Coyotes (1-0) vs. Red Stars

The entire night was sloppy for me. I was exhausted from the Piranha game the night before, was unsure of how my defensive partner plays, and I was on the Olympic rink. It is a lot more different than I thought it was. I always remembered that the Olympic rink was a lot wider, but as defense man  that's a lot of ice to cover. It impacted angles greatly, and I can totally understand how it impacts goalies even worse.

I had a couple of times where I just messed up. I went to take a slap shot from the blue line and completely whiffed on it. I had another where I tried to kind of dangle around a player but I wasn't successful then either. There was one point where both defense men were on top of each other, and we miscommunicated who should go after the loose puck. It was just a tough night for us two to work together.

At one point there was a one on one play where the Red Star forward was coming down the ice on me. He didn't even make a move on me, and I just let him get by me. He wasn't fast or anything, but he eventually scored the goal. I felt like I let my goalie down because I just made a stupid error. It was the only goal we gave up. I think it was a result of just not being too into the game.

But the game wasn't all bad for me. I had a few instances where I carried the puck in and was aggressive. There was one play where I surprised myself. Players were stabbing at the puck, going to lift it and I was able to keep the puck away from my body, and use my leg to protect my stick and the puck. It always amazes me how effective that is.

I also had one play where it was a two on one, and I was on the rush with a slower winger. I went around the defender and kept one hand on my stick keeping it far away, and maintained speed. Once I got around the defender, I did a nice one handed pass to the other winger. He wasn't prepared for it, and didn't get as nice of a shot off as I would have liked.

It was incredibly hard to get into a rhythm this game for anyone who wasn't a forward. I had a ton of ice time, but I didn't skate much. The Red Stars had added skaters  in the off season, but are not in the same league as the Coyotes yet. A lot of the guys worked really hard battling against the wall, but the experience of the Coyotes, as well as the skating ability meant that the game would be played mostly in one zone. The Coyotes would win 9-1, while only giving up six shots.

Piranhas vs. Chaos

When I was told who I was playing with for the night, I was fairly excited. The left winger, I've played with a lot in the past and really like playing with. He's smart, and plays a defensively responsible game. If we end up on opposite sides, he's smart enough to recognize it and stay on the other side. The center is a very intense player who I haven't played much  with, but I have played against at a few scrimmages.

The first few shifts were mediocre. We weren't doing well, but we weren't doing bad. Then we had one solid shift where we generated a decent scoring chance. From then on, it snow balled. We really started to click.  I tried to really up the pressure on my fore check since I had the legs to do so. Their one d-man did not like that, and had some interesting words for me. After that, I had an extra gear, and played extremely well.  I was able to use my speed in lots of situations. Especially on the face offs. Multiple times I was able to beat the opposing winger to the puck off the drop, and pick the puck up and skate away with it. This lead to puck possession time for the Piranhas. At one point in the offensive zone, I picked up the puck off the draw, and no one was moving, and I've got a clear shot at the goalie. I back handed it without even looking, trying to catch the goalie off guard and I did. Unfortunately he made the save.

As the game went on, our line generated a ton of scoring chances. Our speed and patience would cause us to win battles to loose pucks, make crisp passes, generate traffic, and regain possession.  Our line had at least one goal, with the left winger having a really nice tip right in front of the net.

I had one play coming down the left wing, with two d-men in front of me. I watched the closer d-man try and stop and start to come towards me. I immediately cut to the middle and saw a shooting lane open from 30 feet out. I fired it and hit a post.

Then we had a small parade to the penalty box. It wasn't an easy kill for me as we were always scrambling. I tried to stay on the points, but there was just so much room to cover, and passing lanes open, that I was just scattered. Shortly after that, the play returned to even strength. But it was clear that the Chaos had the momentum. Trying to get something going, I somehow ended up below the goal line in the defensive zone. I lost the puck battle along the wall, but I saw who beat me, and it was the same guy who yelled at me earlier. I played that much harder because of it. I was able to tie up his stick, but then he broke away again. I instinctively gave him a one handed shove from behind. He fell and gave up possession. Once the piranhas got possession though, the whistle blew and I wasn't surprised that I was called for a penalty. In my defense, I did cause the Chaos to take at least 3 penalties. I got a cross check off the face off, a hook, and I believe an interference.  All of them (except the hook) were soft calls in my opinion, but the refs were calling everything.

I ended up back on the PK. We were in our box formation, and my other winger blocked a shot and it bounced right up the middle. I was alert, and jumped on it and had a clear break away. I had it from the red line in. That's a lot of time. I knew what I wanted to do. He was far out so I was going to fake left, and skate to the right and just skate around him for a poor angle shot. I totally dropped the puck and didn't even get a chance off.

I had a few more solid defensive plays where I disrupted the rush by back checking, or taking away lots of passing lanes. I had used my stick more than once. Towards the end, there was another penalty called on our team, and I'm killing again. I was able to pick the puck up in our zone, and I saw that the dmen were backing up. I turned on the jets and they just continued to move back and let me enter the zone. I couldn't understand why they would be so conservative when they were down 3-1 with 2:00 left in the third period. Then I saw - they pulled their goalie. I went around one of the dmen, and fired it at the empty net. I missed wide by about a foot or two.

