Every year around this time, for the last 3 years, many of the "original" Hawks have taken part in what we lovingly refer to as the "Goat Rodeo on Ice". It is an event comprised of beer, a bunch of people who play hockey, some more beer, and a bunch of people who have either never played or haven't played in decades. And also some beer. It got its name from Senator, who during the first one, shook his head and observed "this is a complete goat rodeo".
Just as I can't stay away from my teams' games, there was no way I was going to miss this event. You might think I would want nothing to do with being at a rink right now, and in fact that was exactly how GoalieHusband was when he was injured. I have the complete opposite reaction: the need to hang out with and be with my teams is as strong as the need to play in the first place. Maybe it's a male/female thing. Besides, this was more of a social event than really a game- though it actually usually turns out to be quite a good game. So it was that GoalieHusband and I met up with the gang at the bar near the rink for some socializing before the main event. I wore my enormous goalie-cut Hawks jersey, even though it looked like a dress. This was the first time I'd seen the guys since I fell, and it felt good to just hang with them for a while. I got to catch up with one former team-mate who I haven't seen in a while and have been missing, and that was great too. But what really surprised me was actually being drafted for a team.
Inspired by the All Star festivities (and some beer), it was decided that the teams for the night would be chosen via draft. And of course, the two guys chosen as captains were two of the non-hockey playing guys, who didn't know a lot of us hockey-playing types. One captain, who I'll call Stretch, 'cause he's tall (so creative), has been at the previous events and so knows GoalieHusband and I from those occasions. I wasn't even really aware there was a draft going on, until I sat down to rest my leg and Stretch said "You're on my team". I told him he was in pretty bad shape then, since I wasn't playing. "I know," he said. "I drafted you anyway. You're our spiritual leader, I want you on our team".
This is a guy who I've met twice before. I was pretty stunned. He's a friend of one of the Hawks, a guy who along with Senator would be considered co-captain, if we had such designations. I looked at him, and he shrugged and said "I told him you weren't playing. He said he wanted you anyway, as cheerleader." "No, spiritual leader," Stretch interrupted. And with that, co-captain refilled my glass, as it was time for us all to drink up and get over to the rink.
I watched the whole game from the benches. Aside from Stretch's insistence that I be on his team, I did spend some time going back and forth. It's so strange. As a goalie, you see the whole game right there in front of you. You see plays develop, you see who's open, who's got a guy on him. But for some reason, from the bench, it looks different. The game is laid bare even more. I was fully involved the whole time, yelling out "man on", or encouragement, as if I was out there with them. For the most part, it wasn't too awful, in a mental sense. At one point I left to go to the bathroom, and stood behind one of the goalies for a bit. That was hard. That was really hard. But overall, it was an absolutely awesome evening, and I love that its become an annual tradition.
As it turns out, one of the goalies there that night will be my sub for the Hawks; he's going to play all of the games I'll miss. He's a good goalie, exciting to watch (has a bit more of an unorthodox style). We have a long layover between games for some reason and the next Hawks game isn't until February 13th. By then I'll be ONE WEEK away from my x-ray to see if the brace can come off. That's really not so horrible I guess. Maybe GoalieHusband is right and it will go a lot faster than I think it will.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Long Road Ahead
"Next game is Wednesday night and it's a big one. I told Senator as long as nothing's broken/torn in my knee I'm playing."
I really, honestly thought I did nothing more than badly bruise my knee, maybe at the worst, strain something. But Dr. K sent me for an x-ray, and because of the time of day, I had to wait until Monday to get that done. By Monday I was sure I had done something dreadful to my MCL and knew an x-ray wasn't going to reveal anything in that regard, but I had to start there, so I went.
