The confidence is building
It’s taken me a couple of days to get back to everyone, but everyone is still thrilled about Saturday’s comeback victory at Wichita.
It was a must win in our eyes. You can’t get behind the 8-ball that early in the season and expect to come back That’s never an easy building to play in and I thought the guys played really well.
Once we got that first goal, we got a little bit of confidence and we just kept coming.
I really give credit to Musky and how he had us focused in that game. We got a penalty late in the game and a penalty in overtime. Normally we’re complaining, but he said, “you know what boys, we have to kill these” and he put our focus in the right direction.
That a great credit to the coach and some of the leaders like Forbie, Brass and Quade.
I got a chance to end things in the shootout. I went 0-for-2 this year so far, so I needed to get one under my belt and not give them another shot. It felt good.
I went shelf. I tell all the young boys you have to be a salesman out there. I faked a shot, pulled it to my forehand and went upstairs.
It’s been a good feeling since Saturday. We didn’t get our 4 points last weekend, but this season we talk about it all the time -- it’s a process. It’s a long year and every game you have to learn from your situations.
Forbie stepped up in the room after the Tulsa game and told us we can’t worry about the ref, we have to worry about not taking so many penalties. That killed us, taking a lot or penalties, and that was a big part of our losses.
I have to step up and not take as many. The boys recognize they can’t take as many, either. When you recognize your mistake, it is a step forward. When you keep on making the same mistake, the process isn’t there.
Fans will get their first chance to see Kyle Musselman on Thursday at the CenturyTel. Center. This kid hits like a truck. He ran over a couple of guys this weekend. He keeps his game simple and works hard out there. I think he’s going to provide a lot toughness we’ve been lacking the past few years. With him and Chris Murphy, we have a couple young kids that add that dimension.
Hopefully we can continue the momentum from the last 40 minutes against the Thunder. Hockey is a game of confidence. Sometimes when you have so much confidence, the net feels like it’s a soccer net. When you don’t, it feels like it’s half a net to shoot at.
Our team needs a little confidence. We’re getting to know each other and know each others’ roles – that plays a key factor in our style of hockey. We play a D system, we’re not going to win games 5-1 or 5-2, it’s normally 2-1 games and 3-1 games. New guys are just learning how to play in those tight games. We’re stressing defense and Musky’s systems takes a little while to get used to and he’s doing a good job teaching these young guys.
What else can you say about John DeCaro.
Johnny filled in for Ken Carroll and has been our best player by far this year. He’s stood on his head. We probably should have been down five more goals in Tulsa and he stood on his head. Then he played a great game in Wichita, that’s not an easy place to play when you have guys like Travis Clayton and Jason Duda shooting pucks at you all night. They are pretty opportunistic.
He’s a good young goalie.
It was a must win in our eyes. You can’t get behind the 8-ball that early in the season and expect to come back That’s never an easy building to play in and I thought the guys played really well.
Once we got that first goal, we got a little bit of confidence and we just kept coming.
I really give credit to Musky and how he had us focused in that game. We got a penalty late in the game and a penalty in overtime. Normally we’re complaining, but he said, “you know what boys, we have to kill these” and he put our focus in the right direction.
That a great credit to the coach and some of the leaders like Forbie, Brass and Quade.
I got a chance to end things in the shootout. I went 0-for-2 this year so far, so I needed to get one under my belt and not give them another shot. It felt good.
I went shelf. I tell all the young boys you have to be a salesman out there. I faked a shot, pulled it to my forehand and went upstairs.
It’s been a good feeling since Saturday. We didn’t get our 4 points last weekend, but this season we talk about it all the time -- it’s a process. It’s a long year and every game you have to learn from your situations.
Forbie stepped up in the room after the Tulsa game and told us we can’t worry about the ref, we have to worry about not taking so many penalties. That killed us, taking a lot or penalties, and that was a big part of our losses.
I have to step up and not take as many. The boys recognize they can’t take as many, either. When you recognize your mistake, it is a step forward. When you keep on making the same mistake, the process isn’t there.
Fans will get their first chance to see Kyle Musselman on Thursday at the CenturyTel. Center. This kid hits like a truck. He ran over a couple of guys this weekend. He keeps his game simple and works hard out there. I think he’s going to provide a lot toughness we’ve been lacking the past few years. With him and Chris Murphy, we have a couple young kids that add that dimension.
Hopefully we can continue the momentum from the last 40 minutes against the Thunder. Hockey is a game of confidence. Sometimes when you have so much confidence, the net feels like it’s a soccer net. When you don’t, it feels like it’s half a net to shoot at.
Our team needs a little confidence. We’re getting to know each other and know each others’ roles – that plays a key factor in our style of hockey. We play a D system, we’re not going to win games 5-1 or 5-2, it’s normally 2-1 games and 3-1 games. New guys are just learning how to play in those tight games. We’re stressing defense and Musky’s systems takes a little while to get used to and he’s doing a good job teaching these young guys.
What else can you say about John DeCaro.
Johnny filled in for Ken Carroll and has been our best player by far this year. He’s stood on his head. We probably should have been down five more goals in Tulsa and he stood on his head. Then he played a great game in Wichita, that’s not an easy place to play when you have guys like Travis Clayton and Jason Duda shooting pucks at you all night. They are pretty opportunistic.
He’s a good young goalie.
posted by Dan Wildfong at 11:19 AM
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