At first glance, there is nothing out of the ordinary about the way the Oregon hockey team closed out its last practice of the week.
Skaters practice penalty shots — if they score, they’re done. If not, they get back in line. However, it’s the end of this shoot-’til-you-score drill that makes what the Ducks lovingly call the Lemon Drill so unique.
Whichever player is the last to score must take a large bite out of a lemon, and perhaps most embarrassingly, don a pink jersey for the team’s next two practices.
The jersey is not just a little bit pink either. It’s very pink, and comes complete with matching pink socks.
“It’s supposed to, de-masculate — if that’s a word —the lemon, and take away the pride that goes with playing hockey for Oregon,” explained sophomore defenseman Matt Hanlon.
This week’s “lemon” is senior forward Preston Johnson, who will don the not-so-coveted pink jersey for the second time. He was quick to jokingly point to his stick as the culprit.
“It’s the stick, that’s what’s happening here,” he said. “It’s a little too heavy for my taste.”
Johnson has no hard feelings about losing the drill because it’s all in good fun. That being said, he isn’t exactly crazy about it either.
“It’s just not really my color, and I’m sure most of the guys on the team would vouch for me on that one,” he said.
The benefits of the drill go beyond simple camaraderie, however, because of the tiebreaking procedures used by the Pac-8 Conference.
“It’s actually two-fold,” head coach Eddie LeRoy said. “Obviously the guys enjoy it and it’s a lot of fun, but for us in the Pac-8, we go to shootouts.”
For the team’s goalies, the Lemon Drill is no less fun. Though they don’t get to shoot, the Lemon Drill gives senior goalies Jack Barry and Chris Takla an opportunity to play mind games with their own teammates.
“It’s obviously a different perspective on it,” said Barry. “I like to cheat and make guys think they’re going to score one way and take it away as quick as they saw it.”
Over the weekend, the Ducks continued their dominance over Washington State, sweeping the Cougars by a combined score of 27-0. In four wins against Washington State this year, Oregon has outscored the Cougars by a combined 44-1.
After a pair of tough losses to rival Washington last weekend, the series was a much-needed pick-me-up for the Ducks, according to LeRoy. However, the weekend was not without its low points.
Late in the third period of Friday night’s blowout, Oregon senior forward Jeff Kraus was ejected for fighting with Washington State defenseman Andrew Efronson. Under American Collegiate Hockey Association rules, the altercation meant a mandatory one-game suspension for Kraus.
Because Kraus instigated the fight by grabbing Efronson’s face mask, and because he had been suspended for fighting earlier in the season, the ACHA suspended Kraus for the remainder of the season.
LeRoy said he will have to make some major adjustments without Kraus, who is an integral part of the team’s penalty-killing unit, and at even strength, has been an integral part of the team. LeRoy said the line Kraus plays on (with Erik Brody and Sam Jossie) has been the Ducks’ most consistent line of the season.
“He’s going to be missed, and I’m not sure how we’re going to fill that spot yet,” LeRoy said.
This Thursday and Friday, the Ducks will close out the regular season with a pair of games against Santa Rosa Junior College. LeRoy hopes the Bear Cubs will help prepare the Ducks for the Pac-8 Tournament, which begins Feb. 11 in Seattle with the first-seeded Ducks facing off against Cal.
LeRoy said the Ducks are glad to face Cal in the playoffs, but they don’t want to get overconfident.
“We don’t want to take them for granted because it’s playoff hockey — anything can happen,” he said.
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Lemon Drill sours one player’s practice
Daily Emerald
January 30, 2011
Alex McDougall
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