Well, a quiet weekend to start my new blog. We ended up not playing Nevada Storm (AA), they played AA Kings twice instead, splitting the games.
Sunday morning W3 beat Ducks2 12-2, shots were 66-12, though a few of us counted Ducks shot at 5. It was an entertaining game, Ducks battled the whole time and capitalized on our defensive breakdowns.
The scores and shots differentials in the A games we play notwithstanding, there are some fine young goalies in A, and seeing shots off 2nd, 3rd, 4th rebounds will do nothing but help them learn their craft.
What A teams are often missing is D who can actually impact the front of the net by a) clearing out one or even two attackers and b) solidly getting the puck on their sticks before they try to clear it or make a breakout pass. Secondly, the wingers have to be open to receiving a breakout pass, that is: still inside their zone, hockey position, stick on the ice and in MOTION.
Not many D at this age can make a long hard accurate stretch pass to the neutral zone without it getting picked off. Also teams in defense mode at this age need to think more about weak side. Us too. There is often a play to be made there, but we still try and jam the puck up the wall into a crowd. Why I don't know.
Thanksgiving this weekend. Aliso Viejo AA Tournament. Good luck to everyone.