88. Looking Back Over The 2019-20 Season

*For Japanese fans, I am writing this for people from English-speaking countries this time. （日本の方へ、今回は現地の方々に向けて書かせていただいています。）

Hi everyone! This is Yuki Miura. Today I'm gonna write a reflective report for this season in English. It is my first time writing a blog in English so It might take a long time to finish this up but the reason why I do this is that I want to express my gratitude to everyone who supported us. Let's start!

Thanks seniors

It's sad to tell you all that our 2019-20 season is over now. To be honest, I still cannot believe that we don't have games this weekend. It was a very close game against Bemidji. But It's over now. Before I start looking back, I have to say this. It's been an unreal ride with the boys and YES, we couldn't have done it without you, seniors! Our leaders showed great leadership both on and off the ice and they always guided this team in the right direction. I was not able to stop my tears when I hugged all of you after the last game. The Last three years with you were awesome!
Max, B-mac, Johnny, Sacco, Bassy, and Gels. Thank you so much for everything you have done for us. You guys are the best!

Personal Stats

From here, I am going to talk about individual stats. Before the season starts, I set some goals for my junior year. 

1. Play all games
2. get 20 points 
3. "consistency"

For the first goal, I was able to achieve it. Throughout the whole season, we played 41 games and I dressed all of them. For my freshman year, I played only 7 games because of my eligibility and injury. In my sophomore year, I was healthy for the whole season but I was having a hard time getting in the line up so I could play only 23 games. It was an improvement point for me being in the line up each game without big injury.

I could not attain the second goal. This year I played 41 games and tailed 2 goals and 12 assists. The thing I have to work on is the "ability to finish." Looking back, I can say that I had at least 10 grade A scoring chances for me through this season such as breakaway, or backdoor tapping. I want to contribute to the team by scoring more goals next year. The good thing was I registered 12 points. This couldn't be done alone. I deeply appreciate my linemates!

"Consistency" throughout the whole season was not enough this year. This is one of my biggest matters that I have to overcome. Beginning of the year I had a good start. However, I felt the second half of the season was not as good as the first half. As a hockey player, I gotta be consistent on the ice even if I was tired or whatever. Keep my performance at a high level and being able to control my physical and mental condition are the key for me to be successful next year.

The one thing that I feel I made progress is defensive stuff. This year I played as a penalty-killing player. I have never been PK guy in the past two years so it was a new challenge for me. Sometimes I was nervous to get on the ice when we have a big PK situation but at the same time, it was a super fun time! I can't thank enough to my PK partners for the big help! I am still not good enough, so I will keep working hard in this area and want to help to save our goal next year as well. I want to say thank you to coaches for help discovering my new strength.

Related to this topic, the ability to eat the pucks (blocking the shots) was another improvement for me. According to WCHA, I blocked 34 shots in 41 games and led all WCHA forwards in this category in the regular season. I am surprised. It hurts to block shots sometimes, but I am glad that I could help to save our goalies! Whatever it takes to defend our house! :)

To close...

I cannot find the correct words to express how I am thankful to everyone for sticking together with us. It was a great year and nothing could achieve without the support of fans. I can't believe I will be senior next year... The last 3 years have flashed by so fast! I will work hard this summer to get ready for my final year at Lake State!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINOUS SUPPORT! SEE YOU IN OCTOBER! LOVE YOU ALL!

Yuki Miura