Week 7 - Defensive Exits & Transitioning

There was a lot of positives from this first tournament weekend. Coming home with a bronze after a lot of games against tough teams in a short 3 days is awesome. We have come a long ways in less than 2 months of being together as a team. The defensive positioning is improving, back checking is getting more consistent, and our passing and breakouts have been a significant improvement. One segment of a period with a bit more focus and we would have been playing for gold. Remember the mental toughness and focus we keep talking about. Stay positive from start to finish, and we will be a Championship team.

There is still work to do though. The biggest breakdown right now is happening with bad turnovers getting the puck out of our zone, or as we are passing through the neutral zone. These are dangerous areas to turn over the puck and we will be working on building up our effectiveness in those areas.

Everyone should be thinking hard about how they can work to make stronger, quicker passes. On top of the drills and on-ice work, you can really help yourself by doing some off-ice work on a shooting pad or even in the street. Use a shooter or otherwise flat surface and a net or wall. Instead of working on picking top corners, try powerful low shots aimed at bottom corners, 5-hole, or specific low points on your target wall. Focus on using the flex in your stick to get power behind it. Keep your head up, don’t look down at your stick or the puck. Instead, focus on your target and see how accurate you can be.

See you at practice this week!

• Practice 19
• Practice 20
• Practice 21

Extra reading:

• Making Every Play Count: Hockey Mindset
• Full D-man Shift
• Sam Bennett Hockey IQ Game

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