealous. They also pointed out that it looked like Sean had a defensive wound, which meant he may have died trying to defend himself. Additionally, it was Erics contradictory confession was brought up. When he turned himself in at the police station he didnt mention that Sean reached for the gun or that the gun went off by accident, like Eric claimed in court.

But, the jury believed Eric.

He was found not guilty on all murder charges and on voluntary manslaughter charges. He was found guilty of reckless homicide and was sentenced to a mere ninety days in jail, with credit for time served.

I dont believe that any of us believed that he intentionally went out there to kill Sean Powell, said juror Chris Rowher.

Erin actually ended up spending more time in prison. A judge sentenced Erin to 95 days in jail for contempt. The sentence was five days more than Eric had received for shooting Sean, a fact that left both the Powell family and Erins attorneys pretty upset. Eric was released early with credit for time served. He is appealing his 12-year probation sentence. He has been awarded primary custody of the children. Erin is currently out on bond and is also appealing her sentence. Sean Powells family has set up a memorial in his name with Childhelp Childrens Center of East Tennessee.

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Anatomy Of A Love Triangle: Husband Kills Wife's 18-Year-Old Lover And Former Student - Oxygen (blog)

January 21, 2005: Police in East Moline, Illinois, got a call from a man named Tony Reynolds. His daughter Adrianne was missing. According to Adriannes father, the 16-year-old hadnt come home after school that afternoon, or shown up for her after-school job at a local fast-food restaurant.

He told Snapped on Oxygen: I knew immediately something was wrong, because she didnt go to work. She loved going to work. Shed get ready an hour before she was supposed to be there. Her boss said she would never miss work. She was a dependable kid.

Adrianne Reynolds had recently moved up to Illinois from Texas, just a couple months earlier. Her classmates, Cory Gregory and Sarah Kolb, were the last ones to be seen with her.

Like Adrienne, Sarah Kolb knew what it was like to be the new kid in town. She was born into a military family that traveled all over the world. Sarah was trying to find her identity, and she found solace in the horror-themed hip-hop group called the Insane Clown Posse. She and Cory met and become friends a year earlier, after meeting at a local mall and sharing a joint. They were inseparable. It was common knowledge that Cory had a crush on Sarah but Sarah was more into girls. Sarah and Cory started hanging out with the local group of Juggalos and after years of feeling like an outcast, Sarah finally felt like she fit in. She became the groups leader, the alpha female. She was the one who called the shots.

Then Adrienne Reynolds showed up.Adrianne had grown up fast. She was smoking pot almost daily as a youth and she went into treatment for crystal meth as a young teen. In November of 2004, two months after her sixteenth birthday, she was sent to Illinois to live with her father. The first time Sarah laid eyes on Adrianne, she told a friend, Look at her. Shes hot.

The feeling was mutual. They two teens wanted to date each other.

After a few weeks of flirtatious note passing, the girls went off to a party together. Adrianne got romantic, but not with Sarah. Adrianne left the party for a few hours, and when she came back she allegedly told Sarah that she had slept with two guys she met at the party. After that confession, Sarah decided that she didnt want to date Adrianne anymore but Adrianne wasnt ready to give up. She began pursuing Sarah and wrote her letters stating, Oh, I really like you. Give me a second chance.

Sarah began telling everyone that she was going to kick Adriannes ass.For weeks, the teens went back and forth. Adrianne would write notes to Sarah asking, Why do you hate me? Why do you hate me so much? Why are you telling everybody you want to kick my ass?

After that party Sarah just thought that she was, she felt threatened by her I guess, like she thought that she was gonna take all of her friends, leave her all alone, said Jonathan Polanchek, a friend of Adriannes.

On January 21, 2005, Sarah finally talked to Adrienne in the school hallway, asking her to lunch. They headed off to Taco Bell and Adrianne was never seen again.

That evening, Tony Reynolds called the East Moline Illinois police to report Adrianne missing. Based on what Adriannes father and stepmother told them about Adrianne's life, police initially thought the teen had just run away from home. But she had left her paycheck and all her clothes behind.

Police were soon given the names of Sarah Kolb and Cory Gregory. An officer called Sarah. She told the officer that after lunch, she had dropped Adrianne off at McDonalds, at Adriannes request.

If you do hear anything, I would appreciate it if you would call me and let me know, Sarah told police.

Police also called Cory. He said he was with the girls, and that they had gotten into a disagreement over something on the way to Taco Bell.

Police called Sarah again. She explained that the argument in the car was over a letter that Adrianne had written to Cory.

She had been hanging out with my friend who likes me and I like him, but she likes him and we got into an argument about that because she wouldnt leave him alone," Sarah said over the phone.

