Welcome to Coach's Corner, a new feature at Thunderwolveshockey.com! Each week, Head Coach Pete Belliveau will gives his thoughts on the team's play for the past weekend's series and also his thoughts on Lakehead's next opponent.
UBC Series: (Two Lakehead Wins)
My thoughts on our overall play is lukewarm. Our coaching staff did observe some great individual efforts in goal scoring and sometough backchecking. I think we need more games to upgrade our timing and systems.
Areas to improve on:
- Our Defensive Zone Coverage (Man on Man) was slow, we were reacting to them ...meaning we were seconds behind and therefore out of defensive position.
- Our breakouts were sporadic, timing and passing were off target so we could not utilize our speed which is our strength. Our wingers must be stronger off the wall in our zone, this is a crucial area of defensive zone play which keeps shots against down.
- Key players in the second UBC game were: Grant McCune, Wyatt Tunnicliffe, Murray Magill, Mike Jacobsen, Peter Cava, Hugo Lehoux and Jeff Richards.
Next Series: Non-Conference vs Wilfred Laurier in Thunder Bay
Laurier Head Coach Mark French has done a great job in recruiting so we expect a tougher opponent than last year, and last season they played us very tough as both games were only decided in third period. They have improved their defensive brigade with the addition of quarterback Malcolm Hutt and other significant major junior additions.
That's it for first weekend of Thunderwolves Hockey from the coaching room!