When I saw Dr. K later that afternoon for the results, he walked out of the reception area with a fax in his hand and said "Is broken". I figured he was kidding. "No, really. Is broken." I just stood there saying "Oh my god" and he made me sit down. I guess he didn't want me passing out and breaking anything else. He took me to his office and explained what would happen next; I would pick up my x-rays and bring them to an orthopedist, who would immobilize my leg and give me more information. Oh dear lord. I AM A GOALIE I CAN'T HAVE A FRACTURED KNEECAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was a little dumbfounded so for some reason the next thing I asked him was if I would be able to drive. It's my left knee, but I drive a stick shift. "Ohhh, you have to be fancy! You have to drive clutch!", and launched into a monologue about how the last time he'd driven a stick shift was 30 years ago in Europe... As distraught as I was, I got a kick out of his rambling story-telling, so I asked him where he was from. "Ukraine!" he said proudly. And proceeded to tell me for the next 15 minutes all about being a doctor in the Ukraine, and his personal philosophy on patient care. I almost forgot how upset I was. I could sit and listen to this guy's stories for hours. In fact I think I'll write a separate post about them later. Freakin' gold.
Off to the orthopedist I went. I'm thanking every God and all my lucky stars that a) my kneecap didn't actually break all the way through, which would have required surgery (and much longer recovery) to repair, and b) that they didn't put me in a damn plaster cast. I'm now sporting an incredibly fashionable black-with-scads-of-velcro brace that goes from just above my ankle to my upper thigh. And it's not the kind that bends. My leg has to stay completely straight for four weeks (minimum) to let the bone heal. I am only allowed to take the brace off to shower, or if I want to ice my knee- as long as my leg stays straight. No cheating.
You bet your ass I'm not going to cheat. I'm going to follow his instructions to the letter, because I want to be back on the ice as soon as is safe. I am absolutely devastated that I'll be off the ice for 4 weeks, but what's even worse than that is not knowing how long the rehab process is going to be. Clearly, after not using the muscles in my leg for 4 weeks, they're going to be weak and atrophied and I'm going to need physiotherapy. I swear on everything that's holy, if I have to get on a stationary bike every single day that is what I will do. I will do whatever it takes to build that muscle back up and get back on the ice.
This has seriously rocked my world right now. I know it could be worse, much much worse, and I'm sure in a few days I will be feeling much better. But today, I was absolutely miserable. And it's not just missing hockey I'm having a hard time with. I am a very active person. Hockey, yoga, training off the ice. I've put a good 10 weeks into Maria's Ultimate Goalie Training program and it is absolutely killing me that all that work is going to go to waste and I'm going to have to start all over again, not even from square one, but from an even weaker point than where I was when I started. The thought of losing all this muscle and all this work is driving me nuts. And I am a bendy flexy person. When I sit, I usually have a foot under me, or am even cross-legged (yes, even in a chair). None of that now. I'm going to lose not only all the strength I've gained, but all the flexibility I've worked so hard to achieve with this program.
My only solace is that it's "only" four weeks, and hopefully I won't lose THAT much muscle in that period of time. All I can picture is GoalieHusband's leg after his knee surgery and months in a brace; it was like the leg of a totally different person. Obviously it won't be that bad, because I won't be in the brace as long, but that's what haunts me. Also, since I am in pretty good shape, hopefully I'll bounce back quickly once I start rehabbing.
For now though, it's going to be lots of bench observation. I suppose I might even learn something. But I will be at every single Hawks and QCat game. As much as it will kill me to see someone else in "my net", I need to be around my teams. I'm even going to the drunken brouhaha known as the "Goat Rodeo On Ice" on Friday. I might not be able to play, but I can still have a good time with my buddies. And if I'm around all the time they can't forget whose net that really is out there. Hopefully.
I really, honestly thought I did nothing more than badly bruise my knee, maybe at the worst, strain something. But Dr. K sent me for an x-ray, and because of the time of day, I had to wait until Monday to get that done. By Monday I was sure I had done something dreadful to my MCL and knew an x-ray wasn't going to reveal anything in that regard, but I had to start there, so I went.
