IPv6Freely's Never-Ending Season

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Pickup from Tuesday night. 

Not a good night. Started okay but after the sixth 3-on-1 in a row I finally yelled "can we have ONE shift in their end? Just one!" I was clearly frustrated. 

 

[bunnyman666 445]

Wow- anyone on your team heard of defense?

You stayed pretty square to the puck. None of your D men were close to the forwards swarming  you like ants on a dead animal. Not many soft goals there. I have found myself trying to be my own D-man like you when trying for the aggressie poke cheque.

Yes- it’s pick up, but D  needs to be played.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

1 hour ago, bunnyman666 said:

Wow- anyone on your team heard of defense?

You stayed pretty square to the puck. None of your D men were close to the forwards swarming  you like ants on a dead animal. Not many soft goals there. I have found myself trying to be my own D-man like you when trying for the aggressie poke cheque.

Yes- it’s pick up, but D  needs to be played.

Yea, this one was pretty bad. Love the one D throwing muffins up into the slot multiple times in succession with absolutely zero power behind it. 

As for the poke... I just saw that he didn't have control and thought maybe I could get there, but hesitated. If it wasn't pickup I wouldn't haven risked that one. 

[bunnyman666 445]

10 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

Yea, this one was pretty bad. Love the one D throwing muffins up into the slot multiple times in succession with absolutely zero power behind it. 

As for the poke... I just saw that he didn't have control and thought maybe I could get there, but hesitated. If it wasn't pickup I wouldn't haven risked that one. 

LOL My poke cheques end in one of three ways:

1) puck flies harmlessly into the neutral zone (least likely)

2) I end up on my arse from a collision

3) The attacker moves around me for an open net (2&3 most likely in a tie)

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Plenty of times I've poked a puck away but it doesn't make it out of the zone. Somebody just grabs it and throws it in the empty net. Lots of times I've come out to play it, threw it to the side boards or into the corner, and my D are either not there or don't both skating to it. 

If only I could figure out how to lift the puck I'd throw it off the glass. 

[bunnyman666 445]

19 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

Plenty of times I've poked a puck away but it doesn't make it out of the zone. Somebody just grabs it and throws it in the empty net. Lots of times I've come out to play it, threw it to the side boards or into the corner, and my D are either not there or don't both skating to it. 

If only I could figure out how to lift the puck I'd throw it off the glass. 

Heh heh I can’t play the puck! When it flies harmlessly into the neutral zone, it is the fact we both clashed sticks at the same time! That is actually what I hope for when I go to the blue line to play the puck! Occasionally (and I mean very occasionally)- I get a few stick taps from that play LOL

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Most of the action was actually in the second period, which unfortunately I wasn't able to get. We took a few too many penalties, a couple of which were pretty obvious but may have saved goals.

 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Most of the action was actually in the second period, which unfortunately I wasn't able to get. We took a few too many penalties, a couple of which were pretty obvious but may have saved goals.

 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Ackbar's Admirals vs Black Knights - July 1, 2018

We got DESTROYED by a team at the bottom of the standings. We were super short and that didn't help and they had some bounces for sure but still.. WTF.

This was just the second period because I wasn't able to move the camera. I was so happy when the second ended, not just because I wanted the game to hurry up and be over but because I was getting a headache for obvious reasons.

 

[clarkiestooth 235]

I'm saying this sincerely to help, so don't take this wrong: stay on your feet and challenge the shooters more. Don't drop to your knees with your feet pointed back to the net ( when you do that, you can't move).  Good work!

[IPv6Freely 2092]

1 hour ago, clarkiestooth said:

I'm saying this sincerely to help, so don't take this wrong: stay on your feet and challenge the shooters more. Don't drop to your knees with your feet pointed back to the net ( when you do that, you can't move).  Good work!

I agree with the first part 🙂 The second part I have no control over... I don't have the flexibility to have my legs anywhere but behind me. Put it this way, if I lay on my back with knees up and my feet about shoulder width apart, I can't touch my knees together. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Finally got a league game from INSIDE the glass (it just depends on which refs we get). Unfortunately, the battery died with about a minute left, in which I made probably 10 saves to finish the game. For perspective, the second goal you see them score was with just under 2 minutes left.

