Hard Work Will Pay Off

We skated at the end of practice today. It was a hard day. Yesterday, we had a pretty easy day. We scrimmaged 4-on-4 after such a long road trip, and today it was back to work. Coach told me yesterday that I'm looking quicker out there, but I still have times where I just let my guard down. I need to be more mentally tough on the ice and battle every shift. He wants me to work on making plays. I tend to get the puck in the neutral zone and just throw it back into the offensive zone, when I should make a D-to-D pass, so we can keep possession. It's a smart, safe play to get the puck deep, and I should do it sometimes, but he said it's not a play a good defenseman would make.

We did some hard drills today, and then we had a hard skate. It's good to skate, especially since we have a week and a half until our next game, and especially for someone like me, who can work on quickness and endurance during the skate. After the skate, I stayed on the ice and worked on my quickness and footwork even more. I think I will get even better if I work on things when I'm already tired. It will only make me better, more mentally tough and ready to push through tiredness in games because there are bound to be shifts late in games where I will have to battle to get the puck out of the zone, battle for every inch when my legs don't want to move anymore. Speaking of tiredness, I'm pretty tired right now, so I'm going to bed, but I felt like I should post for my avid readers out there. Sorry to disappoint, but not every post can be as inspirational as some of them...