We had 3 games against the Arizona Redhawks this weekend, the last place team in our division. We came out of the weekend with 3 wins, but to be honest we were very fortunate to make it out with 3 wins. Arizona put up a pretty good fight against us. Sometimes it's just hard to play games at your highest level, especially when you're playing teams you know you should beat. Subconsciously, you might not prepare yourself as well as you should, and I think teams definitely play at their best against us because they know they have to and everyone wants to beat the #1 team. Those games are always dangerous. But good teams get through them. We won all 3 games even though they might've been a little closer than we would've liked.
To be honest, I had a little bit of an off weekend. I felt like I was fighting the puck constantly. I think I had slow feet, and I wasn't thinking as well as I need to out on the ice. I made some poor decisions with the puck, when my job as a defenseman is to manage the game, get the puck to the forwards, and take care of the puck. I don't know what happened, but I didn't have my best 3 games this weekend. I had little glimmers of good plays, but the bottom line is that I did not play very well, and I need to play better, and I know I can play better. The coach here in Idaho has told me he's a coach who will point out mistakes more than anything. That's a good thing. That's how I get better. There are times when I will make a good play and know I made a good play, then I will come back to the bench, and I will hear that I made a good play, BUT I could've made a better play by doing something else. And there are also times when I know I made a bad play, and I come to the bench for answers about how I can fix my mistakes. I like it. I know I'm learning, and I'm trying to take in as much as I can, but sometimes I just don't make the right play. And it's frustrating when I make the wrong play. I think, though, the fact that the coaches here are teaching me so much means they care about me and believe in me.
Maybe I'm being a little too hard on myself, or I'm just becoming more of a perfectionist to make myself better, but I definitely know I can play better than I did this weekend. I made some good plays, I wasn't ever scored on, but I might've been scored on if we were playing a better team. I need to be more mentally tough. Hockey is such a mental game, and I need to get better at that part of it. I think sometimes I still make one mistake, then worry about making another mistake, so I make another one. It's just a bad cycle, and I can't let myself fall into that mental trap anymore. I have to be strong and confident and believe in myself because I am a good hockey player. Even though there are a lot of things I need to work on, here are some things I really want to focus on getting better at in these next few weeks: footwork, quickness, decision making with the puck, active stick, mental toughness. Part of being mentally tough is playing every shift with urgency. I can't give up, even when I'm tired. I need to stay focused here in these next few weeks, and really concentrate on the things I need to improve on to get better.
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