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.

Piranhas vs. Sharks - 2012-04-04

I felt good all night about this game. I had a lot of energy, I knew the team was beatable, we had plenty of players on our bench, and I got a nap in.

I found out I was playing on the top line with arguably our two best players, and I was excited about that. Both are fast, skilled and can move the puck.

On my third shift, in a face off in their end, I was on the far wing. The puck came to me, and I knew exactly where I was going. I grabbed it, gave a quick pass to the d-man in the center of the ice. He wound up and blasted a nice slapshot. Unfortunately, it was right into the pads of the forward. The puck bounced out of the zone, and we gave up a break away goal as a result. Somehow, I felt responsible for it, but I really wasn't. I noticed later in the game, that that specific guy has put a lot of shots into the pads of skaters.

At one point in the offensive zone, the puck came to me from the corner. I drove the net. My work on my blance must have been working, as I plowed through a defenseman while I maintained possesion of the puck.

Another time in the offensive zone, a player was skating around, trying to defend against the puck carrier. Unfortunately he ran into me. I put him down as well as I was prepared for it. He did not like that. He tried to get me to take a penalty, but I'm just not that type of player.

I felt that our d-men pinched a lot, and we gave up many odd-man rushe because of it. When I was on the ice, I tried to make sure that didn't happen. Once I was able to come back, and play as a d-man. I broke up an odd-man rush, and it felt good. Another time, I made a great keep in on the blue line. Unfortunately I lost control of the puck when I kept it in, and gave up posession. But still, it was better than just having it exit the zone.

At the end of the game, I was actually sad it was over. I still wanted to play. I had a ton of energy. I could have easily played a second game. The strange part was I was moving my feet the entire game. I can only think of one bad pass, but there wasn't a time or play where I didn't give it 100%. I like this.

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.

Coyotes vs. Chaos 2011-12-11

I haven't been too excited over the past month about hockey. The fact is, I've been playing a lot, and I've felt a little bit exhausted. When you play 4 times in 5 nights, you just kind of burn out and when you don't play as well either, I guess you get discouraged. Compare that to sitting at home, getting some reading done, playing with the dog and you can probably see why.

Still, I was moderately excited to play with the Coyotes this Sunday. I hadn't been on the ice in over a week, and as a result, I felt rusty. Playing the blue line again, I wasn't sure of a lot of things. Early on, my defensive partner took a roughing penalty after he and an opponent were pushing each other all the way down the ice. The whole time this was going on, our team had the puck, going down in their end. I would have loved to been more aggressive then, but I wasn't sure what would happen there. He did play well though, a lot better than I did. If I would pinch, he'd come back a bit just in case so I wouldn't get burned. He would make good passes across the ice if he had pressure on him in the defensive zone. When I dropped a puck along the boards, he was there to pick up a scrambled pass.

Once or twice, I flat out dropped the puck along the boards with no pressure. I was just going too fast, and didn't have my stick flat on the ice. The puck would roll off, or just stay there. I did take one penalty, as the dman was coming across the blue line, I took a slashing penalty, trying to get him to drop the puck. He did, but the whistle blew as I picked it up. It was a good call.

I had a good rush up the ice from my own end, where I did not pass. Once I got low in their zone, I did make a pass, and as soon as it left my stick, I bolted back to the blue line. This went against my mentality of being a stay at home d-man, but if I have the speed to go down, and around players, I should use it once in a while.

I think I was on ice for one goal against in the 8-2 loss, and I don't think I played well or felt comfortable until 10:00 left in the third. Let this be testimony that I need to play regularly.

Coyotes vs. Immortals - 2011-11-03

I had been looking forward to the is game for a few reasons. The first being it was my first game with the Coyotes. I will be subbing for them this year, and I think I can bring some experience and speed to the team. It is my first game on the blue line where I will be playing mostly for the Coyotes. Additionally, the Coyotes were playing the Immortals, my old team.

I knew it was going to be a long game, but it went better than I had expected. I think a huge advantage for me was I was able to analyze threats better because I knew the players' skills better than I would most teams.

I had a really strong first period. I had no goals against while I was on the ice. At one point, early on, I had picked up a puck in the slot, and basically created a break away by going end to end. I was shocked no one picked me up. But I suspect that this forced the defense to respect my speed, even when I'm in my own zone with out the puck.

Part of me was a little bit shocked to see what it was like playing on the blue line. You really can control the entire game. You're responsible for making the long stretch pass, or you're responsible for just dumping the puck in the neutral zone. You can skate the puck way up with a bit of speed pushing everyone back, and so on.

I did force myself to carry the puck a little bit more than I usually do. The rest of the team wouldn't carry the puck at all. But by carrying it, I was helping myself, and the team by showing them the benefits of carrying it and how much time they had.

I had an issue with being a weaker guy on the ice. I couldn't move players from in front of the net, and I couldn't hook players down. Not having the strength made me play much differently, but I still have a lot to learn back there. But it was still a good effort, and I will keep working back there and using my strengths.

We lost 10-1. They're just a stronger team, but the Coyotes can be a solid team.

One game down, many more to go.

Goaldiggers vs. Chicago Blue 2011-10-30

Not to thrilled about playing, I headed to the rink. Maybe it was my long weekend, crappy weather or sore back. I just wasn't excited. The team was better than last week because we had 10 skaters opposed to last week's 9. Additionally, we knew this was a team that we had the potential to beat, and have beat in the past.

I think I had my best first period ever. I had energy, took my time and was solid on the fore check. Defensively I felt I did a good job too. Most of the night, I had this big d-man near me. He wasn't heavy, but he had to have been about 6'6". It made it difficult to get pucks past him because he had such a long reach. I remember anything I'd throw even remotely near him, he had the potential to knock it down, or did knock it down. I put pressure on him whenever he had the puck and learned he wasn't an agile player, and couldn't handle the puck very well. I would disrupt him, and cause him to rush his pass, and it created good opportunities for our team. They had another defense-men who was smaller, and had similar issues but was a better puck mover. The best chance of the game for me came from a hard fore check behind the net. The d-man threw it up the boards and it just caused a little havoc. It caused some scrambling in the neutral zone, and a d-man jumped up in to the play. I called for the puck in the slot, knowing I was wide open as both d-men were on him on the wall. He put it toward the net, and I had two or three good knocks at it. I was standing in the paint, and the d-man lifted my stick so hard that it spun me around. It was a great chance but no luck. It amazes me how big the crease is when you're standing in front of it, but how small it is when you're moving even remotely quickly.

One part of my game I think I struggle with, and so do some of the other Goaldiggers is moving in our own zone once we have the puck. Typically I stay on the wall and look for a pass standing still. I've been trying to move towards the net and get a better angle for a pass. I'm trying to pick the right times to do this so we can generate more chances on the rush by getting behind the -man. At the same time, I have to watch to make sure I get back if there is a turnover. It worked a couple of times tonight, so that is something to be very positive about.

At one point we had a bad change where players were changing with the puck in our end. I saw the pressure on the d-man, on the left side, and even though I was right, I raced as hard as I could to the left to help out. He got it about 4 feet from the blue line and then I tried to get it out from there. I was able to use my speed to knock it out of the zone, and create a rush. I didn't take my time though. As soon as I could, I shot it thinking I was about to lose possession. I got back to the bench, and the center said I had a good extra second or two more.

I loved my game tonight. I had energy, I disrupted their breakout passes, and helped our team get the puck out of our zone. I think the breakout part is big as I feel useless most nights in this area. For me, I think that will help the team out a lot in the future. Even though we lost 5-3 or something, there were still lots of positives to take out of it.