Things that make you go.. "goalies"

I bring you two amusing (to me, anyway) tidbits from the weekend.

When I told this first story to a friend, she informed me that it was "total goalie logic". I thought it made perfect sense. Go figure...

My husband and I played in a pickup game this weekend, and apparently my husband was chatting with the other goalie in the locker room as they were getting ready. When we all hit the ice, the goalie came over to my husband and I to introduce himself to me. His attire made more of an impression on me than his name however (which I already have forgotten). I said hello and introduced myself, and couldn't help but point at the logo on his Flyers jersey and say "Sorry, but I don't like that". He said simply "That's ok, either do I". I felt like the challenging goalie in the ad with Ryan Miller, trading "yo momma" insults and not having a clue what to say in response to a sudden outburst of Mandarin. I thought maybe he was referring to my jersey, saying he didn't like mine either... but since its the one from the Russian Superleague that hardly made sense. My husband jumped in and helped out "He's a Ranger fan too," he explained. So naturally, I asked the other goalie why in the world if he's a Ranger fan, would he be wearing a Flyers jersey. The answer was quite simple.

"Nobody likes the Flyers," he said, shrugging. "So I figure they'll all just shoot at my chest."

Hard to argue with that logic.

And Story #2...

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was quite early to my lesson at the fake ice place. While I sat and waited I had fun observing the banter back and forth between the goalies, the hired guns, and the coach. At one point, Coach picked up the spare stick of the goalie currently taking shots in the net (I guess he'd brought two), and held it in his hand to feel the weight of it, since it was a composite stick. (Composite goal sticks aren't all that common, I don't think). Immediately, I heard a barked command issued from behind the mask of the kid in the net. "Hey! Don't touch that, put it down!" Now, it was a pretty laid-back atmosphere in there, but I was still pretty surprised to hear this kid yell at the coach like that. I looked over at him, to see what his reaction was, and he just laughed and said to me "He's pretty superstitious about his sticks". Naturally, he smirked and held onto the stick for a bit longer, because there was nothing the kid could do about it, as he was busy being peppered with shots.

Actually now that I think about it, this does not bode well for me. It just so happened that I ran into my coach when at the rink for the aforementioned pickup game. (He was there coaching his team on the other ice surface). After the game, my husband and I and a few other guys sat around outside enjoying a beverage and comraderie, which included some good natured ribbing of "Johnson", which didn't last long because he wasn't there to defend himself. My coach's game ended not long after ours, and he joined us for a bit. My husband, never having met my coach before that night, decided to inform him that I had come home from my lesson and complained that he hadn't worked me hard enough. I was mortified throughout the lively banter that followed, during which my coach observed that he'd have to have college guys come shoot on me, instead of the high school kids he'd had there that day. While I'm sure my coach was aware that my husband was just causing trouble, I also don't think I've heard the last of this. It's a good thing I don't have any hockey planned for the day or so after my next lesson. In fact, my plans are going to involve not much more than sitting around on a friend's couch drinking Guinness in honor of the venerable St. Patrick. Sounds like a good recovery plan to me.