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.

Summer 2015 Regular Season Review

When I look back at the summer season, there wasn’t that much growth for me. I had a lot of problems off the ice, and I still haven’t regained my focus from that. It never ceases to amaze me how mentally prepared for the game I need to be to perform at my best.

At the start of the season, I questioned if I would be able to handle a second team in addition to the Piranhas. I joined the Moose with the knowledge that I have already played with a few of those players. If I had to take time away for a bit, I knew they would understand. I also knew I needed to be on the ice a lot this summer to have something to look forward to.

I started off the season thinking, “Man, this is going to continue how I left off last season…” playing well. The moose to me looked completely dominant, and the Piranhas were solid.  I scored an important and pretty goal for the Piranhas against the Aces that would draw some attention from quite a few players on both sides. By flipping it gently over the goalies leg pad and having it come down in the goal but without hitting the back of the net.

I would then miss a long string of Moose games because of injuries, personal problems, and one even because of the weather. I stopped my training, my diet was poor, and I generally just stopped taking care of myself.  I would make it worse two days before with the Piranhas, and then not be ready for The Moose. It was not a good pattern. I hit that skid, and just did my best to not be a liability on the ice. Normally in a scenario such as this, I would force myself to be disciplined and get back on the right track, but instead, I gave myself a break.

My typical fire and jump in my step would come and go for about a month, then would come back. I rejoined the Moose. I had a two goal game against the Shooters, where one I was skating full speed, batted the puck out of the air and into the goal, without hitting the back of the net, and another no look, fast shot along the ice that the goalie never saw coming because I used his own defensemen as a screen. I’d have another goal against the Shooters where I walk from the corner, through three of their skaters, across the slot, and then score that I will never forget. I was feeling really positive about my play, despite not being in my best physical condition. I started playing with confidence – carrying the puck into the slot, successfully performing moves that that I had only tried in practices. But I hit a small slump the last few games, playing with hands of stone, and still not being conditioned as well as I’d like.

Aside from a few highlight worthy goals, this summer regular season didn’t do much for me. The Moose would finish first in their division, and the Piranhas would finish second in their division.  Both teams have an excellent shot at their championships. But for the playoffs, I’m going to focus more on mental preparation than physical. I don’t think the conditioning will improve enough to make a difference, but if I have my focus, I can be a difference maker.

Equipment Changes for Summer 2015

Evaluating new stick options.

This off season has been the most difficult one I’ve had. I believe it is probably the longest time wise, and there has been a lot going on away from the rink. It has been difficult to plan for anything really with so much in the air. The result is a lot of “day of” plans for preparation. Still, there is no excuse for not being prepared for the upcoming summer season. I like to use the off season to try out some new things and become more comfortable with changes.

Last season, I couldn’t be more pleased. I set a personal record for goals scored, I feel I helped my team defensively and stepped up in a variety of other areas. Toward the end of the season, I got sick. I lost a lot of weight. The last game of the season, my pants were too big, and I had to tuck my jersey in slightly different. I got my stick caught in my jersey at one point. These things never happened before. Additionally, over the course of the season, I broke a couple of sticks.

Lots of time spent on the bike.

I attribute a lot of my success last season to the added strength from previous seasons. I spent a lot of time in the gym and on the bike to make sure that I was in the best possible condition. This off season, I continued the work in the gym, and have focused on adding even more strength this off season. I needed to gain back the weight I lost during the season (18 total pounds, 12 just from the illness at the end). That is a high percentage of my body weight. I’m pleased to report that I’m putting up my own personal records in the gym regularly. People have noticed that I’m visually looking bigger, and I’m back to my target weight. The problem is that I do have some equipment that is still a bit loose. I’m making the adjustments still, and will continue to do so as needed, but I don’t anticipate any major changes in equipment I wear for the summer.

Left is my regular length. The right is my new experiment.

