Puck Pros Session with Christian - 2013-10-15

It had been four months since I was at Puck Pros. When I saw that, I was disappointed in myself. I wanted to get there more. I wanted to be there regularly this summer, but the summer had me on the ice a lot more. Anyway, the past few visits, some of the messages were the same - get stronger legs. I decided to do just that. I started going to the gym and working on it. I have felt a difference.

Today I worked with Christan. It was a lot more different than my past sessions. Not surprisingly, we worked mostly on skating. But we worked on the core parts of skating that are used when you handle the puck, when you shoot, when you turn, and so on. To me these are the foundation of the game, and if you can't do it, you're not going to progress.

The weight transfer is something that I'm still not doing right, that I need to get down right. I need to take a wider stance, bend my knees and get low, and when I push off I need to straighten my leg that I push off with.

Perhaps the biggest thing Christan did for me was all mental. He called me a very "mono" player. I do one thing right at a time, and when I focus on something different, I lose the first thing. Bending my knees? Not going to do the toe snap. Doing a Full extension - not going to be in the forward push. I need to focus on pulling it all together.

The other thing that really helped me was seeing the state Christian was in. He wasn't his normal energetic self. He was in a calm mellow state, but when he'd talk about the game, when he'd see me improve, he'd show an incredible amount of passion. Later he explained he too just started going to the gym. And it made me glad, because I'm in a similar state as him. He's a little fatigued, but when that love for the game kicks in, he was ready. And the longer I've been going to the gym, the less tired I feel, but the passion only increases.

Three things to take away:

• Weight transfer - Straighten my leg when pushing off, get low, wide stance, bend my knees.
• When turning, with my inside skate, be on the outside edge - and align my feet versus putting them next to each other. 
• Keep my head level when transferring my weight. It should go side to side. Not up and down.

Puck Pros Session - Wayne

I got there an hour early. Christian, who is the owner, mentioned how he saw the blog a few weeks ago. I was a little surprised as I hadn't mentioned them in a while. Either way, it was cool to hear it.

I hit the goalie rink by myself. It isn't intended for long stretches of skating as it is smaller, but for everything else, it is just fine. I had about 30-40 minutes by myself on there and I'm really glad I had it. It takes me a while to get used to the synthetic ice - a true sign that I don't skate correctly. I made some adjustments by myself, and I could feel myself moving better, and a lot quicker on the surface. From the recent Coyote pictures, I noticed that I bend my knees more, but I'm not bending at my hips. I corrected that, and was much better. I then focused on shooting and stick handling, as I didn't want to get tired for the lesson.

I got to work with Wayne. We started off looking at things in the mirror and that really helped me see what I was doing, what is the correct stride, and what I am currently doing. We talked about how the feet should make a V, and your legs should make a diamond. We talked about the different muscles being used, and a few exercises that I can do to strengthen them. And finally in the mirror we talked about how I should be snapping my toe to make sure that I'm getting full use of my skate blade on the ice.

We then hit the ice surface. We focused on the correct push offs. One area that I really had an issue with is my balance in terms of the skate blade. When I bring my foot back in to my body (the recovery part of the stride), first contact should be on the toe, and you drive the toe into the ice. This is because you want to keep your balance forward, and it sets you up for your next stride. Before this, I was rotating my foot to be straight, but that is incorrect.

We talked about how at times I will stomp down on the ice, and others, my skate will slip and just slide up really high, essentially doing me no good.  When I stomp down on the ice, it is me trying to run on the ice. I should not rotate my foot's angle so that I skate in a line, it should be in a V.

Working on these few things already made me feel quicker on my skates, like I had a ton of power. Next he talked about balance, and where the weight is when you play. It should be forward, as if you're falling forward almost. I have a tendency to be all over, but I've been trying to lean forward more, and I feel I've been falling a little bit more in games because of that, but that is part of learning.

Finally we worked on some stick handling. Mostly just focusing on using my weight transfer to move the puck and not my arms. This was much harder for me than it should have been. Keeping my hands in the right spot, skating correctly while staying balanced, keeping your head up, and hey- we're going to make you carry the puck. It became a little much for me. I couldn't tie all of these together at once, but I did see improvement as the drills went on.

