REALLY bad season.

[ronnychencharik 0]

Let me start off by saying that ive been playing since i was 4. And in my 16 years of playing since then I have had fun every season as far as i can remember. This year is not the same. We are 3-8, with 3 fluke wins. Every other game is a blowout. Ive played on plenty of bad teams before, with worse records so i know how to deal with a bad team. Its just that this year im not even having fun. Now this weekend we are playing 3 games in a tournament against 3 badass teams. The outlook is not pleasant. I guess my question is what do you do to gut out the rest of the season, or try and make it not totally blow. Ive tried a positive outlook but it didnt help. Teammates dont try, or even care. It sucks. Sorry, I had to vent.

[chippa13 1844]

"My advice is to start drinking heavily."

[sensrock15 0]

Dont feel bad, my team is 2-10-1. My advice to help keep your mind off it would be to just play the game, and think for the best. Work hard, you have nothing to lose. Good Luck in your Tounament.

[5minutesforfighting 0]

keep your head up...don't let the losses get to you.

maybe enter your team in easier tournaments?

what kind of league/tournaments are you playing in?

[Patrick67 1]

Move to a team where your teammates actually try, weither they are go or not... Makes all the difference in the world.

[Jarick 5]

I've not been having a great season, 0-3 in a tourney with 0 points, 3-3 on the season with 2g and 1a. We have terrible, TERRIBLE defense, outstanding goaltending, and that's about it. It's been very frustrating.

Last game I decided to just give 100% every shift and not worry about the scoreboard or my teammates. My linemates and I were doing our best to pump each other up and work hard out there. I definitely had my best game yet. We were still shut out 4-0, but I got 6 shots on goal and had another 6 blocked or wide/post. But I felt a million times better after that game than the others.

The attitude I'm TRYING (note I have to work to maintain it) out on the ice is that my goal can't be to win or score, only to give 100% every shift, and improve every time I'm on the ice. That I can control. I can't control my teammates or the other team or their goalie, only myself. So if I define success as giving 100%, I can be happy with my game even if the team stinks or we lose. And giving 100% every shift means I'm more likely to score, pump up the team, and we're more likely to win.

That's about all I've got.

[Shark#81 0]

I have a theory that there is a team good enough to win in every room - but as true as the cliche, you have to play like a team.

Bring a video cam to the rink and start shooting - the room, the bench, & the games. Windows movie maker and put the short vids to some good cranking rock or rap.

PS - you'll have to boost your exposure on the camera to proper lighting and the white balance has to be indoors.

[hockeyherb 1]

Of course if you walk into the game expecting to get blown out then you'll probably be playing just waiting for the final horn. You have to have something to look forward to.

Break the game down to a shift by shift basis. Give yourself some mini-goals to shoot for during the game. So for each shift, think about what you can do that will make it successful.

If you're a forward, maybe it's just sticking to one of their best players and not letting him get a shot off during your shift. Or maybe it's trying to hold the puck in their zone longer and see if you can make 1 pass to setup a teammate.

If you're on D, try not to let anyone on your side of the ice get an unchallenged shot off. Make sure you force every forward to the outside if they skate at you with the puck. Try to keep your +/- at even at worst.

Just try to come up with whatever little personal victories that you can think of to make each shift a little more enjoyable.

[Chadd 916]

Let me start off by saying that ive been playing since i was 4. And in my 16 years of playing since then I have had fun every season as far as i can remember. This year is not the same. We are 3-8, with 3 fluke wins. Every other game is a blowout. Ive played on plenty of bad teams before, with worse records so i know how to deal with a bad team. Its just that this year im not even having fun. Now this weekend we are playing 3 games in a tournament against 3 badass teams. The outlook is not pleasant. I guess my question is what do you do to gut out the rest of the season, or try and make it not totally blow. Ive tried a positive outlook but it didnt help. Teammates dont try, or even care. It sucks. Sorry, I had to vent.

Have you talked to your coach about it? It may or may not help, but it might be nice to let him know what you're seeing. I'm assuming that you have a friend or two on the team. Talk to them and try to get them on board, even if it's only for the shift that you play together. Challenge your line to "beat" the other line on your team, better +/- or more goals scored. Take the focus off of the losing record and put it on something else, it might help you guys get through this.

