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SabresFan · 11-04-2021, 11:41 AM

THE DIARY OF A ROOKIE - The Preseason

11/4/2021

In the offseason, you can try to look at your roster and get a feel for what your team is like and where you might fit into it. It’s only when you start playing some regular season games that the picture starts to come into better focus. However, our couple of games in the preseason helped to provide a hint at what we are good at and what we are not. I gained a few pieces of valuable insight from the early action.

I can remember having a fairly high level of anxiety as a kid in new situations and when facing the unknown. Some of that characteristic remains with me into young adulthood, and my first preseason action was no exception. I was a bit out of sorts. I think a few of our veteran players were on the opposite end of the spectrum, a bit bored with this and wanting to get on to the games that actually matter. As you will see, once the puck gets dropped, however, the competitive juices get flowing. No one wants to be an embarrassment out there.

The preseason is a time for experimentation; a time to expect the unexpected. I was expecting to start out on the third line. I hadn’t fully comprehended the state of our team at my position, then I heard Spark call out the lineups...13...77...10...I was starting the game on the top line!

I’m not sure exactly what happened during the first twenty minutes of hockey. I just remember being completely overmatched in the faceoff circle and everyone being frustrated at not having possession and at having to work all that much harder chasing the puck all period.

I was just sitting on the bench in some shock as the period ended. My assistant captain and now linemate, Daniel Merica, looked over at me with a smirk and said, “Are you coming “Puxatony”? My mind is always going in six directions at once and I skated around to the door to head to the locker room still trying to process what had happened during the period of hockey we just played. The result was just slightly more embarrassment for me.

[Image: tumblr_nlqrdeCErE1qksk74o1_400.gif]

Sisyphus Embros Leaves the Ice Between Periods

Merica tried to have a stern look for a moment, but just couldn’t maintain and busted out laughing.

After the game ended, we poured over the video. Merica summed up our performance after the game with only three letters needed.

“WTF!”

I realized that there was one silver lining in my game as a foundation to work from, receiving a decent defensive grade for my efforts. Yet, as a team, we had been outshot 57 to 19. Duffer (assistant captain Vincent “Duffman” Catalano) stood on his head to only let in 5 goals by the time the horn blew to end the game. Our inexperience up the middle and struggles at the faceoff dot were the first thing that I thought needed to be remedied. On defense, Mars Stanton and team captain Marcel Beck were both steady. In fact, Stanton’s overall game rating was one of only two for the Scarecrows to reach the “good” threshold. Spicy Mchaggis was suffering the aftereffects of some bad Thai food prior to the game, so we think he will bounce back from his performance. The rest of the defense is fairly young and inexperienced. They acquitted themselves fairly well for their first skate.

Our second game was a minor improvement and an encore preseason performance from Duffer, who stopped all 46 shots that he faced to earn the victory. Mars Stanton continued his solid play as well, earning a 71 overall game rating from our chief statistician, By Tor. Rookie defense people Rolf Kohenen and Ulyana Mironova were on the ice for both goals scored, picking up a +2 on the stat sheet. I was happy for Kohenen, who picked up an assist on the first goal of the game by Alix Nunez that proved to be the game winner. Kohonen works hard and is around the locker room often. His training hasn’t shown up in game play yet, but it soon will. He is already a better player than meets the eye.

I also got a kick out of Nunez, apparently as out of sorts as I was. After the game, in the locker room, he quipped, “At least I got a point”. I had said something like “Your cup runneth over” as he came by the bench to celebrate the goal. Isiah Lopez and Nunez were both in front of the net on either side when Kohenen let the shot go and we weren’t really sure who was going to get credit for the goal. My line came from the fact that we call Nunez “cup”. Exactly where that comes from...I’ll just leave that out for now...ehm...it might be personal. On a more serious note, it was good to see Nunez firing the puck. We all know that he has a great shot already. Based on the rest of his game, I thought he might struggle to get it off. Five shots on goal was a definite positive. Back in the locker room, I reminded Nunez that he got the game winning goal. Steve Collins got the insurance goal, with Cody Sherman getting the assist.

I’m shopping online for some token gifts for Duffer as I write this. He deserves something for facing over 100 shots in the two games and stopping all but five.

[Image: Paul-Alexander-01.jpg?quality=90&strip=a...POLIO%20PAUL]

Scarecrows Starting Goaltender Receives Treatment After the Preseason

As the preseason drew to a close, I figured that the reason behind us being outshot so badly in the preseason was due to lack of offense. We gave our opponents too much respect. Personally, I had two veteran forwards at each side of me and was struggling to get them the puck. I decided to work on my faceoffs, passing, shooting and offensive read in the short time before the regular season starts. It looks like one last late breaking training session has opened up. I was thinking of using it to work with our skating coaches to improve my balance. That ought to help my 200 foot game when dealing with physical contact. I’m not afraid to crash the net after dishing the puck to a linemate. Better balance should help in front of the net in particular. I’ll start with this and come back to reevaluate after some regular season games. By then, my body should start to adapt to the higher ice time I’m getting. I need to adapt to not fade late in games.

