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University of Massachusets Athletics
Inside The Glass With Troy Power
September 30, 2014 | Hockey
With excitement and enthusiasm I get to say that it is finally game week! As mentioned in my previous blog, the summer's long lay off is coming to an end. With that being said, I thought that it would be a fun to give you an inside look at what a game week is like from a player's eyes, with an emphasis on what we as a team do in the five practices leading up to the weekend games. For the most part, our games fall on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the year so our schedule for the week is one built with consistency. Although the drills change throughout the week, each day has a main focus and each exercise is used to achieve our goal for the day.
Monday: Skills Day
On Monday our practice is usually built around building skills and getting our legs going after a day off. Practice consists of "Flow" drills that get many guys involved at the same time and run consistently without a whistle. All drills are done at a really fast pace and practice typically lasts anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes. Being one of the shorter days of the week, we often times end Monday's with a quick conditioning skate that consists of short, fast-paced, sprints that we call "over-speed conditioning". Even though this is a short skate, it gets your heart rate going and challenges your body to move at a pace that is outside your comfort zone. Each practice is concluded with a team stretch at center ice that is led by captains and upperclassmen. On Monday's we lift as a team post-practice so following our stretch we leave the ice and change into our workout clothes to arrive at Boyden Gymnasium in a timely fashion.
Tuesday: Work Day
Tuesday's are usually one of the hardest days of the week as drills are geared towards battling against one another. It's a day that's all about competition and is often times filled with physicality and many of the drills are also run at a very high pace. Tuesday's sessions typically last anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half. With nothing scheduled after practice, guys have time to work on individual skill work, get an extra conditioning, or a stretch before heading to the dining commons or homes to eat dinner.
Wednesday: Flow Drills/Systems
On Wednesday's we begin our system prep for the weekend. Initially we open practice with a couple of flow drills that get our legs going and get some puck touches to warm ourselves, and the goaltenders, up. Once that is completed, the bulk of practice is typically built around perfecting our systems play for the weekend ahead. This prep includes drills that emphasize our 2-1-2 aggressive fore check, our defensive zone coverage, and lastly our neutral zone play. Practice usually ranges from an hour to an hour and a half and once completed we head to Boyden for our final lift of the week.
Thursday: "Feel Good Thursday"
"Feel Good Thursday" is our final day of full practice before we compete on the weekend and consists of drills that help guys get the final tweaks out to ensure they "feel good" for the big games ahead. We usually open practice will drills that are team favorites to emphasize camaraderie and get guys excited for the weekend. The second half of practice we work on our special teams. Our power play works against a mock penalty kill in a scheme that we will be facing during the weekend. This helps us prepare for what we will see and allows us to find weaknesses that we can capitalize on when it really counts. Our penalty kill also works in a similar fashion against a mock power play to make sure we are aware of possible plays opponents will try to run against our team. Thursday is usually the shortest day of the week and, once practice is over, we go over a scouting video of our weekend opponent. This is a vital time to familiarize yourself with the team you will see the next night so you can give yourself the best chance of coming out of the game with two points.
Friday: Pre-Game Skate
Pre-game skates have one purpose--to prepare you for the game at night. It is a very light skate that consists of one to two quick drills that get you moving to break a light sweat. Not only is it a time to loosen up your body but focus your mind so you're locked in for the battle that evening. When playing at home, our team skate lasts from 10-10:30 A.M. On the road our times vary because each opposing team has a unique time they like their skate to take place.
These five practices help prepare ourselves to be the best we can be on the weekends. By covering a wide variety of information and schemes as well as practicing at a high pace we cover all angles of what we will see Friday and Saturday nights. While you probably won't see our weekday practices, we hope you see our hard work pay off this Saturday as we take on Dalhousie at 7 P.M. at the Mullins Center! Go UMass!