Silver Stick

Sorry this is late I forgot to post it!

Silver Stick

The Hawks played 4 great games over the Thanksgiving weekend and went 2-2. Our game Wednesday against the Jr Sharks was a much much closer game than the score would indicate. The last time we played, the Jr Sharks had 27 shots and we had 12!!! Before this game we challenged the kids to get 24 shots against the Jr Sharks. We were very close...the shot count was 24-21. Getting more shots against San Jose will ultimately lead to more goals. The final score was 5-2 but again we had to battle back from a 2-0 deficit. A couple of mistakes made the difference in this one.

We played Tri-Valley Friday after a day off. This was probably the best game the boys played all season. The final score was 4-1 but The Hawks controlled the puck the majority of the game and played really well. We asked the boys to focus on the forecheck, recovering the puck in the offensive zone, and they did a great job. 2 of the 4 goals we scored came from us recovering loose pucks and getting to the net.

Saturday The Jr Coyotes. Ultimately the Jr Coyotes went 4-0 and won the tournament. They passed well and they played solid defense. As much as we thought Friday was the boys best effort, the game against Phoenix proved they could do more. The Hawks played great and for most of the game we held the Pups to 1 goal. The final score was 4-0 but this game was a 1 goal game for almost the entire game. This game was played end to end with both teams doing a good job of forechecking and playing solid defense in their own end. The boys played so well that the coaches decided to forgo traditional 3 stars and reward everyone with a treat after Monday's practice.

Sunday Tri Valley.....Again. I don't know if it was fatigue or a let down from the game the night before but this was a very very rough game for the Blackhawks. We were coasting to loose pucks, making soft passes and not hustling on defense. Despite our best efforts to give this one to The Blue Devils the boys managed to hang on for a 3-2 win. The Blue Guys almost tied this one with a couple of minutes left to go. Saved by the whistle!!! Not exactly how I like to win hockey games but considering the level of intensity we brought to this one....I'll take it!


Going into Silver Stick I sat down with the coaches and asked everyone's opinion on how we should approach the tournament. Meaning, do we go for the win and play our strongest players more or do we use this as a chance to develop all of the players and roll the lines as much as possible? We decided that overall it was better to try and balance the ice time and take the results as they come. This was the right decision. I saw some of the best performances from the guys that have been struggling the most. I am committed to 3 goals:
Teach sound fundamentals ( Skating, Stickhandling, Shooting and team tactics)
Make sure the kids are having fun
Foster the kids enthusiasm for hockey and get them to continue to play.

Don't get me wrong...I love to win. But not at the cost of the goals above. The coaches and I are working hard to make sure the goals above are met and that the kids are having a fun positive experience.

Great job this weekend everyone. That was a lot of fun.

Tri-Valley

The boys played a close game against Tri Valley this weekend. This was a really even game with 20 shots against for both teams...the final score was 2-1 Blackhawks. Cross and Dustin were the 2 stars of the game.

What only 2 Stars!?!?! What's up with that??? We won the game and played OK but the boys continued their lackluster performance that started the night before at practice. We were skating slow and letting the Blue Devils beat us to pucks. Cross and Dustin did a great job stealing this game away from Tri Valley by coming up big on a couple of saves.

Winning is great but the more important issue is...Are we achieving the goals we set for ourselves before the game? The goals for this game were: 1. Skate Fast 2. Stick to puck and 3. Get the puck to the net. We did OK on #3, we did a really good job on #2 and frankly we stunk on #1. The most important goal of them all and we missed it by a mile.

The good news is as we get prepared for Silver Sticks this Thanksgiving Weekend the boys look much better. They skated hard on Sunday at practice and we had a great practice last night... so let's hope they are ready when we face the Jr Sharks on Wednesday. As is the custom with our Mites we picked captains based on who was working the hardest at practice and showing leadership on the ice. Our captains for the Silver Stick campaign are: Bryan, Cameron and Anthony. Great job guys...remember captains lead by example, hard work, hustle and heart are the keys to being a captain.

Cheers,
Kevin

Jr. Sharks again....

