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Monday, August 11, 2014

Sabby's Clinic 8-7-14

After a run of three straight weeks scoring a goal in scrimmage, my streak ended. More than that, a lot of other things just made me think "today's not my day."

We had a guy there who, according to someone else out on the ice with us, plays in a European professional league. He certainly played like it, skating circles around so many of us. I had the honor of him getting past me by skipping the puck over my stick as he took a shot on net that my goalie thankfully bailed me out on. If there's one saving grace for me on that sequence, it's that he didn't get behind me but just created a shooting lane with his superior skill.

There were lots of problems with me during the scrimmage. My backskating definitely showed that it needs a lot of work, including transitioning from forward to backward in the same direction. One guy actually blew right past me because I didn't turn around in time, so he drove wide and was already level with me when I turned around to start backskating. Welp.

I had the puck on my stick probably six times or so. All six resulted in changes of possession. All were through different means: bad pass, outright giveaway, attempted clear, flat out getting the puck stolen from me, blocked shot attempt, and overskating.

The drills were a lot better for me for the first time in a while. I had moments of realizing my desire to be that player you can't give a bad pass to: I took a pass from skate to stick; I caught a pass with one hand on my hockey stick, full extension to catch it on the heel of my stick; I caught passes on my backhand and retained possession. It's a step in the right direction.

It's not a session to write home about. It's one of those that you say just to throw it away and act like it never happened. There are things to learn, but otherwise, I'm going to pretend like this never happened.

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