Lesson learned- the hard way

When I went to Goalie Coach Dude for my lesson several months ago, one of the things we worked on were something called "T-pushes"; a way to glide a longer distance than just a side-to-side shuffle. This involves pushing off with one foot and putting all your weight on the other as you glide to one side, and then quickly snap that foot forward, bringing yourself to a concise stop. One way to practice these is to completely lift your non-weightbearing foot off the ice, to hone your sense of balance, and skate and stop all on one leg, like a very awkward and confused flamingo. When the other goalie and I looked dubious, he encouraged us to try it. "Don't be afraid to fall," he said. "You have plenty of padding on." And fall I did. But I could instantly see the benefit. Not only would that exercise improve that particular technique, it would improve my balance as well.

Most of the time that I go to open hockey, it's very busy. However, now and then there will be an odd session with only enough people for 3-on-2 on one side of the ice, or just messing around taking shots, etc. During those sessions I usually go off to one side and work a little on my footwork, still trying to get to the comfort level on ice skates that I have on roller blades. This morning was one of those times; only 4 people beside me were there, with a 5th showing up about a half hour into it.

Normally, I'm a stickler for safety, especially with helmets. Watching one's husband get several concussions tends to do this to a person, but I'm also aware that head injuries are the kinds of things that can happen to anyone, no matter how good a skater, and can have life-altering consequences, unlike a sprained knee or wrist. Unfortunately for some reason during a water break I'd taken my glove, blocker and mask off and was still skating around on the ice. Even more unfortunately I decided that moment was a good one to try out the one-legged T-push exercise. The first one went off without a hitch. The second one... well, as my legs went out from under me I heard Goalie Coach Dude's voice in my head saying "Don't be afraid to fall.. you've got plenty of-" Uh oh. I landed on my butt and back and the momentum brought the back of my head down onto the ice with a hard, dull "thwack".

I squeezed my eyes shut against the pain and instant nausea and rolled over onto my stomach as Goalie Husband rushed off the bench to my side. He asked if I was ok and I said no, but managed to convey that relatively speaking yes, I was ok, and pulled myself up onto my knees to demonstrate. The nausea receded and my head hurt like hell but I didn't have any dizziness or other concussive symptoms, so I sat on the bench for a moment and relaxed before heading back out onto the ice. With my mask on. Not only was I an idiot for skating around without my mask, but I was really asking for trouble by attempting that particular exercise. I don't know what I was thinking. Obviously, I wasn't. Thankfully I wasn't hurt, but it knocked enough sense into me to know that I'll be wearing my mask anytime I step on the ice again. Take note, kids.