 

[clarkiestooth 235]

On ‎8‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 7:14 PM, IPv6Freely said:

I agree with the first part 🙂 The second part I have no control over... I don't have the flexibility to have my legs anywhere but behind me. Put it this way, if I lay on my back with knees up and my feet about shoulder width apart, I can't touch my knees together. 

 

OK, understand.  Let's do this: next game you video, stay up, no going down on the knees when the shooter shoots. Come out to cut down the angles, and coast back if the shooter dekes. Side to side push off to move across crease as the puck is moved across the goalmouth. Let's see a shutout.

[psulion22 402]

On 8/9/2018 at 7:14 PM, IPv6Freely said:

I agree with the first part 🙂 The second part I have no control over... I don't have the flexibility to have my legs anywhere but behind me. Put it this way, if I lay on my back with knees up and my feet about shoulder width apart, I can't touch my knees together. 

You keep saying this, but there are plenty of times that your feet are flared more in your videos.  You're using the lack of flexibility as an excuse.  Your issue is in technique.  When you drop down, your natural instinct is to pull your feet completely behind you, to the point where your heels are almost touching, in order to get your knees closer together.  That freezes you in place.  Often, you make it even worse by dropping all your weight onto one leg, typically your right.  Then because you're used to being frozen in place, your instinct on a change of direction is to lunge with your head and hands.  There are certainly times where that's necessary as a desperation option.  But you're doing it more often than that, where better technique would get you in position faster to be making saves by planting a foot and pushing or even using your momentum to load a push leg to recover to standing.  I know you'll say you just can't do that.  But watch your videos, there are times when you have good flare and lateral movement, so you can do it (ie, AA vs DD at 1:35-45).    No one needs you have a Niemi level flare.  You have enough to be more stable than you are, and have lateral mobility.  Your knees don't have to touch, that's what thigh rises and sticks are for. Mine don't.  

I'm not trying to be mean or abusive, honestly.  I just know that if you fix some things in your technique, you can solve a lot of your issues.  And you can fix those things to work within your level of ability and range of motion.  I'm telling you, your issue is in technique and body/weight control (it's typically over one and/or the wrong leg) and not flexibility.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

The knees not touching is just giving an example of how inflexible I am. Anyway, my thigh rises don't even come close to touching in the butterfly, there's always about a 5-6" gap. I can't fathom how people manage to get their thigh rises to touch while still having their knees apart! 

I don't know what you mean about dropping one knee before the other. Can you point to an example? People keep saying that and I just don't see it in any of the videos. That said, I'm not ABLE to put my left knee down first (as an example - I know I want them both at the same time). Hell even standing on flat ground in normal clothes and shoes, kneeling with my left knee down is really difficult for me. 

I also don't know what you mean by "frozen in place". 

[clarkiestooth 235]

On ‎8‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 2:47 PM, IPv6Freely said:

The knees not touching is just giving an example of how inflexible I am. Anyway, my thigh rises don't even come close to touching in the butterfly, there's always about a 5-6" gap. I can't fathom how people manage to get their thigh rises to touch while still having their knees apart! 

I don't know what you mean about dropping one knee before the other. Can you point to an example? People keep saying that and I just don't see it in any of the videos. That said, I'm not ABLE to put my left knee down first (as an example - I know I want them both at the same time). Hell even standing on flat ground in normal clothes and shoes, kneeling with my left knee down is really difficult for me. 

I also don't know what you mean by "frozen in place". 

I think you need to change your mindset. You need to play to your strengths, not try to force a style that conflicts with what you perceive are your limitations. The reason NHL goalies go down so early is because they are 6' 5" and when they are in the butterfly their shoulders still cover up to the crossbar. They block more of the net that way. Based on watching your video, you will stop way more pucks if you stay up, play angles, and work on moving post to post and forward/back (while staying up).

[psulion22 402]

On 8/17/2018 at 2:47 PM, IPv6Freely said:

The knees not touching is just giving an example of how inflexible I am. Anyway, my thigh rises don't even come close to touching in the butterfly, there's always about a 5-6" gap. I can't fathom how people manage to get their thigh rises to touch while still having their knees apart! 

I don't know what you mean about dropping one knee before the other. Can you point to an example? People keep saying that and I just don't see it in any of the videos. That said, I'm not ABLE to put my left knee down first (as an example - I know I want them both at the same time). Hell even standing on flat ground in normal clothes and shoes, kneeling with my left knee down is really difficult for me. 