As I mentioned, I broke a couple of sticks over the course of the season. All of my sticks have been set up the same way. I really like the 2012 Easton Mako E7 65 flex stick. They’re incredibly durable, light weight, and couldn’t be more perfect for me.  I’ve used Easton sticks since before I made the transition to ice. I’ve tried Bauer, Warrior, and RBK sticks and I’ve always found something I did not like. Sticking with the stick is an easy choice, but Easton has not made a stick I like since 2013. They’ve seem to fallen in love with rocker patterns, and grip finishes. Easton discontinued my pattern, and I’m running out of backups. I’m considering making the jump now to the Bauer Nexus 8000, and just getting it over with.  I’m also experimenting with shorter sticks for better puck control. I’ve taken old back up sticks that I would never use them in a game, and used them in scrimmages.  It is forcing me to bend my knees more, stay lower, and that’s what I need to do anyway. The verdict is still out for what I do with the stick.

3 on 3 - Franklin Park

My one and only goal for the night was to have fun. I didn’t care if I scored a goal, played well, skated well, won, etc. If I had fun, the night would be successful for me. I had a great group that wanted to play, so I was fairly confident it’d work out.

I stepped on to the ice, which was soaked, and made sure that the things I focused on toward the end of the season were being done. Things such as bending my knees, staying low, and keeping my balance are were key to my improvement.

Surprisingly, I felt good when playing. I expected to be gassed, unstable, and slow. In reality, I felt as if I didn’t take any time off. This is strange because I have rust if I don’t play for a week, and not playing for a month I figured it would be exponential.

I think that my passing could have been better, and so could have my timing. Multiple times, I was told that I had more time than I realized. Thinking there’s pressure on you when there isn’t will cause you to make bad decisions. I find myself in those situations often. I believe it is a confidence issue.

Where I did well was putting pressure on others – especially if they had the puck. I was strong along the wall as I usually am, and I made sure no one got anything easy.

Anyway, everyone had a blast at the skate, including me. It was a success. I would like to set up another in the very near future.

Ironman Tournament - 2012

There are a few events of hockey that I really look forward to all year. I love playing 3-on-3 on studio ice, late night Saturday hockey, and most of all - the Ironman. A Saturday night tournament that lasts until the early hours of the morning is without my favorite. Six guys form a team, and play multiple 15 minute games running clock, with no subs.

This year most of the team returned from the last two years. We had one new guy who was outstanding, and had played in the past, but not on our team. Additionally this year, I knew a couple of players on another team.

The entire day, I took it easy, and didn't do a lot of difficult work around the house. I wanted to make sure I was prepared. I didn't feel like I was in as good of conditioning as I was for past tournaments, so I could easily see myself getting burned out.

For the first half of our first game, it was really close. I felt our team wasn't as good, but if we played smart we could beat them. We had a great chance about half way through. I had the puck on my forehand laying in the crease, but I couldn't jam it home. I wasn't happy that I didn't finish, but it happens.  By then, we learned quickly that our new guy would take advantage of his big shot and clear it, and since there was no icing, it wasn't a big deal to do so. The game went on, and the opponents turned on the gas. Their center just took over and scored probably 4 goals towards the end of the game. At one point, he was coming up the ice along the boards. I saw this happening, and went to stand in his way. I knew he was going to get past me. He had all the speed, and I thought he was going to go around, but quickly I realized I was going to get hit, and I did. I wasn't too happy about the entire game as it was a lot more gritty than it should be for this event, but it happens. We lost.

Next we played the team with people I knew on it. We definitely had a chance against this team, and by this game, I knew that it was the only team we'd have a good chance at winning. Unfortunately, things didn't go well. Our offense did not work well together. All of us at this point are tired, and because of that, it makes it difficult to move into the offensive zone and get positioning. From here on out, there was no true team work among our forwards, and it naturally hurt us. Part way though the game, I was trying to back check and catch the puck carrier as he was along the wall. Once he got to a certain point, and didn't have a good angle, I let up and let him go to conserve energy. He shot anyway, and it went in. I hated that goal because I could have prevented it. I made sure that nothing like that would happen again. Sure enough, going down the other wing, I'm behind the puck carrier. This time I caught up to him but he still could get a shot off. I knew I had to hook him to haul him down. I put my stick along his waste and pulled, but he was so good on his skates that I pulled myself closer. Eventually, he was wearing my stick like a belt. It was the most obvious hook I've ever seen in my life. No call. We lost that game 2-0.

