Not a Bad Start

The first game of the season wasn’t too bad. We won 4-1 away at our cross-town rivals, but we still looked a bit rough around the edges. There are 18 players on this year’s team. Three net tenders, two who also play out as defensemen. That seems to be our strong suite. Over the years I have relied on strong offensive defensemen to anchor a team, and solid goaltending to hold the fort when the defense press forward and to pull off spectacular saves at crunch time. Centers are encouraged to help out the defense, but are expected to work deep in the offense and get the puck to the net. I always look to the wingers for speed and productive fore-checking deep in the corners and to take advantage of all rebounds. Our second game was at home, and we lost 3-6. The defensive points were open, and we strayed too far away from the opposing team’s net where we could have taken advantage of some key rebounds. We should have worked the puck out of the corner and not overload to the point where we left one side open off the point. These were all simple mistakes that we will work to correct. Positioning and pressuring the puck will be the focus of the next few practices. The basic skills still need attention, but the last game really highlighted the need for better understanding of our wingers on the attack and defense. There were some very positive things going on during both games. I saw some players display some much-improved backward skating skills, and I saw some impressive checks and shots from the point. One of our newest players pulled off two very nice goals in our last game by reacting quickly in front of the net. Yesterday I also saw some very good stick handling and shots, which produced our goals for yesterday’s win. We still have a team that is divided by two distinctive skill levels. The overall speed and endurance of the team needs to come up to a higher level. We have players who show signs of fatigue after only three shifts. When a player is tired, they often begin to lose focus on the game, and can become an advantage to the opposing team. This team does however have a spark, and some very nice young players who display a lot of potential. There are some very talented players working hard to play some good hockey, but we will need everyone to turn the wick up if we want to play well together as a team.