I had my second assist of the season in yesterday's game against the Delaware Phoenix, but despite having three or four breakaways, I didn't score. (I have NO GOALS this season—a frustration I've been meaning to write about, but haven't gotten around to.) Nielle happened to mention to me after the game what I'd already figured out for myself on that last breakaway: I'm getting too close, waiting too long before I take a shot.
I think the reason is twofold: (1) I've been working on not panic-shooting from the top of the faceoff circle for years (probably unwarrantedly at this point), and (2) I've gotten faster. This means that by the time I decide I'm close enough to shoot, I've tripped over the goalie. (This is precisely what happened on my last breakaway; I decided too late to cut in and try for a backhander.)
Nielle's suggestion was that if I'm coming down the left side, don't bother to try to cut in for a backhander—just shoot from the goalie's blocker side, which is usually weaker. (She actually suggested that I fake a shot first, then shoot, but I think that's probably a recipe for whiffing in my case.) My idea of how to solve the problem was to practice with a cone in the net—or rather, at the top of the crease, where the goalie is likely to be. (Am I alone in practicing most of my shots when the net is empty? I'm assuming not, because goalies are often hard to come by, and when they're around, they want a real warmup, not some goofball sending weak wristers their way.)
I started out writing this before practice, but now that it's after practice, I can tell you what I actually did: Upon entering the ice, I got out two cones and set one near the top of the left faceoff circle, and the other at the top of the crease. (The first cone was designed to remind me to cut a bit to the inside rather than staying out along the boards.) I then practiced skating in and shooting both forehand and backhand. The very first time I executed an amazing top-shelf backhander; the rest of the time I split among lifting it ever-so-slightly into the net, missing the net entirely, and hitting the cone. However, I ALSO got the chance to practice on a real live goalie (namely, Nielle), as several of the drills involved taking the puck in and shooting. I worked on shooting from farther back, with more success than I'd anticipated. Occasionally my shots were weak or wide, but I also had some interesting scores from shots that had never been in my reperatoire before. (My favorite was a backhander that flew through the five hole; on that one, I just let fly when I was the right distance from the crease rather than waiting until I'd cut across to the far post, and I happened to be right in front when that moment arrived.)
NOW, if I can just remember to shoot from farther back in Saturday's game, stay more mobile when crashing the net (I'm usually in too close in this case, too), and visualize myself skating on an Olympic-sized rink (because I seem to be much more aggressive when I feel like I have more room to maneuver), maybe I'll finally have a point in the G column.
Posted by Lori in Freeze ~ Fall/Winter 2007 | January 28, 2008·07:00 PM
Amy's having some of the same shooting issues too - waiting too long to take her shot on breakaways. In our last game she managed to score on a breakaway and it was because she shot from higher in the circle. FWIW, the team we were playing has a B-level goalie (long story, don't ask, it just pisses us all off) and the shot Amy put in on her was wicked sweet - she drove in on the left side and lifted it to the high right corner of the net. Woot!
Glad you got some good shooting time in at practice too. I also shoot mostly at an empty net, so you're not alone on that. I'll have to remember the cone thing for after practice next week (we've got the last time slot and the zamboni driver is often 45 minutes late getting to the rink to do his thing...)
Posted by: Megan at February 5, 2008 12:50 PM