Al and I spent the morning talking about the game last night, and aside from my personal performance, there were a lot of things we liked... and a lot of things we didn't understand. We're coming from a league that seems to stress individual achievement over team play (in fact, most efforts to plan for different situations, such as breakouts, 2 on 1s, penalty kills, faceoffs in our own zone, etc. were brushed off at best) to a team that has a plan for almost everything. We were amazed by their organization.
Standing around in the living room, and later in the car on the way to work, we asked each other lots of questions, such as: What exactly is a T formation? What was that discussion about "4 on the line and one back" that happened with two minutes left, when we were up 3-2? I know I shouldn't have passed to the middle off the faceoff in our own zone, but if my lane is clogged and the puck comes to me, what else can I do? How does a 'triangle' work? and so on. We answered each other with shrugs and speculation, but we agreed that it was exciting to know that there *was* a plan. We just needed to be in on it.
Luckily, Hoche noted the somewhat depressed tone of my last post and came to a similar conclusion: we needed to know the plan. He sent me the most supportive, detailed e-mail that answered all the questions above and more. I now know where he and the team stand on the issue of whether a winger should stick to the D if they pinch in or stay up on the boards for the breakout pass (the latter, which is also my personal preference), that it's ok to employ my crazy forechecking methods during a penalty kill as long as we've got them down in their end/the neutral zone, and that the general policy is that last man back covers D if the D takes the puck in.
I'll elaborate more on the answers to our specific questions as I get to put the plan into action on the ice. For the time being, it's sufficient to know that I now understand what a T formation is, what we were doing in the last two minutes of the game last night, and what I should have done instead of passing to the middle off the faceoff. I still need more practice with the triangle (as does Al, who I think has never tried it before), but hopefully I'm now at a point where I can feel RELAXED and excited about the next game, not nervous or scared.
Thanks, Hoche! And thanks to all the other Gang Greeners who made us feel so welcome. We'll see you on Sunday.
Posted by Lori in Gang Green ~ Summer 2003 | April 8, 2003·02:56 PM