Tuesday's With Corey - Episode 4

This weekly feature ‘Tuesdays with Corey’ is inspired by a book called ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’, written by the famous author Mitch Albom.  In this motivational true story, Mitch reflects with his old university professor, Morey, about life lessons and how to live your life to the fullest.

This is Coach Crocker’s favourite book. Every Tuesday, Corey will give Rambler fans his personal thoughts of the past games and other related topics.  He will also post his favourite weekly motivational quote and a tip for all young hockey players to use in practice.  Enjoy!!!

Episode 4– Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009

Hello Fans,

I hope you enjoy this feature ‘Tuesdays with Corey’.  I am really excited to do this weekly feature and thanks for supporting our team.

We played two out of division games this past weekend against the Summerside Capitals and the Dieppe Commandos.  On Friday evening we boarded the bus and headed across the Confederation Bridge to Summerside, PEI to battle the defending MJAHL Champions.  In early October we beat the Capitals 2-1 in a nail biter at the Amherst Stadium.  The game on Friday started out with a bang with Will Johnson and Yohann Mathieu going toe to toe as soon as the puck dropped.  Shayne O’Byrne then followed suit and got into his own tussle.  After two fights both teams settled down and played some good hard nose hockey.  In the first period Scott Bragg, just back from injury scored a highlight reel goal dangling the opponent before going backhand and putting the puck into the top shelf.  In the second period both teams exchanged shots but no one could find the back on the net.  In the third Summerside was on the lucky end scoring two goals to win the game 3-1.  The game was well executed.  Although we didn’t win we did play well and had multiple chances to score goals.  Our PK was very good but our PP was off on this night.  If our PP was working against Summerside we would have had an opportunity to win the game.  Jon Waye was solid once again.  Justin Matthews was back in the line-up from having a week off.  Justin is recovering from the H1N1 virus.

On Saturday morning the boys met at the rink at 11:00am for a short team meeting and to re-focus for Saturday’s game against the hard working Cammandos.  The theme for Saturday night’s game was ‘PLAYOFF ATTITUDE’.  We felt as a team that we needed a playoff effort after our performance a week ago in front of our loyal fans.  A ‘playoff attitude’ it was.  Scoring three goals and not giving up any is a mixture for success.  Special teams and solid goaltending were the key factors toward beating Dieppe.  Adam Chipman scored a goal shorthanded on determination and work ethic.  Jon Waye was spectacular between the pipes earning his first career MJAHL shutout.

Final thoughts on the weekend – Our team played well in both games but could only manage to get two points out of a possible four.  Jon Waye was outstanding in both outings.  There were improvements from the previous week and we will continue to make our group better as the season goes forward.

This is an important week for the Ramblers organization as all members of the coaching staff will head to Moncton to scout the AAA Midget Tournament.  All the top midget players in Atlantic Canada will showcase their talents from Thursday to Sunday at the 4Ice Plex in Moncton.

I would also like to mention that tonight (Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009) at 7:15pm at the Amherst Stadium the Central Ice Pak AAA Midget team from Newfoundland will play against Rothesay Netherwood Private School.  This is a pre tournament event before teams gear up for the Monctonian.  I encourage all fans to come out and watch some great young talent.

‘QUOTE OF THE WEEK’

“The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure.  These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.”

‘FUTURE RAMBLERS PRACTICE TIP’

THE SNAP SHOT

The snap shot is a valuable shot, as it is quick accurate from 30 feet away.

·         The stick blade is at a 90-degree angle to the desired direction of the puck, and the puck is cupped in the middle of the stick blade.

·         The stick is drawn back about one inch from the puck.

·         The wrist are extended and flexed when the stick blade hits the puck.  The follow through is short.

·         Top snap shots in the NHL are Ovechkin, Crosby, and Heatley.  Check out Rambler forward Simon Bissonnette snap a puck.  One of if not the hardest snap shot in MJAHL.

There will be no “Tuesday with Corey” next week (Nov. 24).  It will return the following week. 

Hope you enjoyed this week’s episode.  Once again, thanks for your continued support.  We will not be playing at home this weekend.  We are on the road to Halifax on Thursday and on Saturday will battle our rival Bearcats in Truro.

Yours in Hockey,

CC