When I saw Dr. K later that afternoon for the results, he walked out of the reception area with a fax in his hand and said "Is broken". I figured he was kidding. "No, really. Is broken." I just stood there saying "Oh my god" and he made me sit down. I guess he didn't want me passing out and breaking anything else. He took me to his office and explained what would happen next; I would pick up my x-rays and bring them to an orthopedist, who would immobilize my leg and give me more information. Oh dear lord. I AM A GOALIE I CAN'T HAVE A FRACTURED KNEECAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was a little dumbfounded so for some reason the next thing I asked him was if I would be able to drive. It's my left knee, but I drive a stick shift. "Ohhh, you have to be fancy! You have to drive clutch!", and launched into a monologue about how the last time he'd driven a stick shift was 30 years ago in Europe... As distraught as I was, I got a kick out of his rambling story-telling, so I asked him where he was from. "Ukraine!" he said proudly. And proceeded to tell me for the next 15 minutes all about being a doctor in the Ukraine, and his personal philosophy on patient care. I almost forgot how upset I was. I could sit and listen to this guy's stories for hours. In fact I think I'll write a separate post about them later. Freakin' gold.
Off to the orthopedist I went. I'm thanking every God and all my lucky stars that a) my kneecap didn't actually break all the way through, which would have required surgery (and much longer recovery) to repair, and b) that they didn't put me in a damn plaster cast. I'm now sporting an incredibly fashionable black-with-scads-of-velcro brace that goes from just above my ankle to my upper thigh. And it's not the kind that bends. My leg has to stay completely straight for four weeks (minimum) to let the bone heal. I am only allowed to take the brace off to shower, or if I want to ice my knee- as long as my leg stays straight. No cheating.
You bet your ass I'm not going to cheat. I'm going to follow his instructions to the letter, because I want to be back on the ice as soon as is safe. I am absolutely devastated that I'll be off the ice for 4 weeks, but what's even worse than that is not knowing how long the rehab process is going to be. Clearly, after not using the muscles in my leg for 4 weeks, they're going to be weak and atrophied and I'm going to need physiotherapy. I swear on everything that's holy, if I have to get on a stationary bike every single day that is what I will do. I will do whatever it takes to build that muscle back up and get back on the ice.
This has seriously rocked my world right now. I know it could be worse, much much worse, and I'm sure in a few days I will be feeling much better. But today, I was absolutely miserable. And it's not just missing hockey I'm having a hard time with. I am a very active person. Hockey, yoga, training off the ice. I've put a good 10 weeks into Maria's Ultimate Goalie Training program and it is absolutely killing me that all that work is going to go to waste and I'm going to have to start all over again, not even from square one, but from an even weaker point than where I was when I started. The thought of losing all this muscle and all this work is driving me nuts. And I am a bendy flexy person. When I sit, I usually have a foot under me, or am even cross-legged (yes, even in a chair). None of that now. I'm going to lose not only all the strength I've gained, but all the flexibility I've worked so hard to achieve with this program.
My only solace is that it's "only" four weeks, and hopefully I won't lose THAT much muscle in that period of time. All I can picture is GoalieHusband's leg after his knee surgery and months in a brace; it was like the leg of a totally different person. Obviously it won't be that bad, because I won't be in the brace as long, but that's what haunts me. Also, since I am in pretty good shape, hopefully I'll bounce back quickly once I start rehabbing.
For now though, it's going to be lots of bench observation. I suppose I might even learn something. But I will be at every single Hawks and QCat game. As much as it will kill me to see someone else in "my net", I need to be around my teams. I'm even going to the drunken brouhaha known as the "Goat Rodeo On Ice" on Friday. I might not be able to play, but I can still have a good time with my buddies. And if I'm around all the time they can't forget whose net that really is out there. Hopefully.
Monday, January 24, 2011
The View From the Bench
Saturday morning I woke up to the reality that no, I was not going to be able to play on Sunday, and I should get to work with finding a sub. Fortunately, the first person I called was able to fill in.