I also don't know what you mean by "frozen in place". 

Bigger thigh rises?  Lundy strapping?  They're freaks?

I'll take the last line next.  When I say "frozen in place" I mean that your weight is aligned and distributed in a way that it creates too much friction between the pad and ice and makes it impossible to recover or change direction without first adjusting your body to alleviate that friction and get your skate into a position to engage an edge.  The result is a situation where your pad won't slide because of that friction and you can't move because your body isn't aligned/controlled correctly.  The only option at that point is to lunge or dive with your stick and body to try and make a save because you don't have the time or ability to use your lower body.  This is a terrible situation to be in for a goalie.  If you are going to go to the ice, you must do so in a position where you can recover from the ice, even if that means back to standing to move laterally, and that means being able to lift a leg/knee off the ground in the direction you need to go..  You are dropping into positions where you can't lift your leg in order to engage an edge to move - feet behind you, butt down or all your weight on the leading pad, usually the right.  

I didn't say one before the other.  I said you're only dropping to one, typically your right.  Often you do this half butterfly type thing with the trailing leg off the ice.  Your weight should be centered towards the push leg, not over the lead leg so you can lift your push one.  It's more apparent when you have to move to your right at the same time.  Let's look at the very first play of AA vs Black Knights, interestingly a game where you got beat and were disappointed in your (and your team's) performance.  You're square to the first guy on a 3-1 with depth where you should be.  Your D makes a bad read and essentially turns himself into a cone screening you.  The puck goes to your right.  And since you have to move that way, you drop all of your weight onto your right knee, with your body way over that leg.  You're leading with your head and shoulders into the play rather than the pad.  And your left pad trails behind you, off the ice.  The result is that the pad sticks to the ice, you lever over the top of it, and you can't even attempt to do anything when the puck goes the other way.  Not completely your fault by any means, and you probably couldn't have stopped it anyway.  But all you could do was watch.  If you would have dropped to both knees when you slid to your right, your weight would have been centered, and you may have been able to engage your right skate or even just throw out your left pad. 

But it was a flukey play, so let's look at the next one in that video.  You are on your angle with your shoulders square.  A shot comes high glove side, with very little angle to the short side.  Instead of dropping to both knees in the center of your stance, which would probably have just put the puck into your glove naturally, you drop to your right pad, moving your entire body AWAY from the shot and have to reach all the way out with your glove to make the save.  If anything, you should have dropped to your left to bring your body and head behind the puck.  But I know dropping left knee only is an issue, so it definitely should have been two knees.  If you didn't catch that puck clean because you had to reach out for it, you'd be stuck on your right knee, all the way to the right post with no way to move to your left to stop the rebound from going in.  Two plays later, an attacker comes in wide from your left and tries to cut back from behind the net.  You think he's going to cut across, so go to slide to your right and lean over that pad, leaving the entire short side exposed.  He doesn't score, but it should have been an easy goal.  If you drop to both pads, you still would have been square to him and moving across.  At 1:35 (pause it right there for a visual representation of what I mean) same thing.  You slide, weight on right leg, left leg and arm trailing behind you.  Eventually you slide into the play and get your left leg down, but your weight is still over the right.  When the play cuts back, you have to lunge to your left to try and cover it, which puts you off balance and teeters you forward.  You can't control the rebound, miss the cover, and have to lunge to try to stop the empty net goal.  If you would have been centered, you're covering that puck in front of you rather than reaching for it.  Do you see what I'm talking about now?

So that's all frustrating and disheartening, I know.  But the thing is that you CAN do it right.  That's how I know it's a technique thing.  What I find most interesting is that you have mentioned playing better in games when you tend to fix the issues more often.  Pretty much every save you show in the next video vs Ironside is good.  You drop to both knees, square to the puck.  And as a result, you can see how much more "quiet" you are.  Not moving too much.  Pucks are in the chest and gloves easily.  Rebounds drop directly in front of you.  At the 1:00 mark, you drop evenly and perform a great pivot to the new angle by turning your head->hands->hips and engaging the back edge to push (but get up instead).  On the last scramble, you drop evenly so when you dive to cover the puck, everything is in front of you instead of off to the side like in the last game.  Your lateral slides are all both knees down, body weight centered.  I think you're sliding further and easier as a result.  At 1:30 you make a great save moving from your right to left with good technique.  At 1:43 you make a good save and are able to regain your edges because you're balanced.  You end up diving for the puck but I think that was more because you lost sight of it and were on the wrong foot when you realized where it was.  You probably would have been able to push with your right foot  if you had seen it the whole way.  2:41 is another good lateral push to the new angle.  Even the last goal was good technique.  You were on both knees and were able to adjust to try and make the save.  Just a bad bounce to an uncovered guy.  But the attempt wasn't a desperation one where you just threw something out there with no chance.  

