Listen - Walk - Run

This Saturday’s practice was efficient. That’s one of the things I look for in each practice. We had half a sheet of ice, and there is a lot I can do with that much ice. Sure I like a full sheet when I can get it, but I also like to know we are getting the most out of our ice as possible. Splitting the ice allows me to concentrate on small game situations, and pressure for both offense and defense. Puck movement, triangulation, and cycling were the focus, and we also did a few simple checking drills. Every practice needs to emphasize the basics, but also work one step at a time on our full game. You can’t throw too much at the players all at once, but if you break everything down you can build your game piece by piece. Two things I already have seen and talked to the team about are daydreaming and listening. These are two big things to get straight right off the bat. On the ice everyone must pay attention to what is going on every moment. Listening is a part of this. Listen; if you don’t understand something ask questions. It’s a lot easier to correct things at practice then later on during a game, or later in the season. You will make mistakes when you try new things, but I expect things to start off a little rough. The important thing is that we try new things, and work to improve.
There is no time for goofing off. I don’t like fooling around and distractions. It takes away from the team. Luckily I seem to have a pretty good group of players. There’s nothing wrong with having fun, but “I like a well-disciplined team.” Let me say that one more time. “I like a well-disciplined team.” I like what I’m seeing so far.
I emphasized the idea of checking to get the puck, not with the intent to injure another player. A good legal check should result in gaining possession of the puck. As long as all the players are here to play hockey we will do fine.
We went north to watch the Cannoneers play in an alumni game. It was pretty good game. I’m already looking forward to the regular season. Devin did very well in net, and it looks like there is the making of a pretty good team. This was a very good weekend. We topped our visit north off with a few subs at the Roadhouse in Brownville.
If you’re up in that neck of the woods you’ve got to try their pizza and wings. Anyways, I wish I could get the hockey team out to watch a few lacrosse games. Not everyone on this team has played lacrosse, but everyone understands how important passing and cycling is for hockey. We will continue to work on cycling and overloading throughout the season. The skating is coming along nicely, now we need to tighten up the passing and shooting…….and we will. There is a lot to work on for positioning, but I want to make sure everyone is walking before we start to break into a run.