12-2 Loss to Blue Devils

Ouch.

Ryan and Darrow each had nice backhand goals





Something To Work On - Forecheck & Backcheck Positioning - Thinking in terms of F1, F2, F3

The thing I want us to focus on for next game is how our Left Wing, Center, and Right Wing positional roles change when we are in transition. When we are on the forecheck and backcheck we need to change our thinking to F1, F2, F3, and have our roles depend on who is closest to the puck. For example on the backcheck, we want our first forward back to go support the low slot area in front of our goal, regardless of if he is the LW/C/RW.

Please take a few minutes to read the two pages on Forechecking and Backchecking which were taken from the Ryan Walter & Mike Johnson book.

5-2 Win Over Ducksworth

Convincing win with a hat trick from Ryan and some excellent goaltending from Max!

The only goal of the 1st period was against us:



The other team countered well, and quickly turned an offensive chance for us into a transition goal for them. Although goals like this are hard to prevent, there are a few positional tweaks that would help. For example I should of recovered to the slot sooner, before finding out if Mike K was able to get possession or not, because this would have been a better position to backcheck from, and would of given Ryan more space if we retained possession (spread us out.) Also when one defenseman is coming down low to pinch, the other defensemen should be retreating slightly towards center ice as a precaution for a potential odd man rush against. Lastly, this goal was scored 5 v 5, and I only ever see 4 yellow jerseys. Was there a bad line change? (0-1)

We dominated the 2nd period, and Mike C started off the scoring for us by taking it coast to coast! (1-1)



Next Will drew a slashing penalty, and Ryan went top shelf on the resulting power play! (2-1)



Then Ducksworth tied it at 2 with a goal in tight off of an attack from behind the net (2-2)



From then on it was all Yellow Jackets, with Ryan putting us up 3-2 with a great poke check to backhand breakaway goal, Brian putting us up 4-2 with a shot in stride while skating across the top of the face off circle, and Ryan finishing things off at 5-2 with a hat trick on a backhand goal that took advantage of their sloppy breakout.







Great first win of the season!!!

5-4 Loss to Prestige

First game with the UHWK camera, and Tom rips a goal!

 


What we did well

• Scoring Opportunities - Four goals isn't bad, and we easily could of scored more
• Breakouts - Much better than last game. Passing in general was pretty good
• Defensive play by our Defensemen

What we need to improve

• Shift length - Had a few folks mention it on the bench, and saw some shifts of over two minutes of game time. Need to hold each other accountable because nobody can hustle after being on the ice for that long
• Faceoffs - We seemed to lose a lot of faceoffs, especially when their centers were pushing it forward. Curious to see if this trend continues
• D Zone Coverage - Covering the points. This is the biggest takeaway in my opinion. We had five goals against, two of which came in transition (harder to solve) but the other three were scored while our defense was set, and all three were shot from the point. The videos below show these three goals against, and in each video the opposing defensemen has too much space. Note the positioning of our wings when the defenseman on his side receives the puck, and also the path that is taken to close out. Clearly there are other factors involved, such as my inability to clear the puck in the first video, and the sheer luck of some of these shots getting in, but I think we would benefit greatly from cleaning up our coverage of the points.

Next time we beat that team!