This is a tough situation in any sport; when you know that your team is likely to lose because the opponent is stronger. How does your team approach that situation to give itself the best chance of at least a “good showing” against the stronger opponent? It is important to recognize that unless your team plays to the best of its ability, it is not likely to win the game.

The keys to being competitive against a superior opponent are as follows:

- A team must be prepared to play to the best of their ability and that means working consistently and hard during the course of the game.

- Stay away from penalties and hope that your team’s effort in over working will draw penalties—sometimes a stronger opponent gets frustrated when an obviously weaker team stays in the game with them. This can result in penalties and opportunities for the weaker squad.

- Opponent’s offensive opportunities must be minimized on face-offs in your team’s offensive zone—it is likely that your team will be out shot—which means more face-offs and more scoring changes for the stronger opponent. Focus on tying up the opponent so that they don’t get quality chances on net.

- If the other team is better because of a few “hot shot” players your team can shadow these players every time they enter the game and disrupt their flow. This is tough for members of your team as they must not worry about any offensive play - only to disrupt these hot shots.