Getting Out of a Slump

[breaklouis35]

With the pandemic chewing up ice time, I've been finding myself in quite a bit of a slump and can't seem to get out of it. This season a lot of our better players opted out of playing and we played most games with 6-7 skaters. I went from having an .886 (I know, not great, but when your team is defensively challenged, it's all I could do) to an .835. To me, it seems like a huge drop off. 

I was still doing the same things in the off season, stretching, hand-eye drills, etc. Thanks to the pandemic, I couldn't get back on the ice until our season started, so I couldn't attend any stick and puck sessions to work on skating. We would go through, sometimes, 10-12 days of no games. It was frustrating as I would feel great and feel like I'm getting back into a groove and then I don't play for two weeks.

I took a break, due to a move to a new state and the pandemic shutting things down, thinking it would be nice to reset. Well, I played for the first time in a month and a half last night and got blasted. I made saves I should be making, but also letting in shots I should've been saving.

Has anyone gone through this? I know it's just beer league, but I haven't won a game since March and it hasn't been fun. Thanks for any tips or advice.

[ThatCarGuy]

Personally when routine doesn’t work I change something to try and get out of the low. Whether it be how I strap the pads up, what stretches I do, what I eat for breakfast, if you’re in a slump change is the best way out in my opinion. 

[Charlie T]

2 hours ago, breaklouis35 said:

With the pandemic chewing up ice time, I've been finding myself in quite a bit of a slump and can't seem to get out of it. This season a lot of our better players opted out of playing and we played most games with 6-7 skaters. I went from having an .886 (I know, not great, but when your team is defensively challenged, it's all I could do) to an .835. To me, it seems like a huge drop off. 

I was still doing the same things in the off season, stretching, hand-eye drills, etc. Thanks to the pandemic, I couldn't get back on the ice until our season started, so I couldn't attend any stick and puck sessions to work on skating. We would go through, sometimes, 10-12 days of no games. It was frustrating as I would feel great and feel like I'm getting back into a groove and then I don't play for two weeks.

I took a break, due to a move to a new state and the pandemic shutting things down, thinking it would be nice to reset. Well, I played for the first time in a month and a half last night and got blasted. I made saves I should be making, but also letting in shots I should've been saving.

Has anyone gone through this? I know it's just beer league, but I haven't won a game since March and it hasn't been fun. Thanks for any tips or advice.

Try to keep things simple and just play hockey, sometimes in a slump people become harder on themselves with their routine when most of the time its better to just try and relax and focus on playing for the love of the game

[Colander]

Agree with @Charlie T. It sounds like you are with a new team (?)  If that is the case these things always take time to get used to - teammates and opponents.

One thing I always try to remind myself of when I have a lousy outing (=always) is that I always play the same game – I don’t go into a game saying “ahh, I’ll only try on every 2^nd breakaway” or “ yeah that shot looks pretty hard – not gonna get in the way of that”. I think it’s a mindset of most goalies that we are going to do everything we can to stop the shot be it shinny or NHL - if not, why bother going out? Comparing games where I played extremely well vs. those I got shelled, a lot of times the shot I got a glove on in one was the one someone put a stick on before it got to me the other. The one that just missed the net one game goes post-in in another game.

Also don’t discount your team – what do you think your save % would look like if your team put in a 75% effort vs 100%?

[breaklouis35]

On 1/11/2021 at 4:35 PM, Colander said:

Agree with @Charlie T. It sounds like you are with a new team (?)  If that is the case these things always take time to get used to - teammates and opponents.

One thing I always try to remind myself of when I have a lousy outing (=always) is that I always play the same game – I don’t go into a game saying “ahh, I’ll only try on every 2^nd breakaway” or “ yeah that shot looks pretty hard – not gonna get in the way of that”. I think it’s a mindset of most goalies that we are going to do everything we can to stop the shot be it shinny or NHL - if not, why bother going out? Comparing games where I played extremely well vs. those I got shelled, a lot of times the shot I got a glove on in one was the one someone put a stick on before it got to me the other. The one that just missed the net one game goes post-in in another game.

Also don’t discount your team – what do you think your save % would look like if your team put in a 75% effort vs 100%?

Yes, I am kinda with a new team, just subbing for now. For the record, I don't blame goals or my poor play on the effort of the guys in front of me. I 100% put the blame on my shoulders, every time, all the time. It's a bad habit. I'm still trying to play the same game, just feel like I am in a rut, regardless of who is playing in front me.

I never thought about this before, "a lot of times the shot I got a glove on in one was the one someone put a stick on before it got to me the other. The one that just missed the net one game goes post-in in another game." That's a good point.

And I couldn't tell ya what my save percentage would like if my team put in 100% effort, most likely the same. I just get down on myself a lot, because for some unknown reason, I must stop all pucks.

Thanks for chiming in everyone.