Sarah was soon interviewed in an interrogation room at the police station. She said that she and Adrianne had argued, got into a punching match and then parted ways. Police asked if Adrianne was in good condition when Sarah left, and Sarah replied yes.

Corys family began noticing that something was bothering the teen. He was unable to sleep for days. Guilt was eating away at him.

Four days after Adriannes disappearance, Corys father called police and said his son wanted to talk.

Cory told police that Sarah had been angry when she drove to Taco Bell that Friday. He said that Sarah was mad at Adrianne because Sarah did not want Adrianne to hang out with her friends anymore, especially her best friend Cory. Cory said that when Adrianne had started writing him notes, Sarah decided she needed to put her foot down. But Adrianne wasnt having it. The two teens started punching and choking each other. Cory told police that he stayed completely out of the fight, that he was mostly looking out the car window during the altercation. When Cory claimed he decided to intervene, the fight was over. Sarah had locked Adrianne into a chokehold. Adrianne was blue in the face. Cory said she was dead at that point.Cory claimed Sarah then came up with a body disposal plan. He said they drove out to Sarahs house, where she picked up a gas can out of the garage. Then the duo drove to Sarahs grandparents farm. Cory told detectives that they had driven to a secluded spot in the woods on the back of the property. Then, Cory said he waited in the car while Sarah tried to dispose of Adriannes body: he said Sarah took the body out of the trunk all by herself and dragged it over to an area, put a tarp on the body before pouring gas on it, and lit Adrianne on fire. The body burned, according to Cory, but not as much as Sarah hoped. Sarah allegedly lit her on fire, poured more gas on her -- at least three or four different times. Then, the pair decided to sleep on it and brainstorm how to get rid of the body. Cory told the detectives that he helped cover the charred body with brush.

Sarah dropped Cory off at his house and then she went home. On Saturday, Sarah had to work. It wasnt until Sunday that he and Sarah came back to the farm -- with a saw. Adriannes head and hands were cut off because they are identifying pieces of the body. Cory claimed Sarah dismembered Adrianne before leaving Adriannes torso and legs in a ravine on the farm. They then took the head and the arms in a trash bag and drove out to Black Hawk State Park where Sarah dumped Adriannes remains along a trail, at the bottom of a storm sewer.

Police, Cory and his lawyers went to the state park and Cory led detectives to the manhole. In it, a black plastic garbage bag with Adriannes head and the arms.

The next day, Sarah was taken into custody. She refused to do another interview or give a statement. Both of the teenagers were charged with first-degree murder.

17-year-old Sarah Kolbs murder trial began on Halloween 2005. In its open, the defense went after Cory, claiming that the statement he gave the police was a cover-up. The defense stated that Cory was the real killer. To prove that Sarah was the one behind Adriannes death, the prosecution showed the jury Sarahs personal journals. In one entry, Sarah wrote, I want to [expletive] kill her. Classmate Nathan Gaudet was called to the stand by the prosecution. He said that Sarah didnt cut up Adriannes body. He did.

Nathan said that on the Sunday after Adrianne went missing, Sarah and Cory had called him to ask if he wanted to see something cool. He testified that they asked, Hey Nate, you wanna come see a dead body?

Nathan told jurors that he brought over a saw and helped Sarah and Cory dismember Adriannes body. They took the head and the arms in a trash bag, threw it in the trunk of their car, and stopped at the McDonalds drive-thru to eat before going to the park. Nathan said he did it out of loyalty.

I thought I was just helping a couple of friends out.

He said that Sarah and Cory were laughing at the corpse, telling Adrianne that she deserved what she got for being promiscuous.

In court, Sarah admitted that she and Adrianne had fought in the Taco Bell parking lot, but said that it was Cory who killed her. She said that she didnt have the strength in her hands to strangle somebody. Sarah was emotionless as she described the death.

The jury just couldnt decided. The trial ended in a hung jury.

So, Sarah went on trial a second time. This time, the defense made a dramatic change. They didnt call Sarah to the stand.

I dont think anyone expected during the first trial she would be so cold and so emotionless and that probably hurt her, said Nicol Lally, a reporter who covered the trials.

On February 22nd, the jury found Sarah Kolb guilty of murder. She was sentenced to 48 years for murder, to be served without parole. She also received five additional years for concealing a homicide. Sarah Kolb said at her sentencing that she felt nothing as Adrianne died.

She was cold, very cold for 16, said Tony Reynolds.

Sarah has exhausted her appeals. When released from prison, she will be at least 66 years old. Cory pled guilty to one count of first-degree murder, and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Nathan Gaudet served three years for concealing a homicide.

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Anatomy Of A Love Triangle: Jealous Teen Strangles And Dismembers Classmate - Oxygen (blog)