Feb 08, 2015 | Craig McLaren | 798 views
'Canes Take 2 From HAWKS
Tough game tonight for the Atom MD HAWKS. In a weekend where the HAWKS should of had 4 points they walk away with one.
The Preston Aud was not too nice to the HAWKS in a loss to the 'Canes. "It was definitely a tough loss tonight - hard to swallow" indicated Coach Craig. "We need to play with some urgency and intensity. We talk the talk but it's time to start acting on what we discuss. We continue to teach players the game plan and we continue to correct when we see issues - what we can't continue to do is make the same mistakes over and over. This is playoffs, this is when we need to get just a little bit more focussed. We need to come ready to play and do the little things right. I know all the kids want to play well and for some its not a matter of working harder but working smarter. I know the boys want to win and the desire and effort is there - its not about their effort level as opposed to doing the things that they are taught, the little things that matter which some times are the difference between winning and losing."
In a game that saw the HAWKS play some real strong hockey there was definitely some adversity that they had to over come as well. "Ya we played with out one of our top d-men tonight, ya we had to face some challenging calls or non calls and ya we had to overcome some injuries but that's hockey and we have to over come that. We have to push through that as there's still a game to win. For me, its about sticking to the game plan. Raise our effort level and play smarter. Pass the puck when a teammate has a better scoring opportunity or head man it to a player that is open. Keep an eye on the front of our net when the play is in the zone. Not allow for players to be out of position in our end. We have talked about these things many times this season and showed our players examples of this in our video session on Thursday and we are still making the same mistakes. We continue to tell players not to try and go high glove all the time - 9 times out of 10 the puck goes over the net and around the glass. When we have 2 other forwards going to the net we have to put the puck at the net and look for rebounds. Get dirty...the high glove is a low percentage goal which means a player can shoot there all night long but chances are not good that we are going to score from that shot. If we end up hitting the goalies pads we will have 2 players there to bang in a rebound. If we go high glove and miss the net we have 3 forwards caught down low and it gives the other team puck possession heading back to our end."
As a big supporter of this team I am sure it is easy to be frustrated but knowing the kids on this team I know they are going to come back hard...harder then they have all season. "We'll have a good week of practice, we'll have a few chats and try to correct some things and we will continue to show the boys how important it is to work hard and more importantly work hard and smart. Overall, at the end of the day, I don't think that we played that bad as a team. We can't continue to make those little mistakes and hopefully we learn from those. We'll be better next game. We'll get 2 points. We'll bounce back and beat them with HAWKS hockey."
It is clear that the Staff and the players are not giving up on the boys and they have a lot of faith in their team. I am sure after a good week of practice the team will take a step back, re-focus and I am confident they will leap two steps forward next weekend! Just a reminder HAWKS, you owe Woodstock a little payback after last game!!
(HSN from the HAWKS Nest)
HAWKS Chirps
- Sounds like there are some interesting superstitions amongst the HAWKS!! C-Mo and Hank leading the way!
- Best hair cut of the year goes to Lil Maccer! Hey where did he get that done???
- Rumour has it a HAWKS supporter was wearing a hair piece today?? Hmmmmmm