Cold Start

Early morning games in a cold rink are part of the deal in youth hockey. Getting up early for an away game involves an inner strength only a hockey parent can relate to. When you get up early every day during the week for work you start to imagine how nice it would be to sleep in while the wind and snow hold the world outside in an icy grip. I was always up too early as a kid ready to hit the road at 3:30 am. This would lead to my father getting up and missing an extra hour of sleep that he could have had if I had not been so anxious to get to the rink. I have to admit that he was pretty good about it even if we were an hour too early to leave for the parking lot where all the parents would meet before heading out on the road. My feet would freeze in the car on the way to the game as my dad scraped away at the windshield trying to get a clear view of the road. Travel was whole different ball game in the 70s. Just getting to the games was a major challenge that only hockey parents were crazy enough to attempt. I’d load my hockey bag in the back seat of the old Ford Falcon. I had an old worn out green canvas duffel bag; Army issue just like everyone else on the team. We had what we had, and that was good enough. Just having a pair of skates that fit was a big deal to any kid back then. My parents gave up a lot to get me on the ice and I knew it. Of course I realize it more now after being a parent and a coach of my own three sons. This Saturday was just like many other Saturdays over the years. Now I still get up too early, but now instead of waking up my dad, I wake up my wife – depriving her of some extra sleep. My youngest boy hasn’t picked up this bad habit. He sleeps right up until it really is time to get going. We headed out to the rink with the truck already warmed up (No cold toes here). Some things have changed big time as far as travel and equipment. We were matched up against the team that had tied us recently. The first two periods found us losing ground as our opponent took advantage of our mistakes around the net and at the blue line. Our passing and positioning was off, although we were out-shooting the other team. We were not moving the puck effectively around the other team. We didn’t make use of the boards, and we were hesitating too much waiting to see what the opponent would do. Players were reacting with bad habits instead of following the game plan. One thing about playing as a team involves each player knowing and doing their part. If one player doesn’t work with the others, then everything can fall apart. If the coaches tell you to go to the goal or line up differently on a face off, then there is usually a reason. It’s not hard for a player to get pulled out of position by an opposing player. Coaches all look for players they can rely on to follow the game plan. Listening is huge in any sport. The third period found us down by three goals, but not out. Games can be won or lost in the third period. I’ve learned this over the years with a lot of other teams. Knowing we have the ability to climb back up the hill is one thing, doing it is another. This season we have done a lot of skating in practice. When I say a lot, I mean a lot. The other team seemed to be slowing down near the end of the second period. They changed their goalie, they looked tired, and I knew that our players would have a chance if we could catch them off guard. When you are down by three goals in the third period you need to turn the wick up and go on the attack even more than usual. Instead of pulling the defense back, we pinched in even more. What we needed was another goal to get the team fired up, and we got it on a long run by one of the defensemen. Now it was time to work together as a team and keep the pressure on in the offensive zone. As soon as we got the puck, we attacked fast with no hesitation. We were still drifting out of position, but the other team didn’t seem to want to take advantage of the holes. They were trying to hold onto their lead by hanging back and playing more defensively. In the final minute with only one goal difference the team looked to see if I’d pull the goalie. I wasn’t going to open the net; I felt that we had players on the ice that could do the job without any extra help. As the final seconds ticked away off the clock the tying goal crossed the crease with only 2.5 seconds left on the clock. The crowd went wild! Now that’s worth getting up early on such a cold frosty morning. Yesterday we played another pretty good game. The passing was better, and the positioning had a little better balance. It was a decent league game, but the highlight for me was the second game where we mixed the two teams up and played two periods of just fun hockey. The parents had brought in cookies and drinks for the teams, and each bench was made up of a mix of both teams. There was no checking, and the bottom line was just to have fun playing hockey. The other team was a very well run team with some excellent players. I could go for more games like this. Today we head out to play the Bantams. It should be an interesting game. It should be a lot of fun.