Sunday, April 10, 2011
Focus on My Successes
My mind has been swirling for the past few days, ever since our season ended. I'm trying to think everything through--what I want to do next year, what I need to do this summer, what I want to study when I go to college--and that's not being fair to myself. I know it's important to think these things through, but I'm definitely over thinking everything and wigging myself out. The season has been over for less than a week, and I need to take some time to celebrate the successes I had this year. I've been through a lot this past year, but I ended up having a great season. And I need to be proud of my accomplishments and proud of the strides that I took during the season.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Good to Be Home
I needed a nice 11 hour cross-country drive by myself to just think. It was good for me after a stressful, but fun few weeks where it was pretty much nonstop action all the time. But now I'm home. And I'm excited to be here and relax for a few days.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Back to the CO Today
I'm driving back to Colorado today! We had our exit meetings with Coach yesterday, and the end of the year banquet was last night. It's hard to believe the season's over; it went by so fast. In reality, though, it was almost like I had 3 short seasons: one in Bismarck, one in Rio Rancho, and one in Boise. But I'm excited for this summer. Now it's time to start planning out this summer and make plans for next year because I have some decisions to make. I'm going to take a week or two off from hockey, just to give my body and mind a break, but then I have to get back to work and make sure I'm ready for next year. See you soon, Colorado!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Thoughts After Nationals
Well, that was definitely a crazy weekend. Just an amazing experience. I've never been in a national tournament like that, and it was a lot of fun. It was just so cool being involved in the tournament. It's something I will never forget. There were 12 teams from 5 different leagues across the country. The whole event was awesome. We got there on Thursday and had a practice. Pretty much every team in the tournament practiced on Thursday, and I could feel the anticipation for the start of the tournament in all the teams I watched practice. There were teams sitting in the stands, watching other teams practice, which kind of put a little pressure on the team on the ice to look good and not mess up. There was just a lot of anticipation in the rink when we walked in on Thursday, and I could sense it building as the games on Friday got closer.
We had a meeting on Thursday night about our goals for the weekend and our coaches reiterated that when we play to our potential, no team in the country can hang with us, and if we wanted to be successful in this tournament, we had to play to our potential every game because we were going to play teams as good or better than us. You don't get many chances to play for a national title in your lifetime, and we wanted to make sure that we could look back on this weekend with no regrets. Our game on Friday finally came. We played the Seattle Totems out of the NORPAC league. We played an awesome 1st period, but their goalie kept them in the game. The score was 0-0 after 1. Then, things sort of went downhill from the first period. We started taking penalties and got away from our game. Still, we went into the 3rd period with a 2-1 lead. We had some mental breakdowns in our defensive zone in the 3rd period, and they tied it up on the powerplay. We ended up tying the game 2-2. It was a disappointment for us, but fortunately we still had our destiny in our hands. If we won our next two games, we'd be in the semifinals.
On Friday night and all of Saturday, tensions were running high and everyone was focused. We knew we needed a win on Saturday against the Hudson Crusaders or our tournament and season would be over. Again, we reiterated that we needed to come out and play a full 60 minutes. We knew we were the better team and the favorite against Hudson, but we also knew that Hudson could be dangerous because they were angry after losing the night before 10-2, and we knew they were going to come out with their best game against us. They played hard and actually had the momentum in the first 5 minutes of the game. They took a 1-0 lead right away. But we stuck to our game plan, and eventually pucks started bouncing our way. We did not play our best game, but we still wound up winning the game 4-1. It was definitely a relief; however, we knew that our biggest, most important game was still to come, the next day against the St. Louis Jr. Blues, the reigning national champions from last year.