Injured D-girl "Flipper" and I had planned to watch the game from the stands (with beer cleverly hidden in stainless steel water bottles haha). When Coach found out we were both scratches for the evening (he'd been away all week and wasn't aware of any of this drama) he told us to come to the bench for the game. So it was that I watched my team from the bench for the first time. Man, did that suck. Actually, it alternately sucked and was kind of cool. But I realized how tough it had been for GoalieHusband and #14 to be off the ice for as long as they had to be. I can't even imagine it and hope never to go through a lengthy rehab like that myself (hear that, Hockey Gods?).
While it was no fun not being out there with my girls, it was kind of cool to be involved, even if it was on the fringes, yelling my head off the entire time, and getting a feel for the ebb and flow of line changes and bench chatter. That's one thing I miss out on, being a goalie. I never get to be involved in the jawing on the bench, and that's one reason I was so adamant about changing with the team at the very beginning. If I'm not on the bench and not in the locker room, I might as well be a Mylec shooter tutor for as much as I'll be part of the team. Fortunately everyone's an adult and no one had/has a problem with my being in the room.
Whoops, tangent. Sorry. It ended up being a good game for me to miss, if I had to miss any. We won 7-0 and I think my sub saw maybe 5 shots. One interesting side-story of the game was the player carousel. The Captain had emailed us that she wouldn't be able to be there until the time the game started. We were short D to begin with, with Flipper out. So what a surprise when gionta182 came barging into the locker room with her gear. We all thought she had to work! She informed us that she did, and was only here for the first period (to cover for the Captain) because she was on the clock and no one knew she was gone. Now that's dedication! Gotta love it! And it worked out perfectly. The Captain was ready after the first period and gionta182 ran off back to work. I was texting score updates to her from the bench, but my fingers were so frozen I kept making typos and it probably looked like drunk texts on her end.
Also, I got to wear my real jersey for the first time. It's a 2XL, so it looks pretty ridiculous over just clothes. After the game when we were hanging out having beer and pizza with the other team (still can't get my head around that one, but when in Rome...) I stood up, modeled my jersey and asked Captain if she liked my dress. "Yeah," she said. "But why do you still have pants on?"
Ahhh, I love my girls. Haha.
Next game is Wednesday night and it's a big one. I told Senator as long as nothing's broken/torn in my knee I'm playing. I don't care how many painkillers I have to chug to get myself out there, I need to play against my D-girl's mens team. She told me I have to play, because she wants a chance to score on me. I told her just because I'm playing doesn't mean she's going to get that chance. She has to get through GoalieHusband first. BRING. IT. ON.
Injured D-girl "Flipper" and I had planned to watch the game from the stands (with beer cleverly hidden in stainless steel water bottles haha). When Coach found out we were both scratches for the evening (he'd been away all week and wasn't aware of any of this drama) he told us to come to the bench for the game. So it was that I watched my team from the bench for the first time. Man, did that suck. Actually, it alternately sucked and was kind of cool. But I realized how tough it had been for GoalieHusband and #14 to be off the ice for as long as they had to be. I can't even imagine it and hope never to go through a lengthy rehab like that myself (hear that, Hockey Gods?).
While it was no fun not being out there with my girls, it was kind of cool to be involved, even if it was on the fringes, yelling my head off the entire time, and getting a feel for the ebb and flow of line changes and bench chatter. That's one thing I miss out on, being a goalie. I never get to be involved in the jawing on the bench, and that's one reason I was so adamant about changing with the team at the very beginning. If I'm not on the bench and not in the locker room, I might as well be a Mylec shooter tutor for as much as I'll be part of the team. Fortunately everyone's an adult and no one had/has a problem with my being in the room.
