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Practice and Optional Skates


Jagorim Jarg

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Does anyone here have an inside the building's perspective on how the team practices and what kind of drills they do? I'm risking sounding pretty ignorant but I just wanted to opine a bit and see if anyone agrees and who knows better than I do..

Practice

It seems like an obvious correlation, more practice means instinctive decisions on special teams. To me it often looks like the guys don't even have a plan when it comes to the PP, they are improvising which is good, but what are they starting from? And why is nobody moving to open up a passing option? When the guy with the puck has nobody to pass to and the other players are all staring at him from behind a defender and not circling it suggests they are being made to play a position locked PP. Please add to this if you know what they're doing out there.

Shooting the puck and optional skates

I remember being young(er) and wanting to spend excessive amounts of time every day on the things I loved. That's normal, and I believe the really successful people in life and in the game are the guys who don't lose that, it changes form over time and becomes competetive drive. It's the thing Steven Stamkos has that has him spending how many hours working on his skills every day, that's why his shot is so accurate. He looks, and the puck goes where he wants, he has command of that part of his game and others for a reason.

When did that stop being a priority for some guys? I am suggesting things like stardom are less about innate ability and more about committment and discipline, whatever it is that keeps a person fighting, striving, scratching and clawing forward. I always assumed that you had to have that to make it TO the NHL, but I never thought it should be considered a special character virtue to an NHL player. I assumed a player who lost that would be run roughshod by the next wave of guys who would do anything to get what they want.

I know we are talking about humans but humanity is full of examples of astonishing feats of excellence or unreal abilities that seem impossible to most just because people committed themselves to getting good at something. People especially take for granted the talents shown by the greatest musicians (I mean actually playing an instrument) or people like the high level martial artists who have trained their body and mind to handle breaking concrete slabs. Imagine gymnasts who can hold up twice their body weight supporting another human in an intricate position. Humanity is capable of such feats from committed individuals. I say the example Steven Stamkos is great, but why should he be so much better than the others, and specifically why does this team in the current state seem to have so few humans of this level? Maybe I'm wrong,

Optional skates are funny, to me the name alone is like a test. Here is the option to do the thing you should otherwise be doing anyway, to improve your game, and also earn some points with the management. Why would a team hold 'optional skates' if they aren't simply a test of committment? Why are so few players showing up for them? I get there is fatigue, but do you think those olympic lifters take every sore day off and expect to win? Here's an option to use what you have and maybe practice your shot like the guys with the best shots do, and it even has an organizational stamp on the time slot- and you don't take it?

What is it these guys are doing that stops them from spending an hour a day working on their shots? Is it family that is 'distracting' them? Is that the reason we need to get younger? Is it possible that neighborhood kids are more committed to gaming than some of these NHLers seem to be? Maybe a naive statement, but why on earth are guys skipping the 'optional skates' when they should be mandatory for someone who wants to win in the NHL?

There is one way to greatness- the hard way, and you have to step over others to get there. I want to see some evidence we have someone in our roster/system that has these virtues. Coming in to collect a paycheque most of the time does not impress me. There are plenty of people I don't pay to watch who lack that kind of virtue.

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One thing I'm curious about is which players show the most determination day in and day out in practices.

I hear Matthias is one of the hardest working dogs out there on a consistent basis. A guy who truly loves practicing.

When the coaching staff is making decisions on who to sit for games, it may have to do with not only their game performance but their dedication to the team outside of game times too.

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There is truth to what you're saying. However the NHL season is a long and taxing one. These guys play 82 games a year, plus practices and dry land training, plus travel. So it's important to give the body a break once in a while, to prevent injury and fatigue. As one example, weight trainers will often take a week off or lift lighter weight in order to reset the body. This technique may seem counterintuitive, but it prevents plateaus and increases strength in the long run.

I think it depends on how it's used. Rest periods should be used strategically, to give the body a break when it is much needed. If guys are taking the option to sleep in or watch TV, that's where there's a problem.

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Rest can be as important as taking part in those optional skates. It's obviously important for players to show up at practice and work on the area's they need to (for this team, most need to work on their shot it seems) but still having a day off is hugely important. 3-5 games per week with no (or little) rest, that is how you overwork yourself and get injuries.

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One thing I'm curious about is which players show the most determination day in and day out in practices.

I hear Matthias is one of the hardest working dogs out there on a consistent basis. A guy who truly loves practicing.

When the coaching staff is making decisions on who to sit for games, it may have to do with not only their game performance but their dedication to the team outside of game times too.

The Sedins' used to call Hansen the best practice player, due to his hard work in practices.

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When you are a west coast team with a long travel schedule you find ways to practice. Patrick Kane practices stickhandling and shooting into a wastebasket in the dressing room and sometimes on the airplane. When you want to be elite you find a way. I can't buy the schedule argument.

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One thing I'm curious about is which players show the most determination day in and day out in practices.

I hear Matthias is one of the hardest working dogs out there on a consistent basis. A guy who truly loves practicing.

When the coaching staff is making decisions on who to sit for games, it may have to do with not only their game performance but their dedication to the team outside of game times too.

I'm sure it does and I'm curious why Kass sat out the last optional skate when he was benched the game before?

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I'm sure it does and I'm curious why Kass sat out the last optional skate when he was benched the game before?

I wasn't going to say so because I do believe the whole team suffers from it but this was the reason I posted the thread. When your future is in question and you skip the optional skates, something is wrong with the picture, but for that matter the same goes for the older guys.

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What did I notice last night about Kenins? He finished every single play with a hit. He didn't let a Jet go , he didn't fly-by, he bounced them, pushed off, and left them on the boards. He even took a penalty by being so determined to make the hit that he went out of position and got caught with the hold. A badpenalty can be overlooked when the guy is making the right kind of mistakes. Those kinds of mistakes that you kind of just have to overlook because the guy is doing what you asked and just has to gauge it a bit better. Never mind it's his third NHL game!

Every shift, a hit guaranteed, by a guy with his third game, and the only guy on the team making the boards rattle with the impact of a Jets player. You could take his goal away and I would still be impressed by how much he did that Zack hasn't, it's astounding. I say play the two on the same line since Kass tends to try to play like the other guys on his line.

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How is it that a guy playing his third game has a better looking shot and more disciplined game than some guys on the team.. Could it be that they practice shooting more in Utica..? Maybe it's because there are consequences for not following instructions in the AHL? Why should making the NHL roster be a get-out-of-the-doghouse-free card?

More rookies please. Just remove and replace the second line with hungry rookies.

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What did I notice last night about Kenins? He finished every single play with a hit. He didn't let a Jet go , he didn't fly-by, he bounced them, pushed off, and left them on the boards. He even took a penalty by being so determined to make the hit that he went out of position and got caught with the hold. A badpenalty can be overlooked when the guy is making the right kind of mistakes. Those kinds of mistakes that you kind of just have to overlook because the guy is doing what you asked and just has to gauge it a bit better. Never mind it's his third NHL game!

Every shift, a hit guaranteed, by a guy with his third game, and the only guy on the team making the boards rattle with the impact of a Jets player. You could take his goal away and I would still be impressed by how much he did that Zack hasn't, it's astounding. I say play the two on the same line since Kass tends to try to play like the other guys on his line.

There you go. If that doesn't get Kassian interested in the game, nothing will.

Do it, Willie.

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