Summer 2015 Playoffs Review

It’s ova’! The summer is done, playoffs are over and it is time to start preparing for winter. The winter season is just a few short weeks away.
“But Squirrel! What happened in the summer playoffs?”

Settle down there, and I’ll tell you. The Piranhas (2nd seed) would play the Shooters (3rd) to get to the championship. The Piranha line up is out on the ice, taking warm ups, and there’s only two Shooters on the ice. The fish start hearing that they have no goalie.

The referee came up with these rules on the fly that neither side fully understood, allowing the Shooters to put one of their 8 skaters into the net and cover the puck. Oh, and the Shooters are missing their top center.

It was brutal. The Piranhas played down, and the Shooters played desperate. It made it into a difficult game. I could not get anything going. I would try to use my wingers to help break out of the zone, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have the endurance to skate the puck down, I didn’t have the patience to look. The Shooters played outstanding, and it threw me off. My frustration grew and grew. I would put one into the net, and it would go around the bottom so fast, that the official would not see it go in and out, and not count it. Even Shooter players admitted it went in, but obviously aren’t going to admit it. Piranhas win ugly, 6-5.

The very next night, the Moose would play the Force for the championship. I would jump onto the wing for the first time with that team, playing with an old team mate from the Coyotes. I kept making mistakes in the first period. I wouldn’t play my “safe” hockey. I would stumble, drop the puck, make bad passes, pretty much anything I could do poorly in the first two periods. Going into the third we were down by a couple of goals, and I knew I had to play better. I had to carry the puck, and dig quite a bit deeper. The entire team had to carry the puck – especially me. I would eventually pick it up and try to take it end to end. I did a lot of work below the goal line, and stayed strong on my skates. I would kick a backhand pass out to the slot, allowing my center to put one home. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough and the Moose lost.

I wasn’t frustrated or angry after the Moose lost. I spent more time focusing on the next steps. The winter moose, the Piranhas next game, and that was about it. I wasn’t playing well, and there’s little you can do to play better in the short term. Just mentally prepare.

The Piranhas would have a full bench against the Mastodons (1st). I would pop the goalie’s water bottle in warm ups, something I had never done before. I had my time to get my skates right – which is nice because they had felt off for a month or two. We shook up the lines a little bit, and gave me a little bit stronger of a winger as my line had been struggling a lot lately. Dividends would immediately pay off. My line’s first shift, I would poke check the puck away from the puck carrier in the neutral zone, and my new winger would cut across, pick up the puck and score on a break away. It set the tone. Each shift from every line was hard. The Piranhas didn’t give up anything easy, and that helped me out and play my best. It is easier to dig deeper when you’re surrounded by guys who are digging deep as well. A couple of penalty kills, a few solid defensive plays, and the Piranhas would win the championship.

I finished the summer on a down note performance wise. When I was rolling fairly well, I hit a dry patch. I now know why. I stopped working to get better, and as a result, I got worse. My conditioning didn’t improve, I lost battles, and I lost confidence. I’m fortunate to have had the team to pick up slack. Now it is just time to get ready for the winter.

Piranha Season Preview 2013-2014

Of the last 4 possible championships, The Piranhas have won 3 of them. Our winning percentage this summer was above 90%. The team has gone to Toronto, made it to the semi-finals and then was eliminated by a team from Chicago in a higher division, yet we did skate with them. It is hard to say that the Piranhas have been anything but successful lately.

This year the Piranhas have added 2 very experienced players, and a promising young defensemen. It is no surprise that we've moved up. Additionally, the league has combined divisions, so we'll be playing some very talented teams. I'm excited about it. However, some of the team is cautious entering the season. While no one expects us to win the same number of games as last year, most seem to be willing to give it a shot.

Already an established team, not too much has changed. We'll get our normal full time winter guys back, and the new guys are a welcomed addition. The challenges are bigger than they've ever been since I've been on the team. We're going to give it our best shot and see how it goes.

HNA Finals - Piranhas - 2013

I drove into Toronto Thursday. I never left the US, so driving across the border myself was exciting for me, but it turned out to be really uneventful. I was the first Piranha in Toronto Thursday evening because of delayed flights. I stretched my legs, got a bite to eat and relaxed in bed until some others got in. A few of them wanted to go out right as they got in because they were hungry. I joined them, and got to bed at about 2:00. I had breakfast in the hotel, and a lunch at a Greek place. The first game was early Friday evening.

It was decided earlier in the day because of a lack of bodies, that someone would have to jump back to play defense. I was that guy. I was more nervous than anything because I had only a couple of games at this level playing defense, and these were the best teams of this level.  I was going to play with Jimmy, a good friend, and a player I've watched play defense regularly for a while now.

Game 1 - Toronto

I had started out very nervous but acted just as if I was playing on the Coyotes. I made sure to keep my shifts very short, and would do so all weekend. I think it worked out better because my forwards were more talented than the Coyote forwards. I could trust them a little bit more, and not have to worry about a turnover. At about the middle of the second period, I was playing very well, and said to myself that I was playing well, and I should capitalize on it. I tried carrying the puck more, pinched a few times, and it seemed to work out for the best. I was able to get the puck deep, get a scoring chance, and join the rush. I had to be aware because this team had their two best players hanging out at the red line for an easy break away. They got no one on one chances. There was one where I was caught flat footed, and he skated right past me at my blue line. I hooked him to the ice as hard as I could, hauled him to the ice, and got called for a penalty. I'll take it.

