20 Push-ups

The game I had looked forward to all week didn’t go the way I had expected. We made some mistakes early in the game that cost us two early goals. I’m pretty sure I made a few bad line changes that worked against us. We ended up losing 5/3 to the same team we had dominated a week earlier in our home rink. We have more work to do, but there were a lot of good things that I saw. Our checking has improved, as has our speed and passing game. We still need to work on owning the middle of the ice. There were a lot of good puck battles, but we need to hold the puck in the offensive zone with more pressure in front of the net. Most of our shots were right into the goalie’s pads and glove. I can’t say the team didn’t work hard. We sent 47 shots at their net to their 21 shots on ours. That's not too bad, they had a pretty good goalie. This team works hard right up until the last second on the clock. Our goalie played solid and made some great saves. When a team gives so much and still doesn’t win you have to step back and figure out what needs to be changed. What am I doing wrong? What am I not doing right? I plan my practices around skill work, but I haven’t focused on systems. The passing, skating, checking, shooting, cycling and smart hockey concepts have been the main focus. I can’t complain though because we have done very well this season. It’s games like this where the coach has to take responsibility for the outcome. After the game I headed to the store and picked up a new wooden Orange Easton stick for my youngest son. He had a nice shot from the point, but rang the crossbar. He was using a yellow stick. Throw it away! Get an Orange one. I spent way too much time thinking over the game. Not good. I figured I’d relax and catch part of the Sabres vs. Montreal game. If the Canadians win I have to do 20 push-ups at the next practice. Guess what?
I got to do 20 pushups! …….I wonder what Lindy Ruff’s thinking about. I know what I’m thinking about….The next game.