Wayne did an excellent job. I would explain how I felt, and he'd give me a tip to try and correct that, or show why I felt that why. When I struggled with something, he made me continue until I got it right, adding on a little by little. The main thing for me is that communication, which he is really good with. He would say, "Pay attention to your recovery so that you can push off again right away." I would ask him to explain what he meant by that and he'd show me. I'm not afraid to admit when I don't know something or need help, but I may have a difficult time explaining what I need help with. Wayne got it.

I received a lot of useful information. Too much to remember to do all at once, but if I focus on the following things, I feel it'll all come together.

• Recovery. I need to bring my recovery foot in at the same angle that I started in to make that V. This will make sure that I am in position to take my next stride.
• Snapping my leg- When I push off, I need to make full use of all of the blade on the ice, giving me a full stride.
• Balance on my toes almost. I'm going to stand on my toes to get my weight forward, and then slowly put my heels down to keep my weight forward when I skate. 

Piranhas vs. Ice Bears

I've felt somewhat burned out by hockey in the past few weeks, which is why I have not written lately. Priorities have also just made it take a back seat.

I've taken a little bit bigger of a role in terms of leadership on the Piranhas lately. It has helped me develop a lot of confidence in myself, knowing that others have confidence in me as well. They may not have confidence in my game, or organization, or influence in the locker room, but I really haven't heard anyone complain about it - which means I'm doing at least one of those things right.

Tonight I got to act as captain. Kind of an interesting way about doing things. I've always noticed that my favorite leaders (including other things but hockey) have always just taken charge. They've said "We're going to do X," and go with it. I actively tried to do this. The clearest case was during a penalty kill, when the lines were out of order because of odd numbers, and then we temporarily lost a player to replace their contact lens. I set up the next line (which included me). I then specifically assigned the task to a forward not going out to set up the line for the shift after. My thought process is that some of those guys may be more tired than the others, the player may return, etc.  It worked well. We didn't have any scramblings on the bench, missed shifts, or too many men penalties - which is a success in my book.

Onto the game. We were playing the Ice Bears. The Coyotes played them last week, and lost in overtime. I took it hard as I felt it was my fault that we lost. I made four big bone head plays that resulted in goals against, and I didn't contribute at all on offense. This set me up to be extra motivated this game.I know the Piranhas were much more talented than their team, but I still feel the need to play hard.

My first shift was ok.  We spent the entire shift in their zone. All three forwards worked well to keep possession of the puck and keep it away from the opponents. We moved the puck. We took good shots. We were moving in the right areas - it is a good thing. We came off the ice, and I was tired. Second shift was more of the same, but we were setting up in a better triangle, which meant more shots. I was set up in the slot, stick on the ice. The center whipped it towards me, but it got caught up in a defensemen's skates. I was able to pick it clean and get a shot off. I fell to my knees, and the rebound came right back about four feet from me. I was able to reach on my backhand from my knees and slid it through the goalie's legs as he was still on the ice. It wasn't ALL luck, as I knew his leg pads were open based on the angle of his leg on the ice. It gave us a 1-0 lead.

From there, I took a lot of beatings. At one point I was off balance, and caught a stick in my back, which got called as a cross check. I knew it was probably accidental, as I've never seen this team play dirty, but the way it felt was curious to me. I made sure I knew who did it, just to make a mental note. I played against him multiple times, and nothing happened as I would expect. I'm not the type of guy to go after someone.

Part of my beatings were me fighting to tie up their best player. A classic example was towards the middle of the third. Again, their best player was breaking out of their zone. I knew that there were defense men behind me who could handle him, but I elected to try and stop him myself. He embarrassed me the week before, and I'm not going to give him the chance to do that again. Any time he skated towards me, I would tie up his stick. He would skate near me, and I'd force him to make a move. If he got too close, I went in close to just try and tie him up. He knocked me over most times, but he also lost control of the puck. My favorite happened when I was covering for the d-man. He came in on me on a one on one, right down the middle. I kept my arms in, making him unaware of how far I can or cannot reach. He never made a move, so I just stopped and let him skate into me. I tried to start going forward, kept my stick on the ice on the side of his stick, and I was able to stop him. He did get a shot off, but our goalie saw it from a good distance, and it wasn't a good shot. The goalie was able to absorb it without any threat from him. I was very happy about it.