I was reading the play well as it is much more predictable than a Coyote game. It lead to multiple keep ins, and shots/passes from the point. One actually tipped off my center's stick, so I had an assist. We would win 6-5.

That night we went out for a team dinner, then I went right to bed. It sounded as if my roommate was amused with how fast I fall asleep once my head hits the pillow. I was up the next morning getting my normal walks in, went out and grabbed some things for the team and breakfast from some coffee place.

The second game was Saturday at 1:00. An hour before the game, I grabbed my stick to retape it. I inspected it and noticed a small crack in it. I put a little stress on it, and it snapped at the crack... And just a few days after the warranty was void! I played with my backup stick, and played defense again as the team really liked me back there. It was more of the same, but less chippy and cherry picking. I continued to keep the puck in their zone, and put pucks on net. I had two goals this game - all because of traffic in front of the net. I don't have a hard wrist shot, nor were they good shots. They just were quick, quiet, and in an area of traffic. I was reminded to watch the score as I was trying to get too aggressive with a multi-goal lead. We would win again, but I can't remember the score off the top of my head.

I bought a new stick that was very close to my old one (I hated my back up). I cut it down, got it ready and tried to get ready for game 3 at 7:00 Saturday night. I couldn't do it. There wasn't enough time to eat, sleep, get a new stick, and travel.

The third game I was just exhausted. Our opponents seemed fresher, they wanted it more, and knowing we were in for Sunday, I don't think we wanted the victory as much as they did. I tried to battle my hardest, and played mediocre. Jimmy and I had had multiple miscommunications, were conflicting with each other, and so forth. Mostly because I didn't have the energy to think. We would lose this game.

I got back to the hotel, ate something and went right to bed because game 4 was at 9:00 am Sunday. I didn't sleep well. I woke up angry, unrested, and just sluggish.  I felt better once the game got going. I felt this team was just as good as the Piranhas, minus one player. I tried to focus on him, but he was deceivingly good. I'd try to knock him off the puck, tie him up, or take away his pass and didn't do so successfully. We were saved by goal posts a lot, and we had a couple of ugly goals, to be up 2-0 after the first. Then we were up 3-0. Then I made a huge mistake. Their top player came down the middle of the ice. I went to take the puck from him, and tripped him. Our opponents would score on their resulting power play. They didn't let up after that, and I became more stupid with my aggression, and didn't have the success I needed to make a difference. I felt I still played above average for me, but the other team was just more skilled. We would lose, and be eliminated from the tournament, in the semi-finals.

The team went back to the hotel, cleaned up, and some of us went to lunch before I started my drive home. What was funny was I drove home, while others were going to fly. I still made it home before them - but they got to spend more time in Toronto than me.

The tournament was a blast, and I obviously left out a lot. I can't wait until next year. Pictures to be posted later.

Championship Game, Goaldiggers 2010-08-09

Last night was the championship game. I got a great nap in with the dog before the game, had all of my equipment ready, got there early – I had never been so excited to play. The championship game before us went into a shootout. How exciting. The problem is that the ice afterwards was incredibly bad. On humid days, skating on the ice when it’s still wet, of course it is going to be bad.

The problem is when you’re a bad skater, and have dull blades, you’re not going to skate well. It felt like I was in sand all night. As a result, I didn’t play as well as I had in the past. I through a couple of checks, broke up a play here and there, but I wasn’t as effective as I was in the past.

I wasn’t the only one feeling it last night either. Our best player was really out of it, and so was our goaltender. No one seemed to be fired up. At the end though, there was no hanging of the heads. Yes, we lost, but we were proud that we made it that far. A little over a year ago we couldn’t imagine playing for the championship. Yes we added a lot of good players. But for the most part, the make up of our team is the same.

In my opinion, we were not the better team last night. I think if it was a best of seven series though, we would have won.

Next session, the college kids will leave the league, and it sounds like if every team member will be back. I like our chances to win next year. Our team is getting better and better. I know I’m getting better and contributing in more ways than I was in the past. I’m going to work that much harder as well because I want to win now. I never thought about it, but now that I realize I was close, it is my goal.

Semi-Finals, Goaldiggers 2010-08-02

Last night we had the semi-final game for the Goaldiggers. I was ready for it. I had gotten to the rink early, got nice and warmed up and I was ready. Went through warm ups, sat on the bench prepared.

Our team knew that they had one standout player, who scored more than 50% of their goals, so he was the guy to watch. Tonight he was playing defense.

I played good for the first six minutes of the game, then I kicked it up a level. My fore checking was more aggressive than normal tonight, which would later show benefits. By the second, our team was really clicking. At one point I did a give and go with our d-man, which gave us a lead, and my first assist of the night.

After that, I had a great night. I had a decent check on their star player while on the forecheck. I also used my body more than once to keep the puck in and protect the puck. Any time the puck would come to me, it felt like I made the right choice. Multiple times I had the puck behind the net and just took it to the front, hoping for a rebound or mishandle by the goalie. My forecheck was great tonight – and caused a lot of bad passes, which left their players stuck inside the zone, causing a few odd man opportunities.

We won 6-3 and have the championship game on Sunday.