Am I being cocky?

[Fixxer 0]

Ok I have a theory on why my play is suffering.

We play pickup once a week and we have set teams. I have recently been working on my transition game and I can pretty quickly go from offense to defense and back.

Anyway I find myself always charging down the ice, still in the play where a pass could be a perfect chance for a great rush, only to stop at the blue line and wait (this is not an overstatement) 3-5 seconds for some dumbass who thinks he is mario lemieux to skate at 2 mph only to be stick checked at the red line.

I would try going my self down the ice but when the other team DOESNT suck this is hard to beat 2-3 good defenders alone.

Anyway what are your thoughts? Maybe if I too skate at 3 mph on our rushes I will get more cracks at the puck and we will create more rushes? Or (true example) if people who are at our blue line and look right after after I call for a pass, and pass the puck up to me at the other blue line wide open across the ice instead of being mario we might get even better chances and I go have a breakaway or a 1 on 1.

[DamnLocust 0]

Slow down.. maybe not to his speed, but slow it down a bit, and don't just charge straight up the ice. They may not be seeing you, so skate laterally across the rink, or when you get to the line, straddle it and go cross-ice. This will make you more visible. The other thing you can do is skate right across the puckhandler's field of vision, tapping your stick/calling for the puck.

If these still don't work, talk to the guys on the bench, and try to figure out why they're not passing to you. If they STILL won't pass to you, it may be time to switch teams.

[Fixxer 0]

Slow down.. maybe not to his speed, but slow it down a bit, and don't just charge straight up the ice. They may not be seeing you, so skate laterally across the rink, or when you get to the line, straddle it and go cross-ice. This will make you more visible. The other thing you can do is skate right across the puckhandler's field of vision, tapping your stick/calling for the puck.

If these still don't work, talk to the guys on the bench, and try to figure out why they're not passing to you. If they STILL won't pass to you, it may be time to switch teams.

Yea I will try being louder next time. I usually think they see me though when they look right at me :( I would love to switch teams too B) There are some great plays I could work well with but then again my team is so awful it may not be fun to play against.

Most of the people are good or alright but lately I have not been on the ice with them I have been on with the stubborn old timers :P

[DamnLocust 0]

Most of the people are good or alright but lately I have not been on the ice with them I have been on with the stubborn old timers tongue.gif

In that case, you may need to prove yourself to them. If they;re set in their ways, it can be hard to break them out of that. Took me a good couple of months before the guys at my drop in really warmed up to me and included me in the play regularly. Before that, I just played D and made outlet passes.

[Fixxer 0]

Most of the people are good or alright but lately I have not been on the ice with them I have been on with the stubborn old timers tongue.gif

In that case, you may need to prove yourself to them. If they;re set in their ways, it can be hard to break them out of that. Took me a good couple of months before the guys at my drop in really warmed up to me and included me in the play regularly. Before that, I just played D and made outlet passes.

Yea but before the past 3 weeks I was racking up 3-8 points per game.

Nothing the past 3 weeks. Maybe an assists here or there on a lucky play.

Its like our team doesnt care anymore!

Speaking of playing D, I want to play D because our D-Men suck and play like they are wingers. The other team gets a ton of odd man rushes and I find my self a lot of times covering for them in our defensive zone. Example Im covering the point as I am a winger and the play is at the opposite corner. Out of no where the man covering the front decides to also go in the corner and another guy slips infront of the net. 2 wide open dudes just sitting there. When ever I camp infront of the net I have 2-3 guys pushing at me and tying me up.

[fatwabbit 93]

communication is very important. You need to let your linemates know where you are on the ice, whether you are behind, or goign up with them.

In the very very early part of our team forming, we actually sat down one day (couldnt play outside cause it was raining), and told each other where our strengths were, and worked out how we could cover each other's weaknesses. We even-ed out lines as well, and we''ve been pretty good since.

[jjtt99 0]

Circle back. If, literally, you're skating circles around them, they're bound to get the puck to you.

[Jarick 5]

Oh man I had that going last Friday. Wide open, chopping the ice, yelling, stick up in the air, and nothing. I'd get eye contact with my D, and they would refuse to pass. Finally they started to pass but with the strength of a 5 year old for an interception which would make them even more reluctant to pass.

Communication would be the best, ask them after a shift if they saw you at the line. Let them know to keep an eye out for you and give you a good hard pass. Assuming that you're open, they should be looking.

Or they just might not be any good like the guys I was playing with on Friday...

[LkptTiger 1]

When I'm "stuck" playing with weaker guys and against half-way decent players at open hockey or something like that, I usually try to focus on my playmaking skills - buying time, drawing people to me, finding lanes, threading the needle, etc. I almost never worry about burying the puck myself - I figure getting each one of the benders a goal is a greater accomplishment.

[shute 4]

if he is skating that slow then i owuld guess that he just isn't very good which isn't his fault. you however would need to call for the puck cause if he isn't very good then chances are he'll be looking down at the puck or have "tunnel vision" and just can't see you. i see that a lot and it's not their fault you just have to call for the puck in order for them to know where you are.

[fatwabbit 93]

agree with LkptTiger, focus on making more plays than scoring. Everyone wants to score, but need more playmakers to create the goals.