From here, it kind of fell apart for the night. We had a +2 hour break, and our team really didn't stick together. One player went and stayed with his wife, another sat with other teams and drank. One player went and read a book.  Before the next game though, most of us would hit the studio ice to just get our legs back a little bit and warm up.

It didn't help. Our third game, I started waiting for those big slap shots from inside our own zone. I cherry picked trying to get the puck, but that stopped working fast. The opponents were smart and wouldn't let me get to the puck. I still skated hard but with little success. The fourth game was very similar. I decided to try and get the opponents to laugh, and some of them were talkative, but other players were just as serious as if the games meant anything.

In my book, this tournament is more about the social aspect. The skill range was so wide that you mostly know the outcome of the game before the game even starts. The fact that everyone was taking it serious, and not really being together ruined it a little bit for me. There was no prize, and we were 0-4 the entire night, so why run up the score against the worst team there? Treat it like rat hockey, and give them a chance to have some fun. I hate admitting it, but the best time of the night was when we warmed up on the studio ice. The players there were lose, having fun and not frustrated.

Goaldiggers vs. GoalBusters 2012-04-02

With the exception of my toes, this is the first time I've felt this good in at least six months. I knew conditioning was still poor from my last handful of games, but it is getting better. I was excited to get out there and play.

I think I did alright. I went into the game trying to tell myself to control the puck. Don't just give it up. Maintain possession, and if the opponents are going to get the puck, they're going to earn it. I think it showed. I had a couple of good showings on the break out, carrying the puck through the neutral zone. I had a couple of passes that were on the mark, and a few that weren't but I think they were all a little too hard.

My legs didn't feel good though, and it showed. This goes back to conditioning, and once that is there, I'll be fine. I'm not too worried about that. For the most part, everyone on the other team was a stronger skater than me. Having no advantage in any area makes it difficult to be productive.

I did have a couple of shots on goal, but they were weak. I didn't get a good shot off, and the goalie didn't give up a rebound.

I had one shot that I had half of the net, and yet I missed the net. It was even a decent shot. I guess if I don't take my time getting my shot off, my accuracy suffers. Patrick Roy once said something along the lines of, "I won't say sorry for letting in a goal because I did my best." Despite his issues, he's right about that one. Why apologize for something where you did your best? I'm trying to get to that mode.

Three Months Later...

It has been three months since the last post. So where have I been?

I've only been on the ice a handful of times, and as a result, very rusty. Not only was I rusty tonight, I was out of shape and I played exactly how I expected. I totally expected to be out of breath in warm ups, after 30 seconds. Doing all of the little things that you have to do to be successful comes natural to most players who have been playing for +5 years. For me, I guess I don't have that just yet. I had to think about how to breath. I had to think about how to hold the blue line on the rush. And because of that I missed a lot of basic things. I totally messed up a pass, was bad on line changes, and so on. But the good part of this was I skated as hard as I could. I want to get back to that. I want to be a player who isn't afraid of contact, and will make it on the forecheck if necessary.

So where am I going with this? I need to focus on getting back into shape. I cannot do all of the things that good players do if I'm constantly exhausted. I want to get back to the time where I could skate for +80% of the game, and not be so out of breath that I can't speak.

I am going to try my best to focus on conditioning over the next handful of weeks, and get to where I know I can be. I'm too young to be as exhausted as I was tonight.

Goaldiggers Game - 2011-05-17

This was the first game for the Goaldiggers after our Kalamazoo trip. It is the start of our new season, and I knew that meant we wouldn't get off to a slow start as our team usually does after long layoffs. The problem this week is that we were missing our two best players. This caused a real lack of offense on our team. I think we entered the zone once in the first period. It wasn't good. The opponents were one of the top teams in our league.

So we had 10 guys again, meaning we were only rolling with two forward lines. I knew I could keep up simply because my conditioning felt good the night before. I got a lot of extra ice time throughout the night, and I was fine with it. I still feel like a greedy player when I do it though. I used to be able to play an entire game and not come off the ice, and I'm trying to get back to that level again.