Whoops, tangent. Sorry. It ended up being a good game for me to miss, if I had to miss any. We won 7-0 and I think my sub saw maybe 5 shots. One interesting side-story of the game was the player carousel. The Captain had emailed us that she wouldn't be able to be there until the time the game started. We were short D to begin with, with Flipper out. So what a surprise when gionta182 came barging into the locker room with her gear. We all thought she had to work! She informed us that she did, and was only here for the first period (to cover for the Captain) because she was on the clock and no one knew she was gone. Now that's dedication! Gotta love it! And it worked out perfectly. The Captain was ready after the first period and gionta182 ran off back to work. I was texting score updates to her from the bench, but my fingers were so frozen I kept making typos and it probably looked like drunk texts on her end.
Also, I got to wear my real jersey for the first time. It's a 2XL, so it looks pretty ridiculous over just clothes. After the game when we were hanging out having beer and pizza with the other team (still can't get my head around that one, but when in Rome...) I stood up, modeled my jersey and asked Captain if she liked my dress. "Yeah," she said. "But why do you still have pants on?"
Ahhh, I love my girls. Haha.
Next game is Wednesday night and it's a big one. I told Senator as long as nothing's broken/torn in my knee I'm playing. I don't care how many painkillers I have to chug to get myself out there, I need to play against my D-girl's mens team. She told me I have to play, because she wants a chance to score on me. I told her just because I'm playing doesn't mean she's going to get that chance. She has to get through GoalieHusband first. BRING. IT. ON.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Victory, Overshadowed
I should have written about the Hawks' victory sooner. Now I'm sitting here with an ice pack on my knee and not feeling much like celebrating. But here goes:
After a day of loading up on water and as many carbs as I could find (including the apparent good luck charm: a Snickers bar), I had another double header on Wednesday. Practice at 10 with the girls, and game at 11 with the boys. If you read my last post, you know that if there was ever a time for a win, it was now, and fortunately, we got it. We had one of the old Hawks back, and I think that made a difference. As Senator put it in the locker room later, Guido is glue. (No that's not a blog name, that's what we really call him). I share Senator's view in that I don't think you can ever say one person makes or breaks a team. But when Guido and one of our two other higher skilled guys play, it's a totally different game. The game opens up more and the rest of the team can play the positional roles they're supposed to, because everyone is more where they are expecting each other to be. Guido also sees the game well and sets up plays; he's a great passer. As GoalieHusband has put it in the past, we're a great support team. We just need those 2 or 3 guys to support. I also think it has a lot to do with the fact that we just keep pushing and do not give up. We work hard and grind away and maybe it's finally starting to pay off.
The score was 5-3, but that seems totally irrelevant in the face of the fact that WE WON!!! I personally had a great game, with the exception of the first goal. I had a great look at the shot, but I guess my stick wasn't down when I dropped and it went through my knees. Yuck. But otherwise? I was kickin' ass and takin' names. Somehow, I seem to have grown balls. Maybe watching all MsConduct's footage of Barry Brust is rubbing off on me, but I was poke checking, aggressive and doing whatever the hell it took to keep the puck out of the net. There was a play right at the very end of the game, where I know at least one of my D saved my ass, but I also know I made about 3 saves in the scramble, including a barrel roll of some kind. When I finally snagged the puck to freeze it the ref said "Wow". I asked him if he liked my Hasek impression. ;)
I mentioned playing the puck. I saw you cringe, you know. But like I said, I was in my groove and being all ballsy. It was actually the same exact kind of play that got me in trouble a few games ago, but this time, I nailed it. The puck was coming back into the zone right down the middle, and one of my D was in pursuit with an opponent right on him. I went right out to get it, no hesitation, and he gave me the ever so slightest indication with one finger to put it over to his left, which I did fluidly and he went and got it. The bench cheered. Yes, my bench cheered me for successfully playing a puck. That cracked me up... but also made me feel really good. I'm glad they can see I'm making a little bit of progress.
