Too bad that isn't number 6 wearing the Sharks jersey in the picture.
It was a great weekend of hockey for the Sharks.
The video review after practice on Friday was fun.
I think I was able to get across to the boys how well we are playing and what we can do to improve.
Jacob has really gotten his touch around the net. He is now using a combination of passing, shooting and deeking to get the puck in the net. You can see the results on the score sheet. He got a total of seven goals this weekend. Way to go Jacob!
On Saturday Jacob, David and Nick combined for 5 goals. David got two goals while Jacob got the hat trick.
Sadiq had an incredible performance against Red and earned the golden moment for Saturday.
The defense helped Sadiq out and Jack and Orlando played amazingly well on defense against a great team.
Not to be overshadowed is Murtaza’s line. They continue to be steady. Murtaza got two goals this weekend with the support from Will and Ansel.
On Sunday, Orlando played all the forward positions and did a great job.
Will played a very good game on Sunday. One thing you may not have noticed is he took a stick to the neck during the game. Rather than staying down on the ice and stopping play he skated to the bench to let play continue. This is very hard for many boys to do and Will seemed to do it naturally. Will is also in the right place at the right time all game. He got the golden moment for his play on Sunday
I cannot say enough about the strong defence of Alexander and Joe on the weekend. They really are the glue that holds it all together.
Coaches Corner
On thing I am noticing is how important it is to give the boys some predictability on the bench. The team does very well when we have ten skaters and two complete lines. The boys play very well when they play the same position, with the same players and get on the ice in a regular way. This also shows in the stats. We will have to get used to the odd number of players as a team.
Speaking of which, penalties really juggle the bench too and this is hard on the coaches. It might look easy from the stands but juggling the lines with odd number of players is difficult. Throw in a penalty or two and it gets very difficult to maintain that consistency for the boys and maintain equal ice time.
Also, you may have noticed that the game on Sunday was more physical, you might even call it chippy. When I played we had full contact so it was expected. The “no hitting” rule does not mean no contact. As the boys in the league get better and faster we will have to expect this as parents of hockey players. Also, if we stay at or near the top of the league standings, other teams will be trying harder to beat us. The amount of contact will go up. I try to stress to the boys in practice the importance of body position. If they stay on their feet and get to the puck first, they will not have any worries. Let the ref decide what is a hit and what is just a good body position play.
We have an easy weekend next week, just one game Sunday morning.
Thanks to Trudi for the great pictures of this weekend on the web site again.
Please remember to book you hotel room for the London tournament
Thanks