Coach's Corner #18

with Springfield Falcon's Asst. Coach Phil Russell

The Springfield Falcons earned four out of six points on the weekend and by the time this article goes to print we will have a NEW Super Bowl Winner. The AHL 2006 ALL-STAR Classic was played in Winnipeg, Manitoba with our own #9 Ryan Vesce earning an assist. It wasn't enough as PlanetUSA were defeated by the Canadians, 9-4. It was Vesce's first All Star game. Way to go, Ryan! In another first, Doug O'Brien recently returned to the Birds after playing in his first few NHL games.

February 2006 is upon us and the coaching staff optimistically looks at this as a month to "make hay." The Birds of Prey will play Norfolk 3X, Lowell 2X, Bridgeport, Philly, Manchester, Hartford, Wilkes-Barre, & Albany. Time to make a move and have everyone on the same page.

The cover story of a recent Hockey News is the ineptitude of my old team the Chicago Blackhawks. A few interesting things were said that I will quote. Martin Lapointe says "We've got to live and breathe and die with the system because it works. You can't have two or three guys not doing it." He remembers when he was with teams in Detroit, Scotty Bowman made everybody believe in the system, and everybody was doing it. Lapointe continued, "When we get the puck in and start forchecking, there's not a lot of teams out there that can handle the pressure." OK Falcon fans, doesn't this sound a little familiar to our own dilemmas. We are either applying pressure or having it applied to us. Personally, I believe in the XMAS philosophy that it is better to give than to receive. We have to all believe that February is the time to "make hay" and get this ship pointed into the playoffs.

We have found ourselves unable to win a shootout as well. One can practice breakaways all day long, but a player has to have his "go to" move down pat that he can use when called upon in a shootout. Top-flight skill guys is not our strong suit but we should be able to grind and bang with the best of them.

The Falcons have been very disciplined penalty wise, and seek to continue to improve in the specialty teams area. Setting goals and committing to reach and strive towards them is what the Falcons are about. So let's get on the train and start chugging towards the Playoffs.