Playoff Game 5, News, Peewee Gold, U13, 2018-2019 (Mt Brydges Minor Hockey)

This Team is part of the 2018-2019 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Mar 10, 2019 | Mark Emerick | 895 views
Playoff Game 5
As we enter our final playoff round this season against Ilderton, the bench is a bit short for this game due to the March Break and lots families are away doing other stuff. We managed to muster up 6 die-hard skaters plus one who came along for the assistant coaching experience as Haywood dressed but rode the pine due to injury. I know Cole would have rather been playing than coaching....at one point I heard him say "I'm bored" which was no doubt true. Coach Mark's game plan today was to slow the game down so our players could keep pace for the duration of the game......

With one extra skater, if we tried to play end to end hockey, the boys would have been exhausted by the end of the first period and Ilderton would have had their way with us in the latter half. In the dressing room before the game, Coach Mark instructed the kids to ice the puck at every opportunity. Take as many stops in play as possible and use this time to rest. The kids listened and did exactly what they were asked to do.

As a result of the many icing calls, most of the game was played in our zone. Ben played one of his best games all season and made a ton of nice saves to keep Ilderton off the scoreboard. Our strong defensive posture in our zone was also a big factor which helped bottle up the Ilderton offense and keep them off the score sheet.

With only one extra skater, we used the forward door only and kept rolling the kids through, switching the positions to match the players as the game progressed. Coach Mark and Paul did a great job in this regard. The spare player would come in, take a quick drink and be right back out there in 30-45 seconds. Time ticked away and this game plan seemed to irritate the opposition players to some extent as they really didn't get much opportunity to build momentum or tire us out.

After 3 periods of play the score was 0-0. Just what Coach Mark was hoping for....take the point and run. Next game if we have enough kids we'll be back to a more conventional style of play. In the dressing room, Coach Mark told the boys this is one of the proudest moments for him all season as every player worked their tails off and did exactly what was asked. 

Fantastic work boys and great coaching too! GO COUGARS GO!

Trainer Pat
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