Hopefully that all helps.  

[fastmiele 59]

On 8/14/2018 at 2:51 PM, clarkiestooth said:

 

OK, understand.  Let's do this: next game you video, stay up, no going down on the knees when the shooter shoots. Come out to cut down the angles, and coast back if the shooter dekes. Side to side push off to move across crease as the puck is moved across the goalmouth. Let's see a shutout.

One time I got lucky and I got this former professional German hockey player for some hockey lessons. I never could puck handle with looking down at the puck, let alone skate up with the puck with head up. I always had to look to look down. So the German player tells us to stand still and puck handle with our heads up. No one does it and everyone looks down at the puck and ice. The next thing he says, if he sees anyone looking down, immediately get down on the ice and do 10 push ups. First couple times we still look down and then he stops us and forces us to do the push ups. After the second or third time, no one one wants to do the push ups anymore and we try to puck handle with our heads up. We all lose control of the puck but no push ups. Funny thing is quite soon afterwards you develop some type of muscle memory and you can actually puck handle the puck without looking down.

Maybe Ackbar the goalie can do the same thing. For a practice session, with maybe 2 players, they slowly skate towards him and he must stay up no matter what, if he drops to one leg or both legs, he must do 10 push ups. 

 

 

 

[fastmiele 59]

oh, I hate to say this but your defencemen are not helping you much. I am okay with old and slow, etc. but from the videos they seem to be out of position quite a bit. The least they can do is take their position.Left and right sides respectfully, at least this way you can deal with one shooter not 2 more 3 possible shooters.

Too often I think the d-men are facing you, which I can understand because they are trying to follow the puck and recover control of it/get it out of harms way. But the problem it usually is not effective because the puck is bouncing around and it seems they are bit slow to react to the opposition. When I play defence, I try to look up the up the ice and face/cover the forward. Cover my ground, box out the opposition and use my stick and try not allow them to a one timer from the slot.

I try to use the same mentality as basketball, man your spot, box out the opposition from driving to the net.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Went to a pickup for the first time in forever. 

It went okay, I guess. I was really unhappy with the top corner snipe. I knew he was going high glove and was prepared for it and still couldn't stop it. Otherwise, decent enough. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

First round of our playoffs. Ended up with a 5-2 win. 

 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

I had the best game ever on Sunday. Made some insane saves, two of them were ten bell saves just before the buzzer at the end of the first and second periods.

Unfortunately they had one more buzzer beater in the 3rd that put them up 4-3. 

Despite giving up 4 goals, I think this was the first time in a long time that everything seemed to be clicking. The only really disappointing one was the last one because it was a clean shot that beat me from the bottom of the circle. There’s nothing I hate more than being beaten by a shot with no traffic!

We definitely deserved better in this one. And I wish I’d had the camera up...

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Had 6 skaters, one of them is in a division higher than he probably should be and the other came straight from the airport from a fraternity reunion. He puked multiple times during the game. We played the team that has two regular season losses in all of 2018, who seem to be adding more and more guys who should be in the next division up.

Lost 15-0.

Good times.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Playing the top seeded Predators, who have only lost a handful of games over the last three seasons and have given up less than a goal per game. They had two players who shouldn't be in our division. One of them was ejected during the third period for homophobic slurs. 

Huge credit to the referee, who was clearly a beginner, for having the guts to toss him. You hear it once in the video, but the tirade doesn't end there and he continues to say it on the way to the penalty box before being ultimately sent off.

 

[Ghostender 1]

Don't know which was better, the win or the ejection - congrats!

Chris, I think you were on a "weight reduction plan" a while ago. Don't know if it was that or some other influences, but your moves seem so much more fluid of late - keep up the great work!