Goaldiggers Game 2011-06-12

Watching the opposing goalie during warm ups, I knew we had a good shot at this game. While he was huge, he didn't move well, and was awful up high. The puck drops and we just looked sloppy. We gave up a few quick goals and were down 6-1 at the end of the first. I just think it was a lot of little mistakes that we could have prevented. I back checked at one point, to cover the center, but instead of picking up someone, I just stood in the slot and watched the opponent score. What was the point of me back checking then?

No one was playing well. We were making dumb mistakes and not sticking to the basics. As a result we got burned. After the first period though we turned it around. I had made a handful of good clears to just keep the pressure out of our zone. I felt I was moving well by then. At one point, I had flipped it out of our zone. The defensemen turned, was skating towards it and we ended up being side by side. As he was going to pick it up, I lifted his stick and pushed the puck forward. It went into the corner, and I had gotten there first. I saw both other forwards coming down and crashing the net. I put it into the slot for them, but there was no good scoring chance. I had the puck in the same spot slightly later, and without any options, I just drove to the net myself, and tried to stuff it in. We had a great scoring chance, but no goal. I had a solid screen on the goalie which played a part in a defensemen's goal. A third time in the corner resulted in me getting leveled by two opponents. Both were playing the puck, but I just stopped dead in my tracks. Got right back up, and kept playing.

We came back and tied the game 8-8. The team should be proud that they didn't quit. With my performance though, I felt I should have had better results. I felt faster than some of their d-man as illustrated by a few races down into the corner. My skating has gotten a lot better. I'm feeling more confident with the puck, standing in front, and taking contact. I still need to slow down though and take my time and look at what is going on before I move.

Franklin Park Scrimmage 2011-05-20

It has been a long time since I've been to one of these scrimmages. It usually is a really good pace. There's players just above my skill level and usually one or two that are just outstanding.

The last couple of times I've been there though, including tonight, the skill was probably too much for me. There were quite a few good guys out there who could really move the puck. I unfortunately didn't play so well. I missed a lot of passes and got out of position quickly. I've been doing that a lot. I want to get down low more and help the defense out but I go to low, and leave the point wide open. It is becoming something I need to watch.

I had one or two ok shots at the goalie, but most of the time, our side had a hard time penetrating the zone, so our offense wasn't happening. I did play center a few shifts and I felt I did really well. It seemed that there was one big guy that I was able to throw off his game just a tiny bit. Considering how talented he was, I felt that was a solid accomplishment.