Reply To: Diary of a Season 2017-18

[Tom Molloy]

Fire White Practices 12-21-17

Lots of passing, one timers, defensive skating technique and backward striding, 1-1, 2-1, two one zone games, one with the 2" rule and the next Batchko, Perry Pearn 3-3.

We have finished the first half of our 26 game schedule. We were 3-3 our first 6 games and won 6 of 7 after so we are 9-4 going into the Christmas break. It took a while for the players to adapt to a new way of playing and at the start of December we introduced the 'offensive swarm' where we outnumber the opponents on loose puck battles. This adjustment has improved our scoring by about a goal a game and now we usually get the critical 3 goals it takes to win consistantly. Our defense is very good but we lost some 1-0, 2-1 games and scoring 3 makes a huge difference in the final score.

The simplest way to explain the 'offensive swarm' is to play like you are on a power play during loose puck battles. If they have one player battling we have two, them two then we have three. We play our aggressive forecheck with pinching on the weak side until a loose puck battle starts.

Attachments

• Fire White Practice 12-21-17.pdf (1 MB)
• St. Louis Team Play-Ray Bennet.pdf (3 MB)

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'