Individual News
22nd of February 2008
After just two weekend games, it can sometimes be quite difficult to see the games clearly enough to write about them in this column. I've never had to look back on four games in five days before - and I hope I won't have to again - but even on Tuesday morning, after a workout in the gym, I find myself with quite contradictory feelings.
My strongest feeling is of pride in the quality of the teamwork we showed in all the games. Of course playing games back to back when you're short-benched will have an effect but perhaps not in the way many fans think. When you're tired, it affects you both mentally and physically. Your decision-making and execution only need to drop a notch for your opponents to take advantage. As a team we know that if a mistake is made we will pull together to put it right; we also know the "mistake" may be a result of the play that has gone on before.
There's only one guy who is on the ice all the time, whose concentration levels can never drop and who is the last line of defence. The D-men know how he relies on them and they in turn know how they depend on the support of the forwards. Curtis has been turning in great performances week after week. He's the first to acknowledge how much he owes to the team.
That's what makes any team sport so satisfying, especially a sport as intense and demanding as ice-hockey. We have guys in the team who are learning to make their way at this level playing alongside others with lots of experience. It's great to watch the way a real team helps everyone develop.
We all share the frustration of a weekend in which we could have come away with eight points. Mike Ellis still can't believe how we pinched a win in Nottingham. We played well enough in Newcastle to deserve the points and their winning goal nine seconds from the end was gut wrenching.
And then two narrow home losses. The Giants' forechecking, taking away the boards and forcing the defence to play into centre ice, kept the pressure on us all game. On Sunday. we seemed to lose momentum after a few dubious calls.
See you all Saturday. We need your energy!
Ryan Writes appears on the Follow the Herd page ever Thursday during the season
My strongest feeling is of pride in the quality of the teamwork we showed in all the games. Of course playing games back to back when you're short-benched will have an effect but perhaps not in the way many fans think. When you're tired, it affects you both mentally and physically. Your decision-making and execution only need to drop a notch for your opponents to take advantage. As a team we know that if a mistake is made we will pull together to put it right; we also know the "mistake" may be a result of the play that has gone on before.
There's only one guy who is on the ice all the time, whose concentration levels can never drop and who is the last line of defence. The D-men know how he relies on them and they in turn know how they depend on the support of the forwards. Curtis has been turning in great performances week after week. He's the first to acknowledge how much he owes to the team.
That's what makes any team sport so satisfying, especially a sport as intense and demanding as ice-hockey. We have guys in the team who are learning to make their way at this level playing alongside others with lots of experience. It's great to watch the way a real team helps everyone develop.
We all share the frustration of a weekend in which we could have come away with eight points. Mike Ellis still can't believe how we pinched a win in Nottingham. We played well enough in Newcastle to deserve the points and their winning goal nine seconds from the end was gut wrenching.
And then two narrow home losses. The Giants' forechecking, taking away the boards and forcing the defence to play into centre ice, kept the pressure on us all game. On Sunday. we seemed to lose momentum after a few dubious calls.
See you all Saturday. We need your energy!
Ryan Writes appears on the Follow the Herd page ever Thursday during the season