The boys played another really good game against the Jr Sharks. The coaches and I challenged the boys to focus on a couple of keys for the game: Skating, playing defense and working hard every shift. I felt like the boys achieved every one of the keys we set out for them. In my opinion, achieving the "3 keys of the game" is the most important goal at this stage of their development.

Despite starting out from an immediate 2-0 deficit the boys battled back to tie the score 3-3. That is really hard to do and I was really impressed with the grit and determination they showed to get themselves back in the game. The final score of 6-3 does not indicate how even of a game this was. There were a couple of REALLY slow whistles by the ref that cost us 2 goals and one big play goal that came at the end of a powerplay. All in all this was a good game and the boys are developing and playing better.

I would like to see us getting more shots on goal and going harder to the net. I was telling Jamie Baker that this is an entire team of Lady Bing Candidates. We need a couple of players with really nasty dispositions to balance out the team.

I'll see you at the rink.

Cheers,
Kevin

Sharks Game and the NorCal Season

Sorry I have been off line for awhile.

The boys played a tough game against our cross town rivals the San Jose Jr Sharks. We had the lead then they had the lead then it was a 1 point game and finally they scored again to finish 6-4. Ugh!

This was not our boys best effort. I felt like a couple of things happened here. We got out to a quick 2-0 lead and then we took our foot of the gas pedal. Also, we were not executing on the things that we have been practicing the last couple of weeks. In our game against Cupertino I was concerned because we were out of position, slow to the puck and not really hustling. We won which makes it kind of hard to say..."Hey we need to hustle more...". I got a lot of blank looks like, "jeez coach we killed them 15-0" Our game on Sunday was kind of an extension of our game against the Cougars, we bunched up around the puck, we did not take the body and we did not skate hard to loose pucks. The good news is...in the 3rd period against the Jr Sharks the boys started to do those things and they looked better.

We get a rematch with our friends this weekend this time we are playing in Our House! I am sure the boys will come out skating hard and make the Jr Sharks feel unwelcome on our ice.

The Norcal Schedule is out. We have 8 or so Norcal games...they have adjusted the schedule so we are not playing games against SF and some of the weaker teams. This will be a positive for the boys development. I am also in the process of trying to add 5 or 6 games against Norcal Squirt B teams. The more you play the better you get.

See you at the rink,
Kevin

Santa Rosa

The boys played a great game against the Flyers this weekend. The final score was 10-1 but I believe that the shots on goal were something like 50-20. The Santa Rosa goalie did a great job…eventually the boys figured him out and started getting the puck past him.

Captains for this game were Jordan, Aidan and Tyler. All three of them set a great example and worked really hard. No one worked harder than Dennis Franklin who took home the Hardhat for being the hardest working man on the ice. Bryan, Gio and RJ earned 3 stars awards for their hard work and determination.

Cross started us out in goal and made some great stops against the Flyers biggest scorers. The Flyers turned up the pressure at the end of the game and Dustin stood in there and kept them from getting back in the game.

Here are the stats:

#19 2 Goals
#10 2 Goals
#27 3 Goals 1 Assist
#88 1 Goal 2 Assist
#15 1 Goal 2 Assist
#16 1 Goal 1 Assist
#63 1 Assist

What I think is the most important is the number of assists. They were coming to the bench bragging about making the pass that set up the goal. I was talking to another SCVHA coach this morning and this is what he said….”That type of unselfish play feeds the team”. This is a great team. There isn't single individual that runs the ice or carries the team. They play well as a unit and they work really well together. I am very proud of where they are and the progress they are making.

Cheers,
Kevin

5-5 Tie...Parent Meeting & Tonights Practice

Well what can I say about the game with San Jose? We asked the kids to focus on 3 things: intensity, positional play and hustle. I felt they did a great job at all three and they played a terrific game from start to finish.

We recognized 4 players after the game...3 stars and "The Hardest Working Man...aka the Hardhat Award" Cole, Aaron and Cameron won the 3 stars and Tyler Starbeck won the the Hardhat for turning in a solid solid effort on both sides of the puck.

