Two Team Victories and Good Luck in the Tournament!

My son’s team won two games this weekend. The victories are always nice since the games were within their league. What stood out for me, however, was my old theory that it takes the number 3 to see change in a team. It isn’t a scientific theory, mostly common sense, but if you give the players 3 opportunities to practice something new (extensively), it will arrive in their play (as a team) after 3 games. This could be 3 weeks or 6 weeks depending on their game and practice schedules.

This week I saw the Cannon Play work as designed. The goalie had no clue it was coming and was stunned. They had about 3 formal practices with it. They had more than 3 games since the full 3 practices. They mostly dabbled getting the cannon loaded but now it is part of the team’s routine.


I saw the defensemen pass the puck back and forth to themselves (to control the offensive zone) with better precision and more consistency. Again formal 3, on Saturday the defense were told to do it. On Sunday it was pretty fluent.


I saw the defensemen fire pucks on the net. They went from serving toast (just a few weeks ago) to serving biscuits to the goalie. Pretty soon hotcakes will be flying into the net. This was a bit more than 3 but it has arrived.


I saw many of the forwards drop stick handling in the neutral zone and move to flipping the puck in. They were faster on their attack because of the flip in and it showed. The defense would turn to get the puck but the forwards were moving at full speed. They were able to continue taking the puck to the net.


I saw many of the players angling to pick up the puck on the boards and this lead to them getting checked less often and they maintained better speed sweeping up the puck. A formal 1 hour training from Heads Up Hockey this past Monday helped a lot.


The 3 isn’t about individual skill it’s about the entire team. You know it has arrived because you visually can see the team rise to the next level. That is what I saw this weekend. Their puck movement, attack speed, and ice awareness as a team has stepped up to the next level. Hopefully, this bodes well for the tournament. Great job Huskies. Good luck in the tournament. Teams win tournaments and you certainly have one.