Piranhas vs. Mastodons

The Piranhas were short on defense. Knowing our position in the standings, and the need for help back there, I wanted to jump back and get some experience with them. There may be a day down the road when it is needed. My freshly sharpened skates felt absolutely amazing, and I could tell I had wheels that night.

As the puck dropped, I felt really strong. I had made a point to have good communication with everyone on the ice at all times.  I felt it was working. I was able to move quickly up and down the ice without the puck, making myself a good option. I had enough speed to get back at times when I was burned. Unfortunately, I am still very green in my own zone. There was a pass from the corner to the guy in the high slot that I could have picked up but did not, and ended up screening the goalie. There was another play in the second where I had a 2 on 2, and did not pick up my man, and as a result, he received a pass and had half of the net.

It wasn't all bad though. My speed and recognition for the game came into play. I saw an official's arm go up in their zone signaling a penalty. I made sure I was as aggressive as I could be. I jumped in, and picked up a loose puck. I walked around one guy to get a clear shot of the net. As that was happening, I saw a speedy forward on my left side coming up. I passed around another defense men  putting it on the tape of that winger who was able to put it top shelf. Not surprising, I play with that winger regularly. It was a beautiful play by both of us.

I did take a hooking penalty but I felt it was a little grey. I of course didn't argue, but had I known I was going to get a penalty for it, I would have made sure I earned it and hauled the skater down to disrupt the odd man rush. The Mastodons scored on the power play.

One play that I still can't get my head around is as I was trying to keep the puck in the zone, I saw it basically slide into my stick and go out of the zone. However - it must have been just inches off the ice because it made NO contact with my stick. The goalie came out to play it, and I told him to leave it, but he hesitated. He left it, but little to my knowledge, there was a skater with more momentum than me on my tail.

I kept my game simple, made a few ok passes, and just put the puck on the wall. I should carry it more though. I'm really going to need to work on my confidence carrying the puck if I want to improve my effectiveness as a defense men at any level.

The Piranhas would lose 4-2. I believe the game was lost because we were out worked, and our defense just did not click. It'll happen when your defensive core cannot make it. I'm neutral on how I played. I think the mistakes I did make were capitalized on, making it seem worse than it really was. I think the areas I did well were a lot of the same skill set that you'd have as a winger, so that isn't too shocking.

Correcting a Bad Play

See that 17? That's me playing defense in my own zone. I'm coming back, carrying the puck. I see those two green dots (opponents) coming at me, and I cut in front of the goalie. This is a bad play. I know better than to carry the puck right through the crease. I did this one game, and recognized I was doing this. Later that week, I would apologize to my goalie for doing it. I know it is wrong, but it just happened. 

The next week, I talked about it again, saying I wouldn't do it anymore. It was that bad of a play. However, it happened again. This time, we were playing a better team. Those green dots were closer and faster moving. I stick handled in front of the goalie. I realized what was happening and immediately yelled, "Sorry!" to the goalie because I was putting an unneeded stress to the him, going against what I was telling him what I'd do. I would drop the puck and the opponent would put it behind the goalie into the back of the net. Luckily the ref was way out of position, didn't see the puck cross the goal line, and my defensive partner flipped it out from the goal.

I deserved every comment I got that night about it from my team. Why did I make the same mistake twice?

The next night, I was playing forward for the Piranhas against the second place team in the division. At one point I was covering for the defensemen as he pinched in. The opponents dumped the puck into our zone, and I again went back and picked up the puck, and the same play was developing. As I was coming up behind the net, I realized I was doing it again. I stopped, and turned and went back behind the net. As this was happening, I heard the goalie say, "Squirrel....!" as if he was saying don't do it!

I corrected my mistake. It is a good thing. I played awful on that second night. I was responsible for the only goal against, missed several easy shots at the goal, but the correct execution of this scenario made it a really great night for me. I like learning from my mistakes.

Piranhas vs. Knights

I hadn't written too many entries lately. I feel like I've been thinking a little too much about my game, and it has been causing problems. I felt that if I took a break for a while, and focused on some other things it would help. The past few weeks I've tried to focus less on the game during the day, and more on just having fun and relaxing.

Tonight the Piranhas had eight skaters. I expect light benches with the Piranhas at this time of year. It is cold out, there is no sunlight, people are tired and no one wants to play at 10:20. We were playing the Knights who had a full bench, as well as a new player or two.

I feel I skated hard every shift. When I skate hard every shift, I know that I'm making a difference. Does it show up on the score sheet? No. But I know it benefits us.  For example, on the forecheck, I love to be the guy to chase down the puck. Even with the Goaldiggers, I loved the role because it results in rushed passes. The pass may be bad, the recipient may not be ready, or they may not be able to get their line change done. There are a variety of things that can happen, and I feel I generated that a lot tonight. I think that while I was doing that, it allowed the other four piranha skaters on the ice to just pay attention, and get a better read as to how the play is going to develop.

