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Dispatch

COLLEGE HOCKEY
Watching TV helps Buckeyes
OSU hopes to learn from its mistakes

Friday, November 17, 2006

Scott Priestle
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



Like most college students, Ohio State hockey players have spent plenty of time in front of a television in recent weeks, but their sets haven?t been tuned to ESPN or Comedy Central. The Buckeyes have watched replay after replay of their mistakes on the ice.
Just 10 games into the season, there already have been enough mistakes to wear out a remote control.
Ohio State is 2-6-2 entering a game tonight at Bowling Green, including 2-4-2 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
The defense has been surprisingly porous and the effort inconsistent. Coach John Markell said players are "not thinking the game well" on a consistent basis.
"It?s something we have to visit and revisit every week," he said.
"We have to revisit every situation we play, and we can?t ever expect them to get it. I don?t think that is their fault. I think it?s the fault of any athlete ? including myself when I played ? that you try to take the easy way out, and there is no easy way out.
"One of the things we?re doing is what I think football teams do: they grade themselves and break down video to specifics, where they know exactly if a guy missed a tackle or a guy didn?t finish out a run.
"We have to do the same thing, and then the kids understand what we mean by ?finishing a check? or ?getting back on the defensive side.? We have to explain it to them."
After a disheartening 8-5 loss to Western Michigan last Thursday, Markell kept the players in Value City Arena well past midnight to watch the performance. Not coincidentally, the Buckeyes played perhaps their most complete game the next night, in a 2-2 tie with Western (if not for some questionable officiating, it would have been a 3-2 or 3-1 win).
The refrain afterward was that the Buckeyes played their systems well. Which is to say, they executed the style of team defense Markell and his staff have implemented through the years.
"This game is played with your eyes and your ears, especially as quick as it is. It?s very spontaneous," Markell said. "We have to trust that our guys know exactly what they?re doing in different situations, and we continue to walk them through that."
The team defense is even more important this season, because the Buckeyes are relying on two freshman goaltenders in Joseph Palmer and Nick Filion.
The six-man defensive corps, which includes three seniors and two juniors, figured to be a security blanket but has not. Senior Tyson Strachan admittedly has struggled to get up to speed after sitting out the last half of last season because of a broken wrist; he was scratched for two games earlier this month.
"I was a little slow. It was a little tough getting back," Strachan said. "Coach basically just sat me down, gave me a little break and said, ?You?re a senior on this team. You?re a leader and you need to step up and show the guys where to go.? I think this past weekend I started to get back on track."
He was quick to point out that the season is still young, so there is time for the Buckeyes to turn it around. In the meantime, there will be plenty of time in front of the television.
"At times, it is frustrating," Strachan said. "But at the same time, we see a lot of good things."
spriestle@dispatch.com