The win also made it a little easier to think about ordering jerseys. If we want to stay in this league we have to all have matching ones, so Senator has been working on a mock-up of something that everyone can agree on. We're sticking with the obnoxious yellow, since no one else would dare wear it, but the design keeps the gold/blue theme going. I personally love it. I think the funky borders are slightly reminiscent of feathers/wings. I hope we get these suckers a lot faster than I got my QCat ones. Check it out:
Speaking of jerseys, my excitement to finally wear a "real" QCat jersey for a game will have to wait. I'm on the IR for tomorrow's game, a fact about which I am NOT HAPPY. Yesterday morning I slipped on ice in my driveway and fell forward and landed square on my left kneecap. Yes, I'm aware of the irony there. Perhaps I should just wear my skates all winter. My first thought as my knee smashed into the pavement was "NO NO NO NO I HAVE A GAME ON SUNDAY OH SHIT OH SHIT". I dragged myself into the car and called GoalieHusband right away, but calmed down after realizing I had not felt or heard a pop or crack. (My second instinct was to tweet it. God help me.) Grabbed an ice pack and some Aleve from the house, and made my way to work, where I ultimately wanted to hang a sign around my neck that said "NO I DID NOT GET HURT PLAYING HOCKEY, I FELL IN MY DRIVEWAY". It wasn't even any fun. Jeez. But limping around the office did at least get me several offers for painkillers. The real kind. I should have taken a few people up on that but I'm not really a pill-taker. I'll stick with my wine. (Though painkillers and wine... hmmmm.... lol)
I'm banking on the fact that the pain and inflexibility is a result of the swelling, and just keep icing it and have it wrapped. I decided to have it checked out today though, just in case, and was greatly amused by the Russian doctor who saw me. He walked into the room, took one look at me in my Ranger jersey, looked down at the chart and said "So... you get hurt skating with Rangers?" I wish! We had quite the conversation about hockey in general, but the best part was when I asked him how soon I could play and he said "You are goalie. You have good defense, you don't have to do anything." Ha! I like this guy. (Interestingly, his last name is the same as an NHLer. I got a kick out of that). The doc thinks it's probably just a contusion, but when he tried to straighten my leg and I yelped in pain, he decided perhaps an x-ray to make sure would be in order. I'll have that done on Monday morning. Which means I'm on the sidelines tomorrow. At least I won't be alone; one of my D sprained/partially tore a ligament in her ankle, so we'll at least have each other. I texted her this morning and told her she'll have company in the stands and we can cry in our beer together. But I'm still going to be wearing my jersey, dammit.
After a day of loading up on water and as many carbs as I could find (including the apparent good luck charm: a Snickers bar), I had another double header on Wednesday. Practice at 10 with the girls, and game at 11 with the boys. If you read my last post, you know that if there was ever a time for a win, it was now, and fortunately, we got it. We had one of the old Hawks back, and I think that made a difference. As Senator put it in the locker room later, Guido is glue. (No that's not a blog name, that's what we really call him). I share Senator's view in that I don't think you can ever say one person makes or breaks a team. But when Guido and one of our two other higher skilled guys play, it's a totally different game. The game opens up more and the rest of the team can play the positional roles they're supposed to, because everyone is more where they are expecting each other to be. Guido also sees the game well and sets up plays; he's a great passer. As GoalieHusband has put it in the past, we're a great support team. We just need those 2 or 3 guys to support. I also think it has a lot to do with the fact that we just keep pushing and do not give up. We work hard and grind away and maybe it's finally starting to pay off.
