With a 21-14-1 record, the Florida Everblades return to Germain Arena this week for a three-game homestand against last year’s Kelly Cup champion Cincinnati Cyclones.

With half the season behind the Blades, and a new year on the calendar, it seems fitting to take a look at how far the team has come, and how far it has to go as the organization, led by first-year coaches Greg Poss and Brad Tapper, look to make another long push into the playoffs in April.

The first month of the regular season found the team hovering at the .500 mark as the parity to be found in the new, condensed ECHL reared its head. Within the staff and organization, the talk at that time wasn’t about how much stronger the league was as a whole, but their overall lack of a “full 60 minutes” of effort on the ice.

Regardless of wins or losses, Poss became redundant by repeatedly saying that the team’s biggest problem was “not putting in a full 60 minutes of effort.”

It didn’t get bad until the week before Thanksgiving when team president Craig Brush called into question the entire team’s attitude following a disappointing home loss to the Trenton Devils, saying, “They all almost seem to play with an arrogance that says that we should win just because we know we are that talented “

Based on their 11-5 record, including a six-game winning streak, since Thanksgiving the team has gotten the message. But where do the Blades really stand right now?

“Right now, I like where the team is,” said Poss. “I feel like we should have won every game (on the road trip). We didn’t, but I feel as if we played hard enough to win every game. Right now, the team is playing hard and sticking to the game plan each night and if you can do those two things you are going to win more nights than not.”

That may sound redundant, or even a little cliche, but in the ECHL, where team personnel changes literally week to week, it is apropos. The hardest thing for any new coach to the ECHL to adjust to is the constant revolving door that is the lineup card every night.

In his first year, Poss deserves a lot of credit for his handling of it. To date, the Everblades have seen extended call-ups for key players like Francis Lemieux and Mathew Pistilli on offense, and David Fischer and Kyle Lawson on defense. Poss has shuffled the roster beautifully, keeping the team chemistry intact while still holding them to the mantra of playing a full 60 minutes of hockey.

The outstanding job has them in better position than, perhaps, most think they would be in at this point of the year – five points out of first place in the division with the bulk of divisional play still in front of them in the second half of the season.

The Everblades and Cyclones (11-13-7) skate Wednesday night in the first of three meeting this week at Germain Arena.