I've worked on my playmaking and finding the open man in the last few years. My numbers have dropped from averaging 2-3 goals a game, to maybe 1 every 1-2 games. However, our goal-for is still the same, and my assists have gone up a lot.

Also, it helps gives the others a chance, it is a team sport after all...

[Trooper 8]

We do timing drills all the time. You have to read the play and read the guys with the puck.

[hockeyherb 1]

Are your sessions usually pretty high scoring? The fact you were getting 3-8 pts per game in the past tells me maybe YOU were the puck hog and guys were tired of you hogging the glory so they've shut you out?

If you think everyone else on your team sucks I could see you taking that approach in the past - trying to do it all on your own. I'm not saying I blame you since it's frustrating to play with guys all the time who don't match up skill wise, but you might want to reflect on how you treat your teammates.

The other thing, and I realized this recently when I started playing D again, is that some wingers think they're open for the home run breakaway pass up the middle EVERY time you're trying to break out of your zone. Nothing is more annoying for a D man than to have the puck deep and look up realizing your options are pretty limited because your forwards have already vacated the zone and are ready for you to hit them at center ice while they've got behind the other teams D. Sure, IF I could hit the guy with a picture perfect pass that didn't get intercepted by the other D it would be nice, but the odds of that happening are pretty small so the usual outcome is a turnover to their D at our blue line or an icing call.

That was a long rant to say that you should be breaking out with your teammates and not be expecting them to hit you streaking up ice all the time. Do you think they have the skill anyway to do tape to tape passes? It doesn't sound like it from what you describe. If you're not back to give them an outlet pass they maybe have no option but to try and skate through everyone.

And I'm not trying to pick on you, just trying to give you something else to consider.

One other idea - can't you get the teams mixed up? It doesn't sound like a league so why are the teams always the same?

[Fixxer 0]

The one specific instance I noted was during a line change for the other team so there was no one near either us!!

I dont run the thing I was just invited to play so I wont complain about changing teams or anything like that.

Next time Ill try to slow it down a bit and see what happens.

Yea last nights score was like 8-4 so they are high scoring.

Im not trying to act like im amazing or anything I would say 1/2 of the players are the same skill set myself included, I am more or less complaining about people playing stupidly and refusing to change ways.

Also I am not really a dick to anyone. One guy that really pisses me off scored a wacky goal last night and I laughed and said nice goal and we high fived.

[bheidepr 0]

When I'm "stuck" playing with weaker guys and against half-way decent players at open hockey or something like that, I usually try to focus on my playmaking skills - buying time, drawing people to me, finding lanes, threading the needle, etc. I almost never worry about burying the puck myself - I figure getting each one of the benders a goal is a greater accomplishment.

Exactly, it is called supporting the puck carrier. There are drills for the this specific thing, figuring out which thing to do it the hard part. Streaking up ice usually isnt the correct one though.

[Jarick 5]

One more thing with that, when you do streak up and they manage to hit you on a pass, generally you receive absolutely no puck support in the offensive zone.

No clue on a solution, when those guys show up I just kind of "take my time" around the neutral zone. I'm still learning as well so I'm guilty of trying to instigate a hail mary...but sometimes I'm playing with former college and junior guys and sometimes I'm playing with beginners, it's a crap shoot.

[Grave77Digger 1]

So how do you support the puck carrier through the nuetral zone and into the offense zone? Im in the same boat where I play with guys slower than I am. Seem like I race from blue line to blue line then have to come to a complete stop and wait for the puck to go into the zone.

[Fixxer 0]

Ill try all your suggestions next time we play, ill think of a game plan to try out and see what happens.

Thanks for the ideas!

[mxihockey 0]

Try not to just go straight down the ice,instead try to criss cross, drop pass, slow down, or just dump the puck in if your really feal you can't get by the D men by yourself.

[Fixxer 0]

Try not to just go straight down the ice,instead try to criss cross, drop pass, slow down, or just dump the puck in if your really feal you can't get by the D men by yourself.

I can break the blue line and make a play fine when I carry the puck on my own, im talking about when I dont have the puck.

[Alias81 0]

If you don't have the puck straddle the blue line if your far ahead and keep your head up and stay in a clear passing lane.

[Fixxer 0]

If you don't have the puck straddle the blue line if your far ahead and keep your head up and stay in a clear passing lane.

Ya I do that too when I can. The other team is usually good about congesting the neutral zone once they get back there. There are not alot of outlet passes which could set up a rush before the other team can get back into position made by my team. The other team has this down to a science and they always seem to generate 2-3 on 1s or breakways.

I though about how I played and overall I played a solid and well rounded game other than 1 bad pass i made on a 2 on 2 rush where my saucer fell short and righ to a defender :P im not good at saucers. If I played my that game on a travel team a few years ago when I still played organized hockey I would have been happy with my play.

[Fixxer 0]

Got to play D today cause of of the regular old D-men wasnt there. Alot of new people though the pace was pretty nice. I enjoyed it very much and caused alot of goals :-) Causing and focring a play is great. I didnt score and am not angry! Maybe because I had all of 3 shots one of which was wide. Slapper from the point... had 2-3 seconds to line it up,... gah only foul point of the night. :(

End results- 0 goals 4 assits, we finally get a win 5-4 and I am not angry for not scoring :P