We knew we had to play our best game against a very talented St. Louis team, but we also knew what kind of game we had to play to beat them, and we were mentally prepared to do what it took to win a game like that. We brought our physical game on Sunday night and pretty much ran St. Louis out of the building. I think they were shocked. Honestly, that was one of the cockiest teams I've ever played against, and it felt really good to beat them like we did, 6-1. They were trash talking before the game, and their whole team disrespectfully sung the national anthem before the puck drop. I think those things really motivated us to play our best; that and the fact that we wanted so badly to make it to the semifinals and show what kind of team we could be when we played our best hockey. We constantly got under St. Louis's skin and dominated the game. We stuck to our system and played hard defense. They barely got 15 shots. After the game, our coach told us that was one of the best games he's ever seen a team play. We made a statement, and we showed how good we could be. It felt so good to qualify for the semifinals, I can't even tell you, but we were still hungry for more. On the bus ride back to the hotel, we found out we would be playing El Paso again, the winners of their pool.
We did not want to let El Paso, a team in our league who we had showed superiority over in the Thorne Cup series, end our season. We had swept them the weekend before, and we went in with confidence and also a little fear. Our season was on the line, and we knew we had to play our best to win. We did give our best, but I don't think we played our best game. Unfortunately, it's harder to prepare for a game when you just beat a team you have to play, as opposed to preparing for a game against a team you just lost to. They had a little more vengeance on their minds. They out-played us in the first period, and took a 1-0 lead into the locker room. But after the first period, we started to play more of our game. The bounces really did not go our way in this game. El Paso's goalie played the game of his life. We were down 2-0 in the third period, and we started throwing everything we had at El Paso, trying to get one past the goalie to open the floodgates. Finally, with about 6 minutes left we scored one, and from then on we completely dominated the period. Overall, we outshot them 45-21 in the game; in the 3rd period alone, we outshot them 22-3. We lost the game 2-1. There was such a bitter taste in my mouth after the game. So many "What If's" were running through my mind. It was a good game, and we gave a good effort, but it wasn't meant to be. Our coach told us after the game that sometimes your best isn't good enough. That's the game of hockey. He said everyone in the rink knew we were the better team, but things didn't necessarily go our way. We got our 3rd place medals. But we didn't hang our heads. We had a great season and nothing could take that away from us.
What a great experience to play in a national tournament. Just another thing I can cross off on my list of accomplishments this season. We took 3rd place and took a big step for our league and this organization. I don't think I, personally, played my best hockey in this tournament, though. I played well, but I don't think I played my best. I was nervous, understandably, but the bottom line is that I shouldn't be ashamed of how I played. It was a great experience, an experience that will only help me as I continue to improve. It's all about gaining experience and learning. And coming up a little short like we did this year just makes me hungrier to be the best I can be next year.
We had a meeting on Thursday night about our goals for the weekend and our coaches reiterated that when we play to our potential, no team in the country can hang with us, and if we wanted to be successful in this tournament, we had to play to our potential every game because we were going to play teams as good or better than us. You don't get many chances to play for a national title in your lifetime, and we wanted to make sure that we could look back on this weekend with no regrets. Our game on Friday finally came. We played the Seattle Totems out of the NORPAC league. We played an awesome 1st period, but their goalie kept them in the game. The score was 0-0 after 1. Then, things sort of went downhill from the first period. We started taking penalties and got away from our game. Still, we went into the 3rd period with a 2-1 lead. We had some mental breakdowns in our defensive zone in the 3rd period, and they tied it up on the powerplay. We ended up tying the game 2-2. It was a disappointment for us, but fortunately we still had our destiny in our hands. If we won our next two games, we'd be in the semifinals.
On Friday night and all of Saturday, tensions were running high and everyone was focused. We knew we needed a win on Saturday against the Hudson Crusaders or our tournament and season would be over. Again, we reiterated that we needed to come out and play a full 60 minutes. We knew we were the better team and the favorite against Hudson, but we also knew that Hudson could be dangerous because they were angry after losing the night before 10-2, and we knew they were going to come out with their best game against us. They played hard and actually had the momentum in the first 5 minutes of the game. They took a 1-0 lead right away. But we stuck to our game plan, and eventually pucks started bouncing our way. We did not play our best game, but we still wound up winning the game 4-1. It was definitely a relief; however, we knew that our biggest, most important game was still to come, the next day against the St. Louis Jr. Blues, the reigning national champions from last year.