The Piranhas would win 9-1. I couldn't have been happier for the team. Our goalie played well, we moved the puck, everyone was laughing and having fun. I felt I played solid. I didn't get a lot of scoring chances, but I made some smart plays. I definitely worked hard in the corners and on the wall. I took bumps and bruises, and because of that, I can be pleased with my effort.

The Coyotes had a game the next day, but I decided to sit it out on the day of for personal reasons. I'm already exhausted and sore. I've got a flight tomorrow for a trip I still need to prepare for, and playing another game and tiring myself out doesn't seem like a smart idea. The next game I play in will be the Piranhas vs. The Coyotes. I'm really looking forward to it.

Puck Pros Training Session (Jason) - Skating

I finally bit the bullet and put down the money for a few sessions at Puck Pros. My evaluation skate a few months ago was extremely helpful. The ability to ask questions,  and have the individual attention with your coach is extremely beneficial to me. I got more out of that hour than I did with the entire beginner program at HNA.

I went on the small ice and just skated around it, reminding myself that I need to really bend my knees when I skate. I've been doing it more and it has helped, but I clearly haven't been doing it the right because again, I stumbled on that synthetic ice.

I worked with Jason and we focused on skating. It was clear to him immediately that I'm a poor skater (as is everyone at my level). Ultimately it would be my balance and strength in my legs that need a lot of work.  Jason noticed that I do not do any weight transfer when I skate. When you push off with your left foot, all of your weight has to be on your right leg. You do that by keeping your head over your right leg. This is something I never do. My head stays in the middle of my body.

Transferring weight from leg to leg is difficult for me because my balance is so poor. I always knew my left leg was a lot weaker than my right, but I didn't realize how much weaker it was. If I add some strength to it, it will help my balance.

I also worked on my c-cuts, which I apparently have never done correctly. Again, weight all on one leg, knees bent as if you're about to sit down, and push off with your other leg. What was interesting to me was that it is acceptable to not go in a straight line when you do this.  Your leg with all of the weight is supposed to be directing you,  so if you do want to go straight, you can keep it straight. If you want to go at a slight angle, you just rotate your foot slightly. And that does make sense somewhat, but it contradicts what I thought in the past.

The session really wore me out, and we've got a lot to work on. I knew this going in, but I honestly thought I was going to do better based on my evaluation skate. I always try to take away three things to work on after any sort of practice. This time the three are:

•  Balance - A core concept in any skill for hockey. If you can't balance yourself on one leg, you won't be able to transfer weight, and that is where power comes from with anything. The weight transfer is key in golf, as it is in hockey. This will be useful in skating, shooting, and stick handling.
•  Strength - I skate standing straight up, and I always have. After my evaluation, I bent my knees more and I was tired more after games. It turns out that I'm still not bending my knees enough because I'm too tired. Additionally, my left leg is weak, which hurts my turning, and pushing off with it. Both legs need added strength
•  Legs in hockey stance - So much of this session was about the basic hockey stance. The things I need to remember is to bend my knees as if I'm almost sitting, and stay on the balls of my feet. I was tired after a few seconds of doing just this. It'll help keep me stable when I'm skating, and help me push off with the proper angles. 

Goaldiggers vs. North Stars 2011-10-25

I got to the rink a little later than normal, and was the third one. I was concerned that we'd have to forfeit. We ended up having 9 skaters - a trend lately for the Goaldiggers.

Well, it wasn't pretty. Our team was just flat all night. Forwards weren't back checking, players were bunching up and playing on top of each other. It was just bad all around. I felt like I wasn't skating well. It felt like I had to skate twice as hard to go at my normal pace.

It felt like any time I'd have a puck come by me I was off balance, or I just couldn't reach it. An example was I was in a turn, and I was leaning on my stick to make the turn faster, but then the puck came by me, I couldn't do anything because if I moved my stick, I'd fall.

Once it was 5-0, I felt I needed to skate as hard as I could. Fore checking spread out their team a bit, but we just didn't have the energy to take advantage of it more than once or twice. I had one shot off the rush where I took a hard shot (slow for normal players), hoping for a rebound, but there wasn't anyone there. I tried to gain more confidence with the puck, and try different things at that point. I think total we had less than 10 shots on the other goalie, so we really had no chance the way we were skating.

