Only a group of five and six year olds could live comfortably with this moniker. The Dixie Lee Chickens played as a senior tyke team within the umbrella of the Valley East Minor Hockey Association. 

Coached by former Valley East Rebel Kevin McLaughlin, the team brought together a varied group of youngsters in McLaughlin’s third year with this age group. At this age however, changes are constant. 

The coaches’ son, Ben McLaughlin, made the move from forward to goaltender, a position he had flirted with previously only in outdoor ball hockey games. “He just said one day – dad, I’ve scored enough goals. I want to go in net now”, laughs the elder McLaughlin. 

It’s been an interesting transition for the young man behind the bench, who jumped into the coaching ranks almost immediately after his playing days were done. But the bulk of his early experience in coaching came at the midget and bantam ranks, a group that presents far different challenges than those just learning how to simply remain on-side. 

“At tykes, you’re teaching the basics, like trying to get the kids to stand up. I had a hard time with that. How do you teach a kid to stand up?”, questions McLaughlin. “Even lining up for a faceoff can be a challenge.” 

Like many of have been in his shoes, McLaughlin utilized various sources to get a better handle on how exactly to approach is eager little group. “The initiation course helped quite a bit….and then I spent a lot of time just searching the internet.” 

Of course, a very rapid learning curve goes hand in hand with presenting so many new skills and drills to the young boys and girls who so often are referred to as “little sponges”. “I can go through something in practice and see them doing it in the very next game – it’s really neat to see”, admits McLaughlin. 

If coaches can quickly find certain distinctive attributes about every team with which they are involved, McLaughlin has no problem sharing what makes these little “Chickens” special. 

“It’s just a very enjoyable group…they’re a lot of fun – most of them listen most of the time”, he says. “It’s great to see the progress this year.” A competitive player in his day, McLaughlin acknowledges that there are certainly times when he needs to remind himself of the setting in which he coaches. 

“It’s tough – I have to bite my tongue some times. And I remind myself that it’s for fun – they’ve got the rest of their lives to be competitive in hockey.” 

The 2008-09 roster for the Dixie Lee Chickens included: Ben McLaughlin, Yanik Taillefer, Sebastien Lalonde, Taylor Scott, Colin Giffen, Emily Lafond, Hayden Rainville, Blake Barnard, Cody Bilodeau, Brandon Poulin, Austin Rose and Riley Erersdobler.