Troy Thankgiving Tournament Champs

Great effort over 4 games.



Today's win was the best of the bunch. We did it as a team with everyone contributing.



In recognition of our great effort, everyone is instructed to take Monday and Tuesday off from hockey practice. We start again on Wednesday at 8:00 pm.



The Kittredge Tournament kicks off in 31 days. Let's be ready.




(The players can explain to the parents the significance of the picture.)

Troy Tournament: Day 2

We have done well so far.

But here’s the deal. New day. New Game. New Period.

We start over and play harder. Approach each shift as it is your last.

No next shift.

Happy Thanksgiving: Never Give Up on the Puck

58th Annual Rensselaer Holiday Hockey Tournament

We received the following email from RPI. I pass it along to all of you.
Given our own tournament schedule, i suspect there will be few takers. In any event, let me know if there is interest.

The Rensselaer Men’s Hockey team would like to invite your teams to the Houston Field House on Friday, November 28, 2008 and Saturday, November 29, 2008.

Friday November 28, 2008
4:00pm Northeastern vs. Princeton
7:00pm Rensselaer vs. Mercyhurst

Saturday November 29, 2008
4:00pm Northeastern/Princeton vs. Mercyhurst
7:00pm Northeastern/Princeton vs. Rensselaer

Groups of 15 or more can receive $5.00 admission. Please contact Kevin Anderson @ 518 257 0490, 518 276 6777 or email anderk8@rpi.edu

Troy Tournament Schedule

Friday Nov 28 9:20 am Jr Engineers vs Schenectady

Friday Nov 28 10:40 am Millbrook vs Berkshire
Friday Nov 28 2:40 pm Jr Engineers vs Millbrook
Friday Nov 28 5:20 pm Schenectady vs Berkshire
Saturday Nov 29 8:00 am Schenectady vs Millbrook
Saturday Nov 29 1:20 pm Berkshire vs Jr Engineers

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

This Past Weekend & 5 Days to Troy

It was a nice effort this weekend, both in the game and in the practice. Once again, we play well when we play as a team and when we concentrate on working hard at each battle and each shift. It's about desire.

Keep in mind the things we discussed at practice. Our defense needs to get more involved in moving the puck and setting up plays. It is up to the centers and wingers to get the puck to the defense; but it is up to the defense to handle the puck with confidence. The defense also needs to become more proficient at managing and using spacing -- the gap. We will be working on this again and again during the this weeks practices.

Practice on Monday and Tuesday at 7:15 pm. Please make every effort to attend, be sharp and work hard.

One final reminder: At the Troy Tournament every period matters. Points are awarded for winning games and for each and every period won. Let's get this tournament right this year.

Two Nice Games But More Work to Do

We put together two nice wins in a row. We can build on what we accomplished in both games.

The key to our success is playing with grit and intensity every shift and winning every battle. In a few of our earlier games, we had trouble with this basic concept. When on the ice every play, every small situation, every opportunity to get the puck, to lose the puck, to get in position for a pass, to cover an opponent, is a battle that we must try to win. It’s simple to say; but hard to carry out with consistency.

The other post-game points worth emphasizing concerned (i) play in front of our own net, and (ii) positioning on the forecheck. When defending in front of our own net, it is critical that the focus be on the opponent. Too often, we have an opponent covered and then leave him/her because the puck happens to be sitting in front of the crease. Stay with the player. Always stay with the player. The puck cannot score itself. Our goaltender can cover the puck – he can’t cover the player.

With respect to the forecheck, one player deep. If we find ourselves deep in the offensive zone with 3 players in a straight line, that’s a problem. We need to always remember that our forwards need to be in a triangle on the forecheck. 3 players deep will lead to an on-man rush against us.

Again, we played 2 nice gritty games this weekend, despite a couple of our players sidelined with either illness or the dreaded family obligations.

We have a practice on Wednesday night.

We play a game on Saturday, and then practice on Sunday.

The Troy Tournament is less than 2 weeks away.

See you all at the rink. And a final Happy Birthday to Alex Hoover.

Nov. 7, 8 & 9: Hockey Hockey Hockey.

Tonight (Friday), at 7 pm, Coach Driscoll is conducting a clinic at the Berkshire School.

Saturday, at 11:15 am, we face Schenectady B at Berkshire School. This is a team that we played a number of times last season with mixed success.

Sunday, at 10:00 am, we face Bethlehem A at Bethlehem. This should be a real test for us.

Please, let’s have everyone fully dressed, skates tied, and ready to take the ice 20 minutes before game time.

The Weekend That Was

As many of you know, I have often commented that our team has a tendency to play well in the fall, get cocky and then collapse in December. We then spend January putting it back together. I think our December Collapse came early this year. That may well be a good thing.

Coming off last weekend’s easy win, some of our kids came to Saturday’s game thinking that we were a bunch of superstars and that a mere B team was no match for us. The tone in the locker room was not confidence, it was smugness. And we warmed up as if the game was going to be a joke. Meanwhile, Troy came to play and out muscled us from the beginning. In response, we fell apart defensively. And then, faced with a very aggressive opponent, we started playing not just cheap but stupid-cheap. The penalties hurt us far more than they hurt Troy. At the end of the game, when we still had a hope of a chance, we ended up with 4 players in the Box for some pretty stupid (as well as blatant) infractions.

My expectation is that our kids learned a few lessons on Saturday. We lost to a team that was inferior to us in skill, and yet they looked like our betters. What we need to do is work harder, get serious, respect the game, and respect our opponents.

Today’s practice was a beginning. The kids who showed up (we had 11) worked hard and spent some time getting back to basics, especially in the defensive zone.

This week, we have a lot of ice. Coach Driscoll’s Skills Clinic will be held on Monday and Friday. And we have team practice on Tuesday and Thursday. Please check the calendar for times.

We will be coming up against some strong opponents quickly, so we really need to shrug off Saturday’s debacle, get our heads screwed on straight and get back to what has made us successful in the past: team play, inner strength and quiet confidence.