The Piranhas would go on and win the game 4-1. I would have loved to bury my chances, but I didn't this game, and compared to recent games, I laughed these off. I enjoyed the game and the competition. There were lots of Chaos sticks flying everywhere, but it was expected. They use their sticks a lot more than most teams. Our line played very well and I felt great. I am very pleased with how I played, and how the team played as well.

Piranhas vs. Caerbannogs - 2011-07-28

In my previous post, I mentioned how I was concerned about my recent performances, and how I sharpened my skates. I spent warm ups just getting used to the edges and I felt good with them. I felt better and more prepared for this game than recently too. I can't put my finger on why. I think maybe I'm getting too much sleep, because last night I just didn't sleep well.

The opposing goalie was weak. He loved to handle the puck, and was good at it. Unfortunately, he just flops around on the ice. It was clear we just had to get pucks to the net and traffic to bang in loose pucks. The opposing team also didn't have anyone who could handle the puck, nor anyone who I felt was a stand out player.

On one of my first shifts, while back checking, I was trying to just lift the stick of the winger. He was moving his feet as hard as he could, and I just was going about half effort. I didn't realize it until about the blue line. I stopped trying to lift his stick to get next to him, and then I was able to break up the play a lot easier. This was the pattern for me all night. If I back checked hard enough, I could catch them and force turnovers. This makes sense as they're carrying the puck, and I'm not. I know I skate a lot slower when I have to take care of the puck.

Going in the opposite direction, I felt I did an outstanding job along the boards again tonight. At one point I was able to beat two different individuals along the boards and move the puck into their zone very quickly. I don't think my line realized that I was winning these battles, as when I finally did gain control, they still were not in the offensive zone. I took the puck to the net, but the goalie brushed it aside. After that work, I was very tired, and went and changed. I came off, sat down, and then the opponents scored on an odd man rush. That was very frustrating to me as we had a potential scoring chance but it just didn't happen.

Because our line adopted the plan of throw everything at the net, we had a lot of face offs in their zone. While our center does win way more than his fair share of face offs, he was tied up a few times, and then I was able to get in, and get a quick backhand on net. I think at my level, a lot of wingers don't realize that sometimes they need to get in there and help win that face off. I know I don't do it enough, but I'm going to focus on it a little more now.

At one point, I picked up the puck below the goal line in the opponents zone. Usually I've been just throwing it into the slot, but that has not worked out well. I've needed to take my time, and make the right play. This was a case where I did just that. I didn't have any options, so I went behind the net. The center read it perfectly, and I was able to give him a backhand pass. It was just an inch or two too far for him and he missed it. The puck went past the traffic, and exited the zone. This is the type of scenario that I need to think about, and make sure that I'm connecting on passes.

It did get a little chippy for me in the second. I was standing in front of the net, like I enjoy doing, and the defensemen kept attempting to lift my stick. It didn't do a whole lot of good. I would keep moving when he came by me until my heels were almost in the blue paint. This caused the goalie to start giving me good shots to get out of the way. This is a good thing as it does distract them. Had there been any shots at those times, those players weren't focused on the play. During one board battle, I came to help the center. The opponent had his top hand on his stick, while he was using his other hand to keep the center pushed up against the glass. He was doing a fairly impressive job of working the puck one handed. I came in, tangled his stick up, and tried to rip it out of his hands with my stick. He dropped it, and wanted a penalty called. He whined to the ref for a second, and then gave me a good shove. It was a shame though that the shift in his focus caused him to lose that battle, which would ultimately result in us clearing the puck out of our own zone.

We would win the game 3-1 with an empty net goal. I had another solid defensive game, where I felt I was effective. I really didn't have any scenarios where I was unhappy with my decision, or my results. I'm seeing more and more that I'm not as bad of a skater than I thought I was. I've got greater than average speed in this league, and I need to use it.

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.

Chicago Bruins - Adult Beginner Hockey Class - 2010-12-01

I missed the Monday practice because of a cold. I'm not ready to push myself into playing when sick, and the rest did me well. Wednesday I was ready hit the ice, or at least I thought I was.

I've had nothing but good experiences the past two weeks on ice. I had no reason to not expect it to continue. But I felt I just didn't do well at practice. My skating was a little bit off, and my stick handling was atrocious.

Part of it was I believe mental. A goalie made a comment, and I took it the wrong way. I make similar comments all the time, and I do it in jest. I don't know why it bothered me so much. It eventually ended up me being angry instead of challenged after that. I was more focused on impressing than improving. A bad approach in that situation.

The scrimmage went poorly as well. I felt completely out of shape. I know I hadn't skated in a week, and that is my own fault. Stupid Thanksgiving. I played on the blue line, and I just felt out of place. Any time a winger would come down the ice, I'd let him come down, instead of keeping him to the outside. I'm also not very comfortable going backwards.

After the first shift or two, I noticed I was having a bad night and was determined to work to turn it around. Bad move. I ended up tripping a guy (but he deserved it - let us take it out of our zone when you're playing scrimmages like we were). I also used my body in a good way along the boards to prevent the puck from coming any deeper into our own zone. It was too rough of a play though for the situation.

My skating has improved. I've been reading a little bit about power skating, and I can feel a difference. I won two key battles to loose pucks because I was the faster guy. But I couldn't control the puck at that speed to get it off the boards, or to stop and take control. Big issue.

I did make improvements on stopping though. In the skate around I focused on that for a little while, and I could feel myself do it right. Stumbled a lot, but it is part of practice.