Every team has — and likes — a routine. Ohio would like to establish one going into its season opener this Friday against John Carroll.
This week, however, may not be easiest.
Coach Sean Hogan and his wife, Meagan, are expecting their first child, so Hogan will be away from the team until Thursday. That leaves one day the Bobcats’ coach will be back before the first game at Bird Arena.
That means new assistant coach Mike Gugin will be leading the Bobcats in preparation for their season opener against the Blue Streaks.
Luckily, Hogan liked most of what he saw in Friday’s Green and White Scrimmage. The Bobcats had a lot of positives coming out of the game, such as the play of their backup goalies and the three freshmen who found the back of the net. There’s a few things the team needs to fix before the season actually starts. Mostly, though, it’s getting the rhythm back in a team that is returning all but three players from last season.
“I just want to get crisper on the details of what we do,” Hogan said Friday. “Some of the details weren’t great today.”
One of the details Hogan would liked worked out is the goalie exchange. Early in the scrimmage, Jimmy Thomas skated out of the crease to retrieve a puck that was sitting behind his goal. On his attempt to clear the puck, it was taken by a player from the White team, there was a wide-open net, but luckily for Thomas, no goal was scored.
Things like that can’t happen in a real game, which the Bobcats know.
That should improve when the Bobcats get more ice time as the season progresses. The lines won’t get tired as quickly, and there will be less sloppiness on things like exchanges from behind the net.
“Some of our systems broke down, especially when we got tired,” Hogan said.
With most teams, there seems to be visible improvement from the open of the season to the next week. Ohio skated in a mostly full game — the second half of the scrimmage was cut short because of ice conditions — the week before the opener; it hoped to get the kinks out.
The Bobcats know what they need to work on and they have a week in front of them.
This week might be a little different than most this season with Hogan out through Wednesday to be with his wife.
“It’s going to be a unique week,” Hogan said. “It’s going to be a little different.”