It was a long game.

I wonder if I eat enough food during the week to play? I remember when I was playing well a month or two ago, I was eating fast food a lot more frequently, and the past little while, I've made some changes in my diet. Maybe I'll eat more bacon during the week.

Piranhas First Game - 2011-03-01

I went into this Piranhas game pumped and ready to go. The team needed a win, it was a beatable team, and the one team I've played against more than any other over the past 2 years.

It turned out to be probably the best game I've played. I felt a step quicker than 90% of the players on the ice. I felt I could see plays developing and knowing where to be. What also helps is I'm playing with players who are similarly skilled, and I'm learning their tendencies. There is no star player on the team, and as I play with them more and more, I feel comfortable with them.

My passing I think was outstanding. There were a few times where I put the puck right on the tape of my line mates. There was one or two brilliant passes on a rush where I read the defender and was able to patiently wait and go through him while he was off balance. Unfortunately, line mates couldn't convert, but they were great chances. There was also one penalty kill for probably 45 seconds we kept the puck in their zone with just good passing and puck control. I think that's one area that showed in my game last night that I never have, and that is patience and control with the puck. Too often, I panic, or worry that I'm going to lose it so I just throw it away. Not the best move. Last night was a different story. I was able to go into traffic a little bit and generate scoring chances.

I had three or four outstanding scoring chances, but only converted on one. And they were all very similar. One pass to me went right through the crease, I caught it and because of the speed, I had to just fire it as hard as I could at the net before the goalie got over. The goalie made a solid glove save and denied me. The next chance came on a 2 on 1, with me as the trailer. My teammate shot it, it hit the goalies pads, and left a big rebound. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a stick on it to put it into a wide open net. The third chance was me at the half boards. I had the puck with really no solid passing options for the forwards so I just launched it at the goalie. The defensemen froze, I went around, picked up the rebound and put it into the net. Later on in the third, I'd have a wrap around chance, but it was kind of tough for me because I was on my backhand, and there were a lot of bodies and sticks right in front. It almost went in, but the chances of it going in were better than if I were to pass it off.

My fore-check I think really caused a lot of problems for the defensemen. Their forwards were not moving at all, and it really caused a lot of turnovers and scoring chances for us. I'm probably the most aggressive at fore checking of anyone I've played with for a variety of reasons. The biggest being at this level, players will rush stupid passes. I also believe that the momentum that I build up from skating will help me back check a lot quicker than others.

I've got to get better in two areas though. Along the boards, and my balance. I felt that a lot of times, especially if I was playing right wing, when the d-man would throw the puck up the boards that It would go right past me and I couldn't gain control. That means I don't get any control on the puck, and worse, we don't clear the zone. Balance - I skate as hard as I can but once someone just gives me a little tap, I have a hard time compensating for that force and end up off balance and out of control for a second or two. It happened more than once last night. I've seen that over the past few games, that nearly everyone is bigger than me, making it a lot easier for them against me, so balance would go far.

Even though I played well, and had a goal, I'm pissed off we lost. I hate losing to that team, and I want the Piranhas to get a victory. I think it would really help the mentality of the team.

Chicago Bruins Adult Hockey Class 2010-12-08

I was very excited about this practice to be on the ice with an old friend. He and I hit the ice, I did my stretching and skating drills. I feel my skating in a strait line has gotten significantly better. Occasionally I'll catch a rut and get off balance, but it is time for me to now resharpen my skates.

The bag of pucks was once again dumped in the neutral zone, and I did the stick handling of each of them as fast as I could. They'd get away, and I didn't have to chase them. A good feeling. I tried a couple of toe drags, and wasn't able to connect on them even at a medium speed. What this does is it helps you get used to just gliding the puck across the ice. I try to go as far apart as I can, at a reasonable speed.

During drills, it was reinforced that the weakest part of my game is the skating. Edgework and balance was our focus. I am not able to skate balanced. I'm not able to fall balanced, or get up in a balanced way. I need to work on my strength and balance. I'm going to get out my balance board again.

