Change of Plans

Tonight at practice about half the players were missing so I changed my practice plans. First, we did a couple of skating drills. Then I had the team do a couple of passing drills. After the passing drills I did a breakout drill and finished practice with a scrimmage.
   This was our last practice before our first game. Actually next week we have two games. I think we are ready.

This week's practice

For practice this week I will work on shooting and passing. I especially intend to work with the freshmen on  gap control and puck control. We may have two games next week so, this may be the last practice before the games count in the standings.

What came out of the Frederick Cup

There are several things that came out of the Frederick Cup. First, I learned that both my goalies are very good when properly supported. Second, I need to do more work with my freshmen to give them more confidence with the puck. At practice on Wednesday I plan to work on penalty kill and breakout.

The Frederick Cup - Day Three

Today is the last day of the tournament. My team played one game this morning and we played pretty well but still lost. This was a pre-season tournament and allowed me to see how my team played seeing most of the players had never played together before. During the tournament I was able to see which forwards worked best together. It is important to have some kind of pre-season whether it be a couple of games or a tournament.Pre-season allows you to evaluate your team and better prepare for the regular season.

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.