Looking ahead, but not forgetting the past

For the first time this season, my hockey team lost. We lost to Lake Forest 2 to 1 and it was a brutal game. As a team we were not performing and could not finish the chances in front of the net.  It was also a problem that our coaches were giving the referees a hard time the entire game questioning every move the referee made and every call he made. When a coach does this it is never beneficial to us because the referee will never give us a call. We also took some really dumb penalties which cause them to score late in the game. We didn't have our legs either because our coaching staff, once again, only played two lines most of the game with an occasional 3rd and 4th going out. Up until this game we were undefeated and I think pretty proud of it. Loosing this game also puts us down in the standings and we are going to have to fight to get back to the top. It was going to happen sometime this year, but I don't think my team was ready for it. I think that's another reason we lost, because we were to full of our selves to look at reality. And reality is that no team is invincible.

Going foreword, we learn from it and can only work with what we know. What we know is that we can't get into a mind set like that ever again. If we want to be the best team at the end of the year which is very possible, we need to be more discipline. There have been too many dumb penalties with under two minutes to play in several games this year including this game. To be a championship hockey team, we always need to be serious and be ready to play. Like my coach always says, "We don't take nights off." If we can do this for a season we can be victorious.

This game was only a building block and a minor speed bump in a long season. One loss is never the end of the world and looking foreword to future games, we can only improve by fixing and improving mistakes we have made. My team can do it. We just need the mind set.

tie, tie, tie, tie....sick of the word tie yet?

A person is always told a tie is like kissing your sister in that it's never a good thing. Well this past week I had four hockey games and we tied each and every one of them.
Monday: tied 0-0
Wednesday: tied 1-1
Saturday: tied 1-1
Sunday: tied 3-3

Some people might say, "well at least you didn't loose!" For our hockey team, we expect to win and this was a record for all of us. In my entire career I have never had a streak like this one and it starts to get annoying because we can't win. Nothing is working for team and we just aren't clicking as a team right now and something needs to be done.

I think our defense is suffering because by the 3rd period we don't have our full 6 defenseman able to play. Whether they are tired or being sat for a mistake, our pairs aren't working. This could be the coaches fault or the players fault. My suggestion is that the defensive pairs change it up and we stick with it the entire game. If we don't then the entire third period is a guessing game and nothing ever good comes from this.

For myself, I need to make better decisions with the puck. I think in this entire week of ties, I have been on the ice for two of the goal for and one goal against. This is an okay statistic but isn't great. As a defenseman, when they score, you usually aren't doing a good job. That's why i need to make better decisions when the puck is in our zone. I'm not playing in the third period as much as I would like because of my decisions with the puck. Although they aren't always good, I shouldn't only get 2 shifts in the third period. I'm not the only one making mistakes, but I am the only one getting punished. It doesn't make sense. For now, though, I am not going to argue with my coaching staff because I am grateful to be on Varsity as a sophomore. I will try to improve and work my way up in status with the coaches. This way I'll rightfully earn my ice time.

That is what I as an individual on the team is thinking about, but I think the team should be thinking about what we have to do to win our next game and end this streak because I think we have had enough with the ties. To do this we really have to be more offensive and finish plays by putting the puck in the back of their net.