We knew we had to play our best game against a very talented St. Louis team, but we also knew what kind of game we had to play to beat them, and we were mentally prepared to do what it took to win a game like that. We brought our physical game on Sunday night and pretty much ran St. Louis out of the building. I think they were shocked. Honestly, that was one of the cockiest teams I've ever played against, and it felt really good to beat them like we did, 6-1. They were trash talking before the game, and their whole team disrespectfully sung the national anthem before the puck drop. I think those things really motivated us to play our best; that and the fact that we wanted so badly to make it to the semifinals and show what kind of team we could be when we played our best hockey. We constantly got under St. Louis's skin and dominated the game. We stuck to our system and played hard defense. They barely got 15 shots. After the game, our coach told us that was one of the best games he's ever seen a team play. We made a statement, and we showed how good we could be. It felt so good to qualify for the semifinals, I can't even tell you, but we were still hungry for more. On the bus ride back to the hotel, we found out we would be playing El Paso again, the winners of their pool.
We did not want to let El Paso, a team in our league who we had showed superiority over in the Thorne Cup series, end our season. We had swept them the weekend before, and we went in with confidence and also a little fear. Our season was on the line, and we knew we had to play our best to win. We did give our best, but I don't think we played our best game. Unfortunately, it's harder to prepare for a game when you just beat a team you have to play, as opposed to preparing for a game against a team you just lost to. They had a little more vengeance on their minds. They out-played us in the first period, and took a 1-0 lead into the locker room. But after the first period, we started to play more of our game. The bounces really did not go our way in this game. El Paso's goalie played the game of his life. We were down 2-0 in the third period, and we started throwing everything we had at El Paso, trying to get one past the goalie to open the floodgates. Finally, with about 6 minutes left we scored one, and from then on we completely dominated the period. Overall, we outshot them 45-21 in the game; in the 3rd period alone, we outshot them 22-3. We lost the game 2-1. There was such a bitter taste in my mouth after the game. So many "What If's" were running through my mind. It was a good game, and we gave a good effort, but it wasn't meant to be. Our coach told us after the game that sometimes your best isn't good enough. That's the game of hockey. He said everyone in the rink knew we were the better team, but things didn't necessarily go our way. We got our 3rd place medals. But we didn't hang our heads. We had a great season and nothing could take that away from us.
What a great experience to play in a national tournament. Just another thing I can cross off on my list of accomplishments this season. We took 3rd place and took a big step for our league and this organization. I don't think I, personally, played my best hockey in this tournament, though. I played well, but I don't think I played my best. I was nervous, understandably, but the bottom line is that I shouldn't be ashamed of how I played. It was a great experience, an experience that will only help me as I continue to improve. It's all about gaining experience and learning. And coming up a little short like we did this year just makes me hungrier to be the best I can be next year.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
We're on our way back to Boise now. I guess it's about a 26 hour drive...It's hard to believe this season's over. I've accomplished a lot in the past year, and it hasn't really sunk in yet that it's over. But now I can start to focus on next year and what I have to do this summer to make sure I have a successful season next year. This year's been a crazy experience, but I've loved it, and I'm hungry to do better next year. Once I get back to my computer, I'll write more about our weekend at nationals. But right now we have about 25 1/2 hours left on the bus, so I'm going to get some sleep.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Well...we lost tonight 2 to 1 in the national semifinals. It was a good run and an unforgettable season for me. I never thought I'd end up playing in Boise, Idaho this year, but everything happens for a reason, and I can honestly say I'm very happy with how the second half of my season went with the Junior Steelheads. If I learned anything this year, I learned that sometimes things don't go your way. I think it was pretty obvious that we were the better team tonight, outshooting El Paso 45-21 through the game, but sometimes you run into a hot goalie. And those things happen. Nothing can take away from the season we had as a team or the season I had individually, though. I'll never forget my first year of junior hockey.
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