Get that coffee brewing

This has been a nasty week for allergies. I hope the first frost comes early followed by a nice deep freeze. That usually comes just in time for cold and flu season. I'll try to avoid that so we don't miss any hockey or school. Tyler ended up staying home with a stuffy nose while I headed over to the rink for a few laps and some much needed blade sharpening. Hockey could start back up next week if everything works out. We still need to go through all our gear and see what needs replacing and what can get tossed out of the hockey shed. I keep looking over my notes from the past. There's a lot of years of hockey to look back on, and each season has it's own uniqueness. I normally prepare for the upcoming season before the first practice, then start changing a few things around once I see where and at what level the new team is capable of getting to. That's the easy part. The hard part is getting there. By the Christmas holidays the team should really play well together. Some teams get there earlier than others, but we get there. The first part of the season we work extremely hard on fundamentals. You should always focus on skill, but it is extremely important to dig right in and get going right off the bat. Get the foundation set and build upon it. Luckily many of the players know what to expect and put in the effort. You can't beat that. I think about all the seasons and all the teams I have coached over the years and all the rinks we have started our first practices in. This will be the first time in a long time that I will be able to pick up a Tim Horton's coffee on the way to practice. You gotta love that! Summer is awfully long down here, but I don't care once Hockey season starts. The last time I drove by the new Tim Horton's it wasn't yet opened. Hurry Boys! It's almost Hockey season. Get that coffee brewing, I can wait for the donuts, but I am looking forward to that coffee even though it's mostly for nostalgia.