The scrimmage, I played D for the first 70% of the night. It was clear that I need to work on my patience and positioning. I don't play D often, so it is no wonder why I don't do as well as I'd like. In my defense though, the forwards just kept skating backwards on top of me. We basically let them take it into our zone no problem. Once I moved up, I made sure we fore checked, and it caused a lot of problems for the other team. All three forwards had some experience and worked well together for a good 3 minutes of zone time. I would dig in corners, a bigger guy had no problem shooting the puck, and the other winger would constantly be picking up rebounds.

I think the intensity annoyed the opponents because we weren't letting them bring up the puck. The problem is those guys were on a team together. If we just let them skate it up, how does that help them? It doesn't. And that is the problem with a scrimmage in general. The areas that are not practiced will never be improved on. And it shows in my game. As a result, I try and fore check. I try to move players out of the crease and I don't mind some contact.

Anyway, an okay night for me. Not my strongest performance, but definitely helpful. The drills showed me what I need to work on.

Goaldiggers Game 2010-11-01

I haven't played in nearly a month. I hadn't done much of anything. See, I was having issues with my lung again. Usually this is two weeks and I come back, but when I tried to do an open skate, I made it worse. This with the combination of all the recent injuries made me question if I even want to play the game anymore.

I got to the rink, suited up but was still fairly nervous. I could feel myself just out of it and wobbly. The team had 7 forwards, so I said I'd just rotate through lines when I could. In the first, I tried to play my regular amount of ice time, or rate. It was tough though. My shifts were 30-40 seconds max, but I went as hard as I could on them. I had a couple of rushes, and got good shots off, but no goal. It was clear my balance was off twice. The first was about six minutes into the first period when a shot from the point rebounded to right behind me. I tried and reached for it to get the shot off right away and whipped it as hard as I could at the net. Problem is it was so far behind me after I shot, I fell over on my butt. The other time my balance was really bad was a chip in our own zone. Our d-man chipped it from the slot to my wing up on the boards.. it was right past me. Unfortunately , I was going the other way. I stopped, but I couldn't move. All of my weight was on my back heels, and I felt I couldn't even turn to get there and make the opponent work for it. I played maybe two shifts in the third, and then felt like I was going to vomit, so I called it a night. It was nice though to make a little contact, skate hard and not feel bad doing so. I feel fine a few days later, so I think I'm fully healed.

The team won 5-2, and I was a -1 with no points. Bad statistically, but all things considered, I couldn't be more pleased with how the night turned out. It was exactly what I needed. I now just need to get into shape and that'll happen over time. You can't expect to lay around for a month, and come back and be where you were.

Why is balance important?

I had a teammate who is first starting the game and is really working on his skating. He’s come a long way. It somehow came up that I was talking about how important balance is in hockey. On Wednesday, he asked me why balance is important. It took me a long time to come up with the right answer. The basic answer is so you don’t fall. When you’re trying to race for a puck, getting hit, changing directions, you’re doing it all on two thin blades. If you can’t master how to stay up on those blades, you’re going to be tentative, and falling on the ice more.

Some guys learn to skate with a stick in their hands. I hate this. You’re learning to stay balanced with an aid. If you learn to stay balanced without your stick, and then play with the aid, you’ll be better off – especially when you don’t have control of that aid because it is pinned up against the boards, being smacked around, etc.

I’ll have a post in a little bit with some dry land training that can be done to help with your balance.

Traininc Clinic - Balance, Stopping and Skating

Last night I went to a clinic. Work on your skating, shooting, passing, etc. It sounded good. It was nice and close to home. As a result, I've noticed a few things. My balance and stopping sucks. This causes my skating to be awful. I was always unsatisfactory on the drills. As a result, I'm going to use my balance board 10 minutes a day for a while to get my balance back. It helped a lot a few years ago, and I'm hoping it'll help now.

It wasn't a good night for me and I was getting frustrated. Then we started the scrimmage. Aside from one or two guys who had played for a long time, I was the strongest there. My passes were outstanding. I'd bring the puck up on the rush, go down into the corner, and by then, someone was open in front. Multiple times I hit my guy's stick through traffic. I never passed so well in my life. Two of them lead to easy goals. I had one goal where I had just stood in front, but used some reach to put it in.

Either way, it was a productive night. I'm sore though. I should be good for the Wednesday night Immortals game.