Pre-Season Game 1 Win vs. Jr. Sharks

The start was a good one with a win vs. Jr. Sharks 3-7. Avery with 30 saves.

And here we go again. One game down and many more to go. Humility is our driving force and style of play leading to a classy reputation as a fine hockey club.

Confidence doesn’t always arrive with a bold entrance. Sometimes, it builds quietly, step by step, as we show up for ourselves day after day. This was evident in our first outing last night vs. the Jr. Sharks. Nearly half of the players on the 14U-1 team this season are new to this level which is intimidating as none of them have ever played full contact before with the exception of a few practices prior to this game.

This is a big step. A scary one too. Our opponent clearly had the same challenge and this made for a relatively “light” hitting game overall with the exception of a few well timed hits by both teams. Don’t get me wrong. We don’t think big hits in a game are really a good idea or even our strategy. It is not going to be our style of play. In fact, hitting in hockey is not really the focus in the modern era of hockey at all levels.

Checking itself hasn’t disappeared. The philosophy around it has changed.

USA Hockey deliberately moved youth hockey away from a “hit to dominate” culture toward body contact, positioning, puck possession and controlled checking. We plan on following suit and you will see that during the season. What we will focus on is learning how to take a check as our primary concern will ALWAYS be around safety - psychological and physical at all times.

The game was well played overall. The Jr. Sharks had 30 shots with a higher number of shots attempted to our 21 shots on net. The quality of the shots and goals were significantly different for the Cats, though.

Leading the team in points last night was Alex (Sasha) with a 6 point night - 4 goals and 2 assists earning him player of the game. Just prior to the game, Sasha gave me a Sabercats branded puck and asked if we could give it to whomever had a great outing only to get it back. I think he planned that.

Ryan, new from the Jr. Sharks program last year obviously had some serious motivation with a goal and 3 assists giving him a 4 point night and second star honors. Note that one of his goals was disallowed as it may have crossed the goal line after the whistle.

Avery, despite a sore upper leg, stood tall saving 27 shots of the 30 taken. A mid game Tylenol feeding helped get her through the entire game which was heroic for another reason as she was up around 4 AM for travel to Seattle in a girls AAA tournament. She earned the 3rd star of the game.

Our structure was pretty strong last night which is very encouraging given we have not practiced as a team much at all and more than half the roster is new. Our opportunity is reducing our unforced turn overs in our zone and forcing plays that are not really there. This is very normal at this point in the season.

What we are saying in the pre and post game.

Pre-game - first and foremost. Have fun. Second was we are not focused on any particular systems right now. We are learning each other and spotting where we are strong and observing where we need to adjust. Systems will happen later.

We communicated we were going to try a bunch of different looks during the game and for each to own the roles given. This team did that perfectly. We ran 9 forwards and 4 D to start, moving to 7 forwards and 6 D which is highly unusual, but we wanted to give that a try. Ultimately we ran 8 forwards and 5 D and this flowed well.

Very strong emphasis on not paying any attention to the score. Winning or losing, the score right now is not reliving or constructive. Playing consistently, sticking to our game plan start to finish each game, each shift is the key to our success. Being engaged the entire time.

Post game - very short. Player recognition plus reinforcement of a key virtue of humility. Sure, we won by a big margin. This does not define anything at this point. Forget that score and focus on each shift in each game.

I am exceptionally happy with the attitude of these student athletes.