The first half of the game was bad. We couldn't generate anything, and our forwards were just sloppy. I think we started playing better when we upped the pressure on our fore-check. We'd force them to make passes they didn't want, and they would either miss the pass, or put that player in a position where he didn't have much help. Our defense is outstanding, and I think that if we can keep it to 2 on 2 situations, we'll come out ahead frequently. We really play better when we have our guys spread out.

Still, we lost 5-0, but we gave it a good effort. Missing 3 guys, and two being your best players is tough.

Ironman Tournament

I felt kind of rushing getting to the rink. It was requested that I get there an hour before the game, but between the dog, and getting a nap in, it didn't happen. Still, I was the 3rd guy there, so I didn't feel bad about showing up when I did.

It turns out, I've only played with the goalie. One guy was the teacher from a class I was in, another guy I practiced with once or twice in the past, and the other two, I've never met. None of us have ever really played together so I expected us to have chemistry problems.

We had four games, all evenly spaced apart, so we were not waiting too long, and never hitting the ice really fast. Six teams meant we didn't face one of them. This year, they mixed all of the divisions, and genders because they didn't have enough sign ups. This meant that frequently I'd be playing against females.

The first game I watched, I felt we may have had a good chance at beating both teams.

I knew our team was more talented than last year, and I'm always optimistic. Our first game gave us no reason to not be optimistic. We won 4-0, and the other team didn't have any shots. It was nice to just see how each other works, and their abilities. Our D jumped up towards the end as they started to get bored. I burned myself out early, forgetting about subs and I had three other games that night. My first goal, I was coming up the left wing, and pushing the d-man back. I had tried to slow up to give up a pass, but I said forget it, and just shot it. I had a great shot from about 20-25 feet out, and it went in short side. I was surprised it went in, as I didn't get as much on it as I wanted. It was good for my confidence though. The second goal, I pounded in from right at the top of the crease after the other winger through it on net.

Our second game was a bit of a blow out. They were good friends with the goalie, I had played with a few of them before, so they knew each other's weaknesses. We lost 5-1, but it could have been worse. There was a lot of good joking around and such, so once they became in control, we were just out there to have fun. I played fairly well, and kept my head up as I knew there was a lot of drinking going on all night as well as tired players.

I didn't know much about our third team, and I easily got confused about their players to watch. They beat us, but I believe that had our team not been so exhausted, we would have beat them. With about 10 seconds left, down by one, I knocked the puck out of our zone, and raced up the boards trying to tie it up. My goal was just forward, and cut to the middle to bang the goal in. I thought I had gotten past the defenseman, when all of a sudden, I got hammered into the boards harder than I can remember. I was fine, but I fell to the ice the puck and my stick kept going, and I saw the clock with about 8 seconds left, took a look where the winger and center was, and knew that the game was over. It was definitely a checking penalty, but because of the nature of the tournament, it wasn't called. I didn't play as well as I could have.

Our fourth game, I felt I lost for our team. We tied 2-2, but I feel both of their goals were on me. We were up 2-0, and I know our team was gassed. I knew I had nothing left when in our D zone, I had the puck. I through it up towards the center of the blue line, where I didn't see anyone to just get it out, and maybe an icing. The puck came out but then a player brought it in. I saw it go out and the referee was behind me. It lead to a goal, but still, I should have made a better choice. If it wasn't clear enough to leave the zone, then it wasn't the right play. The second goal was scored while I was still at their blue line because I was too lazy/tired to get back.

Two goals and an assist isn't bad, but I needed to be in better shape. I really showed how bad my conditioning was tonight, and it was embarrassing. I was too stupid and burned myself out after the first game.

I had a blast though, and can't wait for next year. I will be in better shape, and better prepared.

Goaldiggers Playoff Game 2011-04-25

I went into this Goaldiggers playoff game a little unsure of How I'd play. I haven't played much in the past month for some personal reasons, but was still excited to be there. We were playing against a team that I know we were better, so I expected to win.

