Squirrel's Personal Season Preview 2013-2014

I look back at my last season, and I almost hit every goal I had for myself. I became a point per game player on the Piranhas, won a championship with the team. I developed my speed, and confidence with the puck. I created something that resembles a scoring touch (I can say that because I've scored a goal that wasn't on a rebound!). Perhaps most importantly, I developed my stability on my skates. I no longer fall when someone brushes against me. I kept my attendance up all year, didn't hit any big ruts, stayed healthy and made it to Toronto. The only goal I didn't hit was the Coyotes in Toronto. I know I pulled my weight when it was on the line for that one. What I didn't anticipate is a divisional shake up that made it significantly more difficult to get there. Therefore I call last winter a success.

This summer though, I didn't progress the way I wanted. Personal issues made it difficult to focus and prepare. I know that it I'm not out of the woods with it yet, ut I feel like I'm on the right path to regaining that focus. But this summer wasn't a total loss for me. I saw a ton of ice time with the Piranhas, and pickup skates. I additionally skated with the Grim Reapers, a team in a much higher division. Perhaps the best thing I did this summer was add strength and cardiovascular training to my week. I go hard when I do them, and I feel stronger and more confident than ever. I have this indescribable intensity and blood flow when I'm there and I know it has spilled over onto the ice.

I have an idea of what can happen this year. I believe that I will take on a bigger role on both the Piranhas and Coyotes. These will be more difficult years for both teams, it will be more difficult for me, and I think it is a good thing. When I hit all of my goals, I often wonder if I pushed myself enough. It won't be that way this year. I'm ready, I feel great, and I'm eagerly waiting the season to start.

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 Training - Brian

I hit the surface probably 30 minutes early. It had been longer than I wanted since I've been there, and I wanted to familiarize myself with the surface again, and just work on my skills myself. It also helps to warm up as well. I felt like I was flying out there. I felt like I was handling the puck well and skating well.

Brian called me over, and we chatted for a bit. We decided to work on skating. He immediately reminded me of the three things I need to do with my skating stride that I don't do - full extension of my leg as I push off, bend my knees, and keep my chest up and out. It is difficult to break those habits. I don't know if it was because I was hearing it for the 100th time, or because it was someone different, but I felt like it clicked much better. There were a couple of times where I slipped, but I'm OK with that. I felt I did a really good job of putting all of my weight onto one leg as I skate. I normally don't do that well, but I have been focusing on improving my leg strength, so maybe that had a part in it as well.

The Brian wanted to make me run through a few drills to get me to stop thinking, and I felt like it all clicked. It started out with some quick feet, then full strides, into a few quick turns, accept a pass and put the puck on net. Go behind the net and pick up a puck, skate back through the slot, tight turn carrying the puck, stick handle through the pucks, cradle the puck on my forehand, bring it over, then backhand. Got that? Yeah - I felt overwhelmed when he was explaining it, but it just made sense. The first thing he wanted me to correct is in a tight turn to keep my feet in line, rather than side by side. Then he noticed I handle the puck like it is a bouncy ball.

He gave me a great idea that I absolutely loved. When going from side to side, you're supposed to cradle the puck on your stick, even on your backhand, which I never thought to do. I tried to cradle the puck but still couldn't do it. While I thought I was using my top hand to control my stick, he said I wasn't. He grabbed a small piece of PVC pipe and put it over the shaft of my stick, made me hold the PVC piece, and this made me unable to control the stick with my bottom hand. It forces me to rotate my top wrist. It is a damn good drill, so after trying it for a few minutes, I noticed an immediate improvement. Going through the pucks was much easier.

Towards the end, he asked how my one-timers were. I laughed. He asked about my slap shot. I told him I tried it a few times in practice. So I did it naturally how I thought it should be done, and he noticed I golf right away. I brought the stick back behind me, bent my right elbow, rotated my hips and transferred my weight well.But he made me keep the stick square with my chest, no bringing it back. He made me take a very wide grip with my stick. I noticed it was a little bit more consistent, but felt very different. I had a hard time NOT bringing the stick behind me because it is so natural from golf.

That was it for the session. I felt much better. I'm very pleased with the session I had, and I can't wait to try it out later this week.

The session was over, and I went back to practice by myself. I worked more on my hands and my feet. I felt more and more comfortable asking for help, slowing down and practicing things on my own. That PVC pipe was really great, and I'm going to get my own to try out. I should be back next Sunday.

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. 

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.