Icing The old Knee

Here I sit with one leg elevated and a bag of ice wrapped and taped to my knee. I was watching the All-Star game until I decided to test Nick’s hockey reflexes. Unfortunately for me his reflexes are quite fast while mine have slowed down over the years. You play hard, you suffer the consequences, and I am. This wasn’t how I planned on ending my weekend. This weekend wasn’t too bad for the team. Two games resulting in two more wins, but the real improvement seems to be the passing game. We still need to work on positioning, but I am pleased to see some of the players who needed work on their passing and stickhandling make and catch some nice passes. Some of our less aggressive players are stepping up and fighting for the puck along the boards more. There are a lot of little improvements that I am happy to see. Our game against the Bantams was a lot of fun. They are a good team and a good bunch of kids. Our team got to experience a much faster game than we are used to. This was good for us, and was something we really needed to experience. We have been working on our face off strategy in practice to move the puck more efficiently around our opponent in the offensive end and get the puck quickly to the open side of the net. Everyone needs to know what to expect and work together as a team to have positive results. One person acting as an individual can throw the whole process out of whack. This is why I have continued to focus on teamwork. I hope I’m not coming across as the coach who is never satisfied even with a winning season, because that’s not what I really go after. I want to see our team play smart and I want to see some good hockey. I am pleased with everyone’s progress this year. I know that our players have a lot of potential, and I enjoy seeing them develop their game. We should always strive to improve, and never get complacent with standing still. A challenge always makes for an exciting game. Win or lose, it’s always going to be how you played the game. Of course later on in life you might want to have some ice packs on hand for those moments when you forget to act your age. Ice is plentiful up here, so I think I’ll be all right for a while. Now I think I’ll head downstairs and get some Tylenol.