[Hockey* 0]

I've been on this kind of team befor. I did some of that stuff and it just wasnt working for me, so i just used the game as a practice and tried to learn some new moves, and practice my passing shooting etc, and just did my best to make it fun even if we were getting blown out.

[ronnychencharik 0]

I've been on this kind of team befor. I did some of that stuff and it just wasnt working for me, so i just used the game as a practice and tried to learn some new moves, and practice my passing shooting etc, and just did my best to make it fun even if we were getting blown out.

^^I like that. Problem is that i play defense, and no one on my team is really good enough to realize that they have to stay back when i rush it. I know that one teammate reads this board so i am now getting rid of my location. Tried talking to my coach about it, he knows we suck too and scheduled the tourney before he knew our team was garbage (at least i hope he did). ACHA D3. Thanks for the input.

[dalebert 8]

Oh man I feel you, I'm in the same boat as you, my friend and I hadn't played in a year so we decided to play a division lower or so just to get back into the game [took a year off to get settled in college and such], and the league knew my friend so they knew he played goalie [he wanted to play out] and they said the only way for us to play together was if he played net, long story short we got stuck in the lowest division we've lost every game, the team loves the goalie and I [aka they are in the LHS i work at everyday it seems like] tomorrow is the last game of the season, I'm just looking to finish it out and move up, but I got through it by using the gams to work on anything i had trouble with skating or stickhandling in game situation. so hope that helps you out.

[bdj 0]

My most favorite season we never won a single game all year. Your not in the NHL so just play to have fun and try to make a better team next year if you dont feel like losing.

[ronnychencharik 0]

I could play higher, the only reason im playing for this team is because it was readily available. I played beer league last year, and they were very desperate for players. I didnt want to play beer league if i had one last year of real hockey, ya know?

[Tricky4L 0]

I've been in a similar situation before... actually a helluva lot worse. We were a new High School team that had only 3 or 4 guys that had played a year or more going up against guys playing juniors sometimes. Our goalie (my little brother) was playing for his first year and it was just awful, not like we helped him any though. We were losing games by 20-30 goals regularly. It wasn't uncommon for guys on the other team to start scoring on their own goalie which only pissed us off more making the morale that much worse. Ended up going 0-18 for the season. When asked if we wanted to play a consolation game since we didn't make the playoffs, the team unanimously told the league director to f*ck off.

Sadly we ended up losing a lot of guys mid season because they just didn't wanna be apart of a nightly debacle, and had a lot of trouble recruiting for the next season because of it. We got through it though by humor and loyalty. We would always be pumped and ready to start the game but we knew when we had to laugh it off and say f*ck it. We always had each others back and made sure to let the other teams know what wasn't alright (shooting on their own net, playing toss the puck, the crosby maneuver...on their own net, etc).

The best advice I can offer is to keep it all in perspective, no one in SR is playing for a contract or scholarship. When you go balls to the wall, shots happen, so work from there.

[Hockeydog 8]

I am in a similar situation, playing on a team that has no real chance to win. I am not the best player on my team by any means and most of the team does try, but we have many new players. I just try to play my best team game and do what I can. I have tried helping the newer players with basic positioning by word of mouth and emailing links to site that explain such stuff, but they don't bother to learn. It's hard when players make the same basic mistakes over and over again. Not skill related but just basic positioning or even just keeping your head in the game and not sitting on the bench spaced out when you should be changing. I focus on improving areas of my game without being selfish to others ( like not passing to anyone, etc). I'll evaluate at seasons end if I want to play elsewhere, but I do like my teammates so it's not as easy as just going elsewhere.

[thejackal 46]

my intramural team is 0-8. probably half the team hasn't really played on a team before, but we're having a good time.

[Ti-girl 0]

Well before last night our team was 2-5 with our 2 wins coming in 1-0 defensive shit shows.

Last night we FINALLY got it all together and won 8-0.

[cmvondran 0]

My advice to you is the same as everyone else just keep pluggin away.

My last winter and spring teams really sucked. We went 1-32-1 during those two seasons. :o :( The team was made up of new b's to playing.

I have since went on to another team with tons of talent but we play down to the other teams level. We should be blowing them out. Its really frustrating.

[sdcopp 1]

my question to the TC is, are you not having fun because the team is doing bad, or are you just genuinely not having fun?

