You Got To Have Wheels to Win

Today started with a good game against a team we had tied earlier in the season. Last night we had a hard skating practice. Normally I would shy away from a hard skate the night before a game, but with the cold temperature in the rink, I like to keep the players moving. This team has continued to improve as a skating team, and have been able to maintain a high tempo on the ice throughout the entire game. Today the rink was pretty cold, but it wasn’t a factor during the game. You could see that our opponent was slowing their game down by the third period. I look at which team makes the most mistakes; usually it is the team that is getting worn down. We made a few simple mistakes near the end of the third period, mostly due to fatigue – players get tired and start to let up on pressuring the puck. The bottom line was that we made a lot less mistakes than our opponent, and took advantage of the other team’s mistakes. It came down to skating fast and pressuring the puck. What we lack in size, we definitely make up for in skill. Today the skating stood out. It’s been a long season that has focused on basic skills. I learned up north that you got to have wheels if you want to win the race to the puck.
After the game I drove over to see a local speed skater club’s races. We have one of our practices at a local city rink that is also used by a local speed skating club. These skaters can move. Here it’s all about speed. You don’t race against your opponent – you race against the clock. One mistake and you can pay dearly in time, as well as physically. In hockey you are padded pretty good, but for speed skaters that haven’t got the same amount of protective gear, a fall at high speed is nothing to sneeze at. Fortunately the boards are padded to cushion the skater as they slide off the track. I have always noted the speeds that figure skaters can reach on the ice, but speed skating takes the cake for all out speed. All three styles of skating draw their power from crossovers, powerful strides and lots of practice. That’s funny, sounds like what we do.