One instance where the forecheck helped was when I actually wasn't the first forechecker. I was actually the second.  I took away the left side, forcing the defensemen to give it up to the guy in the center of the ice. I read that happening, and he caught the puck in his skate. I knew this would be a golden chance. As he was getting the puck to his stick, I was able to lift his stick, and get him off balance. In the same motion, I bumped him on the shoulder to get him off balance. He fell, but the puck continued to an open area. The third forward was able to skate in, pick up the puck all alone and had a great shot that hit the back of the net. No assist for me, but had we not rushed these two guys, we don't get that chance.

In the offensive zone and with the puck in general, I thought I was average. I had a few good pick ups in the corner where I was able to get low, and skate through sticks while protecting the puck with my body. I tried to get a cycle going multiple times, but we just couldn't make it work. When I got to the bench, I was told that the point was wide open. I didn't even think to look up there. It definitely was a better choice looking back.

Defensively, I felt I played a very solid game. At one point in the third, arguably their most talented player was coming down the ice. He went around one defensemen, and through the other. While he was doing this though, of course he's going left and right which slows him down. I was able to skate back and tie him up, and get him off balance. He was unable to get a quality scoring chance, and the puck ended up in the corner. I feel I could have tried to be a better option on break outs tonight, but it is something I'm working on, and feel like it is a team effort to do them properly.

A few other highlights from the night include grinding it out along the boards against a couple of opponents, and keeping it down there for a significant amount of time. I had a few rebound chances as well as a goal post. I also miscommunicated with a defensemen while back checking. It lead to a potential scoring chance for the opponent, where if just one of us said, "take it", we could have avoided a potentially dangerous situation.

The Piranhas would win 6-4. I'm pleased with my effort tonight, and feel that despite not showing up on the score sheet, that I had a positive impact on the game for the Piranhas. 

Piranhas vs. Ice Bears

I've felt somewhat burned out by hockey in the past few weeks, which is why I have not written lately. Priorities have also just made it take a back seat.

I've taken a little bit bigger of a role in terms of leadership on the Piranhas lately. It has helped me develop a lot of confidence in myself, knowing that others have confidence in me as well. They may not have confidence in my game, or organization, or influence in the locker room, but I really haven't heard anyone complain about it - which means I'm doing at least one of those things right.

Tonight I got to act as captain. Kind of an interesting way about doing things. I've always noticed that my favorite leaders (including other things but hockey) have always just taken charge. They've said "We're going to do X," and go with it. I actively tried to do this. The clearest case was during a penalty kill, when the lines were out of order because of odd numbers, and then we temporarily lost a player to replace their contact lens. I set up the next line (which included me). I then specifically assigned the task to a forward not going out to set up the line for the shift after. My thought process is that some of those guys may be more tired than the others, the player may return, etc.  It worked well. We didn't have any scramblings on the bench, missed shifts, or too many men penalties - which is a success in my book.

Onto the game. We were playing the Ice Bears. The Coyotes played them last week, and lost in overtime. I took it hard as I felt it was my fault that we lost. I made four big bone head plays that resulted in goals against, and I didn't contribute at all on offense. This set me up to be extra motivated this game.I know the Piranhas were much more talented than their team, but I still feel the need to play hard.

My first shift was ok.  We spent the entire shift in their zone. All three forwards worked well to keep possession of the puck and keep it away from the opponents. We moved the puck. We took good shots. We were moving in the right areas - it is a good thing. We came off the ice, and I was tired. Second shift was more of the same, but we were setting up in a better triangle, which meant more shots. I was set up in the slot, stick on the ice. The center whipped it towards me, but it got caught up in a defensemen's skates. I was able to pick it clean and get a shot off. I fell to my knees, and the rebound came right back about four feet from me. I was able to reach on my backhand from my knees and slid it through the goalie's legs as he was still on the ice. It wasn't ALL luck, as I knew his leg pads were open based on the angle of his leg on the ice. It gave us a 1-0 lead.

From there, I took a lot of beatings. At one point I was off balance, and caught a stick in my back, which got called as a cross check. I knew it was probably accidental, as I've never seen this team play dirty, but the way it felt was curious to me. I made sure I knew who did it, just to make a mental note. I played against him multiple times, and nothing happened as I would expect. I'm not the type of guy to go after someone.

Part of my beatings were me fighting to tie up their best player. A classic example was towards the middle of the third. Again, their best player was breaking out of their zone. I knew that there were defense men behind me who could handle him, but I elected to try and stop him myself. He embarrassed me the week before, and I'm not going to give him the chance to do that again. Any time he skated towards me, I would tie up his stick. He would skate near me, and I'd force him to make a move. If he got too close, I went in close to just try and tie him up. He knocked me over most times, but he also lost control of the puck. My favorite happened when I was covering for the d-man. He came in on me on a one on one, right down the middle. I kept my arms in, making him unaware of how far I can or cannot reach. He never made a move, so I just stopped and let him skate into me. I tried to start going forward, kept my stick on the ice on the side of his stick, and I was able to stop him. He did get a shot off, but our goalie saw it from a good distance, and it wasn't a good shot. The goalie was able to absorb it without any threat from him. I was very happy about it.

