Dec 15, 2017 | GeoffRead | 196 views
Selfish Play Leads to Demoralizing 3-1 Loss
Every hockey team has its ups and downs over the course of a season. It's fair to say that after going on something of a tear in November, the Hawks have hit the skids over the past couple of games. Hopefully, the Hawks have now bottomed out, because they played a listless, selfish game against Oakridge 41 on Wednesday, and no one wants to see it repeated.
Let's begin with the bright spots. Goalie Zach Read's form looked a little shaky at times but he made several good saves, including one snag with his glove and another where he shot out his right foot to rob an Oakridge forward from in close. Certainly, Read could not be faulted on the three goals, two of which came off deflections in front while the third was a hard wrister to the top right corner on a breakaway. Defenceman Matt Hodgins also played a good game and made a pretty rush up the right side that led to the Hawks' only goal by Matt DiCicco who jammed in Hodgins' rebound. Jacob Grover played with his usual grit on the back end and call ups Caden Nielsen and Miles Peterkin put in spirited efforts - Nielsen nearly scored a couple of times. Player of the game Cole Chick also played well, going in hard on the forecheck and causing several turnovers and coming back to help out in his own end. Finally, the Hawks did make a game of it in the third period as they finally found their legs and played with some resolve.
However, it was too little too late.
And it was too late because the Hawks had played their worst game of the season for the first two periods. There were several unsettling trends for Hawks' fans. One was that a tendency to try to do it all by themselves continued to be prevalent among the Hawks' most skilled forwards. Centreman Owen Worby was particularly guilty of this, trying to stickhandle around and/or through every player on the Oakridge roster rather than looking for his open linemates, Chick and Peterkin. Matt DiCicco did play give and go a few times with centreman Callum Knapp, but he too was guilty of trying to do it all himself at times and kept trying to dipsy doodle through the middle rather than taking the puck wide as someone with his speed and size should do. As for Knapp, he made some nice passes but let his anger get the better of him several times slamming his stick against the boards and bumping Oakridge players: he was lucky not to get an unsportsmanlike conduct or roughing penalty from the referees. Most upsetting for the coaching staff was that the Hawks turned on each other, blaming one another for the loss, pointing fingers etc., which is not what good teams and teammates do. This selfish attitude was signalled as well by the fact that only defenceman Pyper Baker and DiCicco went up to tell Read "good game" after the buzzer and no one cheered his effort in the dressing room. It's one thing to dislike losing; it's another not to support your goaltender and teammates. Barging out of the room without speaking to anyone on the team, for example, doesn't show competitive fire: it shows a losing attitude. The leaders on the team need to lead by example, and that includes losing with a little class. If you gave your best effort, you should skate off the ice with your head held high and show solidarity with your goalie by complimenting his work.
It was as though the Hawks had forgotten what had made them successful: hard work, a strong forecheck, maximum effort on the back check, a good, structured break out, and a supportive team atmosophere. Cross your fingers Hawks' fans and hope that the Hawks rally together as a team and snap out of this funk in their next match tomorrow night. Hopefully, the improved play in the third will be a sign of things to come.