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.