WildfireMicro · 11-04-2021, 11:43 AM

Lmao this is great

***By-Tor*** · 11-04-2021, 12:09 PM

I expect a running series.

The chief statistician commands it.

Scarecrows

Credit to enigmatic, Merica, and tweedledunn for sigs

joshuacorcorantwitch · 01-10-2022, 11:34 AM

11-04-2021, 11:41 AMSabresFan Wrote: THE DIARY OF A ROOKIE - The Preseason

11/4/2021

In the offseason, you can try to look at your roster and get a feel for what your team is like and where you might fit into it. It’s only when you start playing some regular season games that the picture starts to come into better focus. However, our couple of games in the preseason helped to provide a hint at what we are good at and what we are not. I gained a few pieces of valuable insight from the early action.

I can remember having a fairly high level of anxiety as a kid in new situations and when facing the unknown. Some of that characteristic remains with me into young adulthood, and my first preseason action was no exception. I was a bit out of sorts. I think a few of our veteran players were on the opposite end of the spectrum, a bit bored with this and wanting to get on to the games that actually matter. As you will see, once the puck gets dropped, however, the competitive juices get flowing. No one wants to be an embarrassment out there.

The preseason is a time for experimentation; a time to expect the unexpected. I was expecting to start out on the third line. I hadn’t fully comprehended the state of our team at my position, then I heard Spark call out the lineups...13...77...10...I was starting the game on the top line!

I’m not sure exactly what happened during the first twenty minutes of hockey. I just remember being completely overmatched in the faceoff circle and everyone being frustrated at not having possession and at having to work all that much harder chasing the puck all period.

I was just sitting on the bench in some shock as the period ended. My assistant captain and now linemate, Daniel Merica, looked over at me with a smirk and said, “Are you coming “Puxatony”? My mind is always going in six directions at once and I skated around to the door to head to the locker room still trying to process what had happened during the period of hockey we just played. The result was just slightly more embarrassment for me.

Sisyphus Embros Leaves the Ice Between Periods

Merica tried to have a stern look for a moment, but just couldn’t maintain and busted out laughing.

After the game ended, we poured over the video. Merica summed up our performance after the game with only three letters needed.

“WTF!”

I realized that there was one silver lining in my game as a foundation to work from, receiving a decent defensive grade for my efforts. Yet, as a team, we had been outshot 57 to 19. Duffer (assistant captain Vincent “Duffman” Catalano) stood on his head to only let in 5 goals by the time the horn blew to end the game. Our inexperience up the middle and struggles at the faceoff dot were the first thing that I thought needed to be remedied. On defense, Mars Stanton and team captain Marcel Beck were both steady. In fact, Stanton’s overall game rating was one of only two for the Scarecrows to reach the “good” threshold. Spicy Mchaggis was suffering the aftereffects of some bad Thai food prior to the game, so we think he will bounce back from his performance. The rest of the defense is fairly young and inexperienced. They acquitted themselves fairly well for their first skate.

Our second game was a minor improvement and an encore preseason performance from Duffer, who stopped all 46 shots that he faced to earn the victory. Mars Stanton continued his solid play as well, earning a 71 overall game rating from our chief statistician, By Tor. Rookie defense people Rolf Kohenen and Ulyana Mironova were on the ice for both goals scored, picking up a +2 on the stat sheet. I was happy for Kohenen, who picked up an assist on the first goal of the game by Alix Nunez that proved to be the game winner. Kohonen works hard and is around the locker room often. His training hasn’t shown up in game play yet, but it soon will. He is already a better player than meets the eye.

I also got a kick out of Nunez, apparently as out of sorts as I was. After the game, in the locker room, he quipped, “At least I got a point”. I had said something like “Your cup runneth over” as he came by the bench to celebrate the goal. Isiah Lopez and Nunez were both in front of the net on either side when Kohenen let the shot go and we weren’t really sure who was going to get credit for the goal. My line came from the fact that we call Nunez “cup”. Exactly where that comes from...I’ll just leave that out for now...ehm...it might be personal. On a more serious note, it was good to see Nunez firing the puck. We all know that he has a great shot already. Based on the rest of his game, I thought he might struggle to get it off. Five shots on goal was a definite positive. Back in the locker room, I reminded Nunez that he got the game winning goal. Steve Collins got the insurance goal, with Cody Sherman getting the assist.

I’m shopping online for some token gifts for Duffer as I write this. He deserves something for facing over 100 shots in the two games and stopping all but five.

Scarecrows Starting Goaltender Receives Treatment After the Preseason

As the preseason drew to a close, I figured that the reason behind us being outshot so badly in the preseason was due to lack of offense. We gave our opponents too much respect. Personally, I had two veteran forwards at each side of me and was struggling to get them the puck. I decided to work on my faceoffs, passing, shooting and offensive read in the short time before the regular season starts. It looks like one last late breaking training session has opened up. I was thinking of using it to work with our skating coaches to improve my balance. That ought to help my 200 foot game when dealing with physical contact. I’m not afraid to crash the net after dishing the puck to a linemate. Better balance should help in front of the net in particular. I’ll start with this and come back to reevaluate after some regular season games. By then, my body should start to adapt to the higher ice time I’m getting. I need to adapt to not fade late in games.

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