I read back on some of my posts and noticed when I come back from not playing for a while that I get soft. I become paranoid of getting hurt, and once I make some contact, I play better. With it being a playoff game, I'd have to step it up a little bit. My second shift, I put a guy into the boards as hard as I could, which still wasn't enough to get a penalty. We battled for the puck for a good 5 seconds before it got loose and I got hit in the face with an elbow. I was wearing my cage, but it was enough of a jolt for me to bite my cheek and draw blood.

In the second period, behind their net, I lost a puck battle along the boards against two opponents. Still skating, one of their players tripped over my stick which was down the whole time anyway, and cried about not getting a call for a little bit. The defensemen kept the puck in and then I gave the player that tripped over my stick a small jab in the skates, trying to make him a little paranoid or maybe even bait him into taking a penalty. He knew what I was doing, gave me a small shove and then I skated off as I saw the ref closely watching us.

In the third, we had a three on two down the ice, the puck came over to me. I settled it down, and just fired it short side as hard as I could about 10 feet away from the net. Just as I got the shot off, A defensemen attempting to block it came sliding by and tripped me and I went flying. As I was falling, I saw it hit the goalie. I hit the ice, hear the whistle, and get up. The other team is crying about the penalty, but then I noticed everyone was going to center ice. I didn't realize the puck had gone in. So that's a good note for tonight.

We then tied it at 3. I spent my time fore checking very hard putting a lot of pressure on players. I noticed there were a handful I was faster than, but not fast enough to get around them and their protecting of the puck.

At the end of the third, tied, we were in their zone. The d-man got the puck and tried to skate down low with the puck. A bigger guy, I tried to get in his way, and knock the puck off his stick. Somehow he got around me and my arm and his stick got tangled up. He kept yanking on it and nearly tore my arm off. I let him go to avoid a penalty, and he walked into the slot and scored what would be the game winner.

I felt I played poorly because of conditioning, and rust. I played hard and Am sore all over. I felt I would have done a lot better tonight had I been working on my balance and strength. It wouldn't feel as bad as it does though if my guy didn't score the game winner. It is really starting to eat at me.

Chicago Bruins - Adult Beginner Hockey Class - 2010-11-22

The Chicago Bruins are having an adult beginner hockey class at the Addison Ice Arena. I really like the ice there, and I've been thinking about joining a league that plays there and at Seven Bridges Ice Arena. I sort of assumed that some of the players in the league would be in this class. There are 8 classes over 4 weeks for $125, and we get the ice at about 9:00. You really can't go wrong.

I decided to do the league for multiple reasons. It would help me work on my skills of course, and if I can learn to stop, it is going to change my game dramatically. These types of classes are great conditioning when you're trying to come back from an injury, like I am. The price is right - about $15 a class. And I'm looking to be recruited onto one of the teams in that league.

This was the most fun I've had in months, on and off the ice. The drills were just the right difficulty for me, and fun at the same time. I could really see myself benefiting from these drills. Last night it was just skating and catching a pass or two, but I learned more in the 1 hour of drills than I did in the HNA class.

One area that I never thought about was how you hold your stick when you're turning. Now I've said in the past I believe you should learn to skate without your stick, then introduce your stick when you play for assistance. It'd just make you a better skater. It was brought to my attention that my blade should be on the inside of my turn, and not the outside. I thought about it, and it makes total sense. It'll help get you lower to the ground, and you can lean on it to help you turn faster, all while giving you better balance.

The other thing that was brought to my attention is how tightly I hold my stick. I usually keep it relatively loose, unless I'm actually battling with someone for the puck. When I receive my passes though, I need to tighten up on my stick, or else the puck will bounce, and not just lay flat. I'm not talking about having the puck hop over your stick, but when you do catch it, to keep it flat. It keeps you from having to settle it down, and then skating.

The scrimmage was a blast, and great for my conditioning, as it was on the Olympic ice and there were only two lines to a team. The skill level of everyone there is very balanced. No one is too outstanding, and no one is too raw, which makes it more enjoyable for me. To top it off, most of the people in the class had already taken it, so they know each other. They're very friendly and outgoing. It wasn't intense at all and there were people around my age, which is actually rare it seems.

It was a good workout the night before the game I have tonight with the Goaldiggers. I'm sore just enough to know that I played, but I'm rested enough that I feel I confident going into tonight.