You should all be very proud of your players they played great.


Thank you to the parents who were able to make our parent meeting tonight. I will work with Michelle to try an organize more of these through out the season. I think it is helpful to get everyone together from time to time. Next time I suggest that we meet at The Sonoma Chicken Coop....I heard Blackhawks eat for free!!! So in case you missed the meeting here's the recap:

* Be on time to dryland before games.
* Wear your Blackhawks tee shirts and or warm ups to games.
* We're are going to LA over MLK, staying home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
* We are going to use our funds left over from summer for clinics with Jamie Baker.
* Keep all comments about our kids, other kids, other coaches and officials positive. We always take the high road. You will hear plenty of comments from other teams, parents etc. Just keep it positive or ignore them.


Tonight's practice was probably the best practice we have had all season...I know I already said that but that was then and this is now. The boys worked hard, they listened and they are really starting to get fundamentals of the game down. We are running some pretty complex drills this season which is a departure from my normal plan...however...the boys have surprised me with their ability to learn and execute some of these very very complex drills. I am really excited because the more sophisticated drills they are able the master the more sophisticated hockey they are able to play. We have already begun to see this with their ability to break the puck out as a team.

Thanks again parents for all your help, dedication and commitment. I am looking forward to the rest of this season.

Cheers,
Coach

First Game

Today the Blackhawk Mites faced our friends from the north the Tri Valley Bluedevils. This was our first real test and unfortunately we came up 1 goal short in a very very close game.

The Unofficial Shot Clock had it as TV 18 SC 12....I felt like we had better scoring chances. The Tri Valley goalie played a great game and in the end I think that was the deal breaker. Cross played a great game too making some great stops and shutting down a couple of odd man rushes and a solo break away. Not bad for a kid who was sick with the flu.

The big difference between the two teams was intensity. Having the benefit of playing four games already the Bluedevils started the game out with more intensity than the us. As the game went on the boys picked up the pace and the intensity and this is reflected in the box scores:

1st 3 to 1
2nd 1 to 1
3rd 1 to 2


We have another game tomorrow against the SF Sabrecats Squirt B team. Then it's off to the races with the regular season starting next Sunday at 7 am against the SJ Jr Sharks.

Today was fun and I hope the boys had fun. We'll see you tomorrow at the rink.

Thanks,
Kevin

UPS!!! Cannonball!!!! White lightening!!! & the Dippin Dots???

Last week we called the boys into the locker room and asked them to pick names for their lines. We, the coaches, would have final say over the names but the boys did a pretty good picking names.

UPS (aka the Delivery Boys)
Cannonball
White Lightening

and not to be out done the goalies informed me after practice that they would like to be known as "The Dippin Dots" OK Cross you got it.

Tonight's practice was probably the best I have seen from the boys. They are starting to put together the concepts and skills we have been working on over the last month or so and they are looking great. It was really fun seeing all the progress they have made.

See you Friday.

Coach

Scrimmage with the Squirts

Today the Mites played about an hour or so of scrimmage hockey against their older Santa Clara Squirt buddies. All in all I was impressed with how well the boys skated,passed the puck and worked together.

There are a couple of things that need to be refined around positional play and frankly it's not as bad as I had expected. As the scrimmage went on and we worked with the boys, they got better and better about staying in position. They began to see that if they are in the right place they will get passes and open up the ice. Mites believe that by chasing the puck and skating really hard all over the place they are working hard for their team. Our challenge is to teach them to skate really hard but to stay in position and work together instead of trying to do it all through individual effort.

Bottom line: They looked better than I expected...actually they looked pretty darn good until they bigger stronger Squirts tired them out.

Here are some of the highlights:

Great work from behind their net.
Breaking in to the zone with support.
Countless 3 on 2 rushes.
Good passing in all three zones.


We'll see you tomorrow at the rink

Cheers,
Kevin

Sunday School

The boys did great today. We started practice off with 10 or so minutes of obstacle course work. They worked hard at all of the drills and were having a good time. After a quick race to get the blood pumping we went into Coach Keith's 4 puck drill. T

For anyone who saw the drill you understand when I say this is a very very complex drill. But to the boys credit they worked hard at the drill and by the time we got to the end of it they had pretty much figured it out.

