The Frederick Cup - Day Two

Day Two was very interesting. Our first game was not so good my freshmen were over matched and were afraid to touch the puck for more then a second. They treated the puck like a hot potato. The upperclassmen just played bad. This was also the first time my players had played together as a team and it showed. Our second game we won and the team played much better.

The Frederick Cup - Day One

The first day of the Frederick Cup has ended. My team did not play today but I did go and watch a couple of the games. What I saw was that the talent leveled varied which I thought was interesting. There are two conferences in the tournament. Teams are placed in each conference according to their talent which I think is a good idea. My team is in the lower conference which I was fine with due to the skill level I have and the number of freshmen.
   Scoring for the tournament goes as follows: A team can earn one point for each period you win and two points for every game you win. The top two teams in each conference play a championship game Sunday evening.
   My team will play two games on Saturday and one game on Sunday morning. If you want to see good high school hockey come to Skate Frederick this weekend.

One day until the tournament

As I prepare for the Frederick Cup there are a few things to look at. First is my goalie situation which I had discussed in a previous post.  My plan was to have my goalies share time during the tournament however, one of my goalies is not able to play on Saturday do to a previous commitment and the other goalie can not play on Sunday because he has to play for his travel team. As a result how I am going to use my goalies has been decided.
      I looked at the tournament schedule today to see what teams my team will be playing. Of the three teams we will be playing I realized we have not played any of them. My team is not playing on Friday night so I intend to go and watch a couple of games because the teams we are going to play are playing on Friday night. This should be an interesting tournament.

Getting Ready for pre-season tournament

Today there was no practice but I spent time figuring out my lines and special teams for this weekend. My team will play in the Frederick Cup at Skate Frederick in Frederick, Maryland. This is a pre-season tournament for high school teams only. If you are in the area and are a hockey fan you should make time to come watch a couple of games.

Behavior

As I get my team ready for the season one of things I like to go with my team is what I expect of them. I tell the players that when they get a penalty they are to go directly to the penalty box and do not argue with the referee. I warn the players that if they argue with the referee they will get an additional penalty. I then tell them that for every additional penalty they get will be the number of minutes they will sit on the bench and not play.
  For the most part this works with the players and our penalty minutes stay low however, every year at least one player does not follow my directions but high school players need to learn there is consequences for not following direction. We will see what this season holds.

Silence is Wrong

As the season starts a coach has a lot to think but it is important for a coach to tell his players that if they have an injury to speak up. It is not right for a player to stay silent if they are hurt. The days of being a player that toughs it out are over. The increase in concussions makes it important for players and coaches to have  good two-way communication. So, players speak up and coaches listen.

Third Practice

For my third practice I will set the lines I will use for the Frederick Cup. My team manager picked up scrimmage vests for me to use at practice. He got 10 blue and 10 orange. The vests will help the players focus on who is on their line with them.