The score was 5-3, but that seems totally irrelevant in the face of the fact that WE WON!!! I personally had a great game, with the exception of the first goal. I had a great look at the shot, but I guess my stick wasn't down when I dropped and it went through my knees. Yuck. But otherwise? I was kickin' ass and takin' names. Somehow, I seem to have grown balls. Maybe watching all MsConduct's footage of Barry Brust is rubbing off on me, but I was poke checking, aggressive and doing whatever the hell it took to keep the puck out of the net. There was a play right at the very end of the game, where I know at least one of my D saved my ass, but I also know I made about 3 saves in the scramble, including a barrel roll of some kind. When I finally snagged the puck to freeze it the ref said "Wow". I asked him if he liked my Hasek impression. ;)
I mentioned playing the puck. I saw you cringe, you know. But like I said, I was in my groove and being all ballsy. It was actually the same exact kind of play that got me in trouble a few games ago, but this time, I nailed it. The puck was coming back into the zone right down the middle, and one of my D was in pursuit with an opponent right on him. I went right out to get it, no hesitation, and he gave me the ever so slightest indication with one finger to put it over to his left, which I did fluidly and he went and got it. The bench cheered. Yes, my bench cheered me for successfully playing a puck. That cracked me up... but also made me feel really good. I'm glad they can see I'm making a little bit of progress.
The win also made it a little easier to think about ordering jerseys. If we want to stay in this league we have to all have matching ones, so Senator has been working on a mock-up of something that everyone can agree on. We're sticking with the obnoxious yellow, since no one else would dare wear it, but the design keeps the gold/blue theme going. I personally love it. I think the funky borders are slightly reminiscent of feathers/wings. I hope we get these suckers a lot faster than I got my QCat ones. Check it out:
Speaking of jerseys, my excitement to finally wear a "real" QCat jersey for a game will have to wait. I'm on the IR for tomorrow's game, a fact about which I am NOT HAPPY. Yesterday morning I slipped on ice in my driveway and fell forward and landed square on my left kneecap. Yes, I'm aware of the irony there. Perhaps I should just wear my skates all winter. My first thought as my knee smashed into the pavement was "NO NO NO NO I HAVE A GAME ON SUNDAY OH SHIT OH SHIT". I dragged myself into the car and called GoalieHusband right away, but calmed down after realizing I had not felt or heard a pop or crack. (My second instinct was to tweet it. God help me.) Grabbed an ice pack and some Aleve from the house, and made my way to work, where I ultimately wanted to hang a sign around my neck that said "NO I DID NOT GET HURT PLAYING HOCKEY, I FELL IN MY DRIVEWAY". It wasn't even any fun. Jeez. But limping around the office did at least get me several offers for painkillers. The real kind. I should have taken a few people up on that but I'm not really a pill-taker. I'll stick with my wine. (Though painkillers and wine... hmmmm.... lol)
I'm banking on the fact that the pain and inflexibility is a result of the swelling, and just keep icing it and have it wrapped. I decided to have it checked out today though, just in case, and was greatly amused by the Russian doctor who saw me. He walked into the room, took one look at me in my Ranger jersey, looked down at the chart and said "So... you get hurt skating with Rangers?" I wish! We had quite the conversation about hockey in general, but the best part was when I asked him how soon I could play and he said "You are goalie. You have good defense, you don't have to do anything." Ha! I like this guy. (Interestingly, his last name is the same as an NHLer. I got a kick out of that). The doc thinks it's probably just a contusion, but when he tried to straighten my leg and I yelped in pain, he decided perhaps an x-ray to make sure would be in order. I'll have that done on Monday morning. Which means I'm on the sidelines tomorrow. At least I won't be alone; one of my D sprained/partially tore a ligament in her ankle, so we'll at least have each other. I texted her this morning and told her she'll have company in the stands and we can cry in our beer together. But I'm still going to be wearing my jersey, dammit.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Meh
Two games last night, two losses. For the QCats, it was our first loss in 4 games. I don't know what happened but we just didn't play that great a game. That one's a little easier to shrug off than the Hawks' 4-0 loss that came after it. It is just so frustrating to work so hard and see nothing for it. And I'm so sick of coming here and writing "but we all played really hard"... We did. But at the end of the day we've got another L in our pockets. It was 2-0 until late in the 3rd period, so that's at least something, I guess. But I'm tired of looking for the positive things, finding anything to look at and be glad about because you have to find something to feel good about when you keep on losing. But I don't feel like being a Pollyanna today.
As I told GoalieHusband, who was convinced