I like complex drills....but reserve them for the older guys. The fact that this group of 6,7 and 8 year olds was able to understand the drill and execute it says a lot about them.

Next practice is tomorrow Monday. I will be there late so Coach Keith will be running the show.

Cheers,
Kevin

Mini Camp

This weekend the boys were on the ice for 7.5 hrs! That's a lot of ice time for everyone involved. They also spent some time in the blazing hot sun going over the break out play before returning to the nice cool rink for 30 min of stickhandling work with Coach Kendrick.


Camp was a lot of fun, I am pretty sure all the kids agree that laser tag wins as the most fun event of the weekend. We all learned a lot over the weekend...I for one had no idea that Cavemen played ice hockey. Simply amazing.

I was not sure what to expect Monday at practice after such a long weekend of hockey. However, the boys were great and they worked really hard. They were focused, skated hard and really gave 100% to every drill.

We all survived mini camp and we are underway. Our next practice is Friday then we will be at Vallco on Sunday at 8:30.

Cheers,
Kevin

Get F.L.O.B. !!!!

Mini-camp has started and the season is now officially underway! Wooohoooo!!!


The Motto of this year's camp is... "Get F.L.O.B." Get Fast, Get Low, Get On net and Get the Body. 4 key fundamentals of the game of hockey.

The goal of tonight's session was to get the boys together, divide them into teams and introduce them to some of the basic concepts of hockey. It's important that they understand the legacy of this great game they play and the fundamentals of being a good hockey player and a good teammate. Tonight was about "Marketing". Someone told me once that in advertising it takes at least 3 exposures to an idea or a concept before people acknowledge it. Tonight was the first exposure to power skating on an academic level. Tomorrow they will get 1 hour of practical exposure when Cathy Andrade runs them through 60 mins of skating drills. Throughout the season we will continually focus on power skating and skating fundamentals.

The rest of camp will be team building games, hard work on fundamentals and an introduction to team concepts such as...break out plays, zone entry, team defense and forechecking.

This is a great group of kids. I am really excited about this team and what we can teach them this season. I will see you all tomorrow at the rink.

Cheers,
Kevin

The Mite Olympics

Saturday our Hawks gathered for The Mite Olympics. The Birds competed with courage, honor and determination in tests of skills, speed, strength and hmmm I am not exactly sure where I would put the belly slide competition....let's call it natural ability.

Here are your results:

Forward Sprint: Cameron 5.28
Backward Sprint: Tyler (T Star) 6.93
Fastest Shot: T Star @ 30 MPH
Bumper Butt Champs: 1. Cole 2. Andrew 3. Bryan
Obstacle Course: 1. Bryan 2. Cole 3. T Star
Belly Slide: Tie for 1st Cameron & Bryan. 3rd Andrew
Shoot out: 3 way tie Andrew, Aidan and Cameron

I hope that was a lot of fun for everyone and we'll be doing this again soon. Congratulations to the champions.

I will see everyone at Mini-camp coming up next Thursday. Have a great Labor Day Weekend, we'll be in Valencia at the Express Tournament. Have a good week and we'll see you on Thursday.

Cheers,
Coach

Tryouts Phew what a weekend

Tryouts are an emotionally, physically and mentally draining process for everyone involved. I am really excited with the players I saw all weekend and I am really happy with the team we've selected. This is going to be a fun year and I am looking forward to getting started.

Congratulations to everyone who made the team here are your teammates:

ANDREW BAILEY
RYAN CANCE
ANTHONY CASTRONOVO
KAIGEN DOUGLASS
SAMI HAKKARAINEN
CAMERON KHUONG
JORDAN MATAWARAN
AARON MILLS
AIDAN POWELL
COLE SLENKOVICH
TYLER STARBECK
GIOVANNI TARANTINO
RAYMOND TAVAREZ
BRYAN VADVILAVICH
DUSTIN WOLF