New Season begins with new team

What is the one thing that separates one player from another? You will come up with a lot of different answers from different coaches, but I believe it all boils down to skating.
Skating is the foundation for everything you do on the ice. A lot of players can shoot and stickhandle well. These are all very important skills. Teamwork, endurance, heart, and brains are also big parts of the total package, but everything rides on your skating ability – literally. Each season I have stressed the skating, and each season it has paid off. No matter what we work on at practice, there will be a lot of skating involved. As a player you may not realize how much skating you are doing, because you will be working it in with every drill, play, or scrimmage. This is supposed to be fun. I hope each player leaves practice a little faster, a little stronger, a little smarter, and with a little more love for the game. It is after all a game….a great game. What I have seen so far looks very promising. Each year I seem to wind up with a pretty good bunch of hockey players. This year looks to continue that run. As many know, last year’s team was very good. I have had a lot of very good teams over the years. Each of them started off the season the same way, with a lot of hard work. Somehow we managed to have a little fun along the way.
I look forward to this season, but it is a new season, and a new team. My expectations are high…..as usual. Let’s see what we can do.