The Piranhas would win 9-1. I couldn't have been happier for the team. Our goalie played well, we moved the puck, everyone was laughing and having fun. I felt I played solid. I didn't get a lot of scoring chances, but I made some smart plays. I definitely worked hard in the corners and on the wall. I took bumps and bruises, and because of that, I can be pleased with my effort.

The Coyotes had a game the next day, but I decided to sit it out on the day of for personal reasons. I'm already exhausted and sore. I've got a flight tomorrow for a trip I still need to prepare for, and playing another game and tiring myself out doesn't seem like a smart idea. The next game I play in will be the Piranhas vs. The Coyotes. I'm really looking forward to it.

Piranhas (3-2) vs. Mastodons

I hit the ice, and I really liked how tight I could turn. I just got my skates sharpened and they felt really good. I went to do my full strides from red line to the goal line, and I felt slow as heck though. I guess it is a side effect of having skates that were so sharp.

The Mastodons are a team that come ready to play every game. It doesn't matter how much talent you have, if you don't play hard, you're not going to have a good game. What was strange though was that this was the worst I've seen them play. Nearly every chance they could, they dumped the puck. They had very little possession of the puck this game.

For me, this was one of those games where I felt that I did a lot right, and had my hand in lot of goals, despite not getting a point on the play. I would make a good play to pressure the puck carrier, keep a puck in our zone, or screen the goalie.

I did have one goal on the rebound of a rush. The center shot from the left side, and pulled the goalie way over to him. The rebound came to me, and I just had to tap it in. There was no pressure, and very little could go wrong. Very rarely do I miss an empty net from three feet out. I also had an assist at some point during the night for a two point night, but I don't remember how I got it.

In the offensive zone, I did a very good job in terms of cycling the puck, and keeping possession.  A lot of times, I didn't even look for a shot, or the other forward. I would just look to keep it deep in the zone, and go to the next position to make myself open for a pass. I also made adjustments in game, which takes me a while to do. The most obvious case was when I was entering the zone carrying the puck. I hear the center say he's got the drop pass for me, but I ignore it and shoot anyway. We gave away possession. The next period, the same play was happening. Only this time, I was able to drop the pass for him. I crashed the net, and the third forward was able to hammer home the rebound.

There was also one pass I made at the end of the third that was outstanding. I was trailing the puck carrier, just like he did to me in my previous example. I picked it up, and took my time. I could get a shot off that may get to the net, skate it in, or give it to the 3rd forward  who was breaking in with his stick on the ice. I hit the third forward with a great pass on his tape. He fired it and had a great scoring chance. He later said he didn't expect the pass.

The two things that didn't go well for me was my skating. Like I stated earlier, I was just slow. It felt like a month since my last game despite it being only five(ish) days. The other was my defense. Why would I chase a guy with my stick fully extended. I need to bring it back in, keep my balance, and keep moving my feet to keep up with him.

In the middle of the third, I also had one fore checking opportunity where I was all over the ice, raising hell for the opposition. I'd chase the puck,  and follow their pass, interrupt their defense man moving the puck, battle for it, and then just repeat multiple times. I got a little tired and sloppy after a few cycles of this though.

Overall I thought the game was above average for me, but not by much. Skating is a big part of my game, and it wasn't there.

The Piranhas would beat the Mastodons  7-3.

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. 

Coyote Practice with Goats

This rink was extremely hot. I cannot remember the last time I felt so warm on the ice. I know I was not the only one. As a result, the ice was incredibly soft. Amazes me how big of a difference this rink is compared to the places I typically play at.

I felt uncomfortable from the time I stepped on the ice until the time I got off. Nothing I did could get me feeling good. The warm up drills this coach had us do were different from what I've done in the past. I liked them. He would have us skate 5 full strides, glide, then do a tight turn towards one direction and go back. It really makes you focus on your strides and turns. He then had us do the same, only he would blow the whistle quickly, stop, and go in the opposite direction. There were some really good skaters there for this type of coach. It made me a little nervous because I was afraid that if I did something wrong, I'd get trampled.  I skated so hard during one of these drills that I lost an edge, fell and rolled  quite a bit. Luckily I didn't trip, but man I was tired.

The one coach then took us and we did cycle drills. I messed up a few times, but to me, it ultimately lead to keep possession of the puck, and keep yourself as an option. This is something I've always tried to do. The coach was trying to enforce the idea of going to specific areas where you'll go to score goals.  It was interesting in the idea that if you have the puck, then swing around to the other side, you need to make yourself an option. It is something I could work on.

We went to the other side and focused a lot on one on ones. This is something I was thrilled about. In one of my recent Coyote games, I got burned on the same one on one multiple times. So as much as I wanted to play defense on these one on one situations, I only got one defensive opportunity against the caliber of player that I really needed to work against. I did a good job against him, but he really didn't make a good move.

The scrimmage was short, but I did very well during it. I didn't get too aggressive as I knew the opponents were much better than us. At the same time, I did help correct one of the wingers in his positioning in the break out. Once he was in the correct position, I hit him with a great pass.