If it's because the team is doing poorly and people are discouraged, then by all means just go all out every shift and try to spread some enthusiasm. That can usually change it around some to help morale and improve play, maybe just a complete 180 but closer games, better feelings, the "we almost had those guys"

If you are genuinely just not having fun with this team, well that's a tougher one. You really just have to suck it up and work on yourself for the next league/season/whatever. When it stops being fun, that's when you have to take a look at whether or not it's because of the team you're surrounded by and change that when you can or if it's inside you that you're not enjoying the game itself anymore and work from there.

[JR97 2]

Been there done that.

The last time I was in that situation the main thing for me is to not try and do everybody's job. I focused on my position and my game regardless of outcome. I would step up my game, but only within the context of my responsibilities. Doesn't do any good to give another 10% and be 10% out of position or 10% too early/late to an area.

One game comes to mind at the end of an 0-11 season inline season. We were up against an ok team, but they had the #1 scorer in the league who was averaging over 4 goals per game. I vowed he would not light us up even if it meant I didn't touch the puck. I held him to 1 goal and frustrated him enough that we tussled toward the end of the game. This guy was about 6'1" 240 and I'm only 5'7" 120. But he pretty much gave up and coasted for the remainder of the game. 0-11 became 1-11 and I hold that as one of my best played games ever even though I didn't register a point.

(On a side note he should have kicked my a$$ for me calling him a pu$$y and a whiny biotch, so I credit him for keeping his cool. He was my teammate the next season and there was an awkward moment before the first game when he and I were the only ones in the locker room. But we shook hands and went on to win a championship together that season.)

[Jarick 5]

Well, we're halfway through the season, and we're 8-3-0. Won against all of the weak teams, lost against both of the strong teams, except we've pulled out one win so far against a top team.

Unfortunately, I've stalled at 4g and 2a. I was on the top line, came into the season expected (by myself and the team) to be a goal scorer, but just can't get it done. I've tried to really work hard defensively, and I've been rewarded with a lot of PK time, although now I've dropped down to playing fourth line and no PK.

It's frustrating, but after watching video, it's apparent that I'm a lot slower than the better point producers. I'm hoping that one of these days things will click and I'll start producing. Strange thing is, I've got to be close to leading the team in shots since I get at least 5 a game. I just keep hitting the pads.

Hopefully we can finish out with a winning season (shouldn't be too hard, only need three more wins) and then we'll see what playoff hockey's all about. First year in a league in a dozen years, so I'm still learning as I go.

[JR97 2]

It's frustrating, but after watching video, it's apparent that I'm a lot slower than the better point producers. I'm hoping that one of these days things will click and I'll start producing. Strange thing is, I've got to be close to leading the team in shots since I get at least 5 a game. I just keep hitting the pads.

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away.... I was one of the fastest guys in the league. Didn't score a lot, though. Hands were slower than my feet or something. But once I hit my 30's and the speed went down hill, I started scoring a lot more goals because I had to use my head instead of my legs.

So maybe go back and watch video and see if there are other things you can do positionally or with better timing.

As much as I hate Brett Hull, I used to study him whenever he was on the ice. He wasn't ever fast but he got where he needed to be when he needed to be there.

[Jarick 5]

That's funny, I used to get called Hull a lot over the summer as I would knock in a lot of one timers. I don't see those passes in league though, and we can't keep the puck in the zone long enough for me to screen the goalie. Then again, other lines don't seem to have a problem with this.

My captain tells me to shoot the puck as soon as I can, cross the blue line, and shoot, but they never go in. I'd like to wait until my guys come across with me, then crash the net and try to get a loose puck or rebound.

I was actually a pretty bad athlete my whole life, so I try and use my brain to get ahead. Again, it worked well in pickup but not in league.

Right now I'm trying to play like Stephane Veilleux, a no-name defensive plugger who gets the puck in deep, gets the odd scoring chance, tries to sustain pressure, and kills off penalties. We've killed 16 straight penalties in 5 games, so we're doing alright there.

Maybe I just need to keep it simple?

[ronnychencharik 0]

It sounds cliche, but play it simple. Just work on doing the really simple stuff faster. I also play on a team that can't keep up, so when I gain the zone I swing way wide and wait for them to catch up. You can make all sorts of plays in that situation, pass immediately or, from what I gather is your specialty, wait a second and take a low shot that will rebound out to your guy that is just getting in the zone. You'll get so many assists due to rebounds you can donate them and get the tax refund.