Sweep City

This morning at 2:30 AM, we got back from another road sweep in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  We never really played our best this weekend, which is frustrating.  There were bright spots--a period here and there--but we couldn't ever put it together for a full 60 minutes.  Still, we won all three games, and it's a good sign that we can do that even when things aren't going our way.  The first game, we all seemed like we had cinder blocks for feet because we had driven through the night to get to Cheyenne and didn't get to our hotel until 5 in the morning.  But we ended up winning 7-1, and I had two assists--one on the power play, which was pretty satisfying because after the holiday break my coach had told me that I won't get as much power play time now...the bottom line, he says, is that there are just kids on the team who are more proficient on the power play than me, which may or may not be true, but I went out there and gave him a little bit to think about.  I shot the puck well this weekend.  Whether or not I end up getting more power play time after this weekend, I don't really care.  I know my role on this team is not to be a goal scorer, and I'll help the team in any way, even if I have to cheer on the power play guys from the bench.  Everyone wants to play on the power play, but I know that not everyone can, and it's the coach's job to put who he believes gives him the best chance to score on the ice on the man advantage.

The second night we won 7-4, and on Sunday we won 5-3.  It's really out of character for our team to give up that many goals, even though there were some fluky goals scored.  But we need to fix that next weekend and come out better defensively.  I hate giving up that many goals.  The crowd in Cheyenne was really rowdy--over-the-top rowdy even and inappropriate to our players and fans--and I think we might've let that get to us a little too much.  There was a fight in the stands the first night...I've never seen anything like it.  My mom called it the "Wild, Wild West."  But next weekend we're back on home ice in McCall, so that'll be good.

I played a solid weekend overall.  I'd like to eliminate all the little mistakes I make when reading forechecks and things like that, but I guess that's why you play, right?  If I keep learning from the mistakes I make, I'll keep developing.  I never made any major mistakes, but I can always improve my passing in the defensive zone and my ability to make plays with the puck at the point in our offensive zone.  Anyways, it was fun seeing my parents and some of my best friends from home at my game on Saturday night!  I loved it!  Here's a picture of me and my super fans after Saturday's game.