I’m not going to lie to all of you. In times like these it is not always easy to write a blog. With that said, I think it is important for you all to hear from me when things are tough just as well as when things are going great.
The Johnnie hockey team had two home games against Saint Mary’s this past weekend. Unfortunately, we came out of the weekend 0-1-1. On Friday night, we fell in a shootout after playing 65 minutes of 5-on-5 and five minutes of 3-on-3. This gave Saint Mary’s the extra point in the MIAC standings, but the game will go down as a tie in the NCAA. On Saturday afternoon, we ended up losing in overtime, 4-3. This loss came in the 65 minutes, so we did not get any points in the MIAC standings and it is seen as a loss in the NCAA. This brings the team record to 5-4-3 overall and 3-2-1 in the MIAC. This is not where we want to be as a team, but it is where we are.
One bright spot on the weekend was the play of the Brady Heppner, Kyle Wagner and Joe Chitwood line. They finished the weekend a combined +9 and their line was out there for four of our six goals. Heppner lead the team with three goals while Wagner lead the team with four assists on the weekend.
The focus this week was to find solutions to our problems. To do this, we first had to figure out the problems. The way I decided to do this was to gather a lot of information from the players. We had a meeting on Monday and at that meeting I gave all the guys three sheets of paper with questions and surveys to try and gather as much of their opinions as possible. On these papers they were able to express their thoughts on the coaching staff and what we can do better, on each of their teammates and what they can do better, and finally on themselves and where they feel they are at and how they are playing. We also asked them their thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of the team, as well as what they thought needed to be done to improve how we are playing.
We got a ton of information and now the challenge is to use this information to get this train rolling again. I know we have the guys in the locker room that can turn this around and it is my job to give them the tools and coaching to make it happen. Our record is not terrible, and the season is far from over, but we have a very high expectation of this team and we want to accomplish the goals we set out to accomplish.
I am excited to see how our guys respond this weekend. We have one game this weekend against St. Scholastica at 7pm this Saturday night in Duluth. This game will not impact our MIAC standings, but the game is extremely important for us to head into the break confident. Scholastica is currently ranked #15 nationally and will be a very tough opponent. We are going to have to play a smart, hard game to get this win, but this is the type of game we need right now.
Thanks for your support and for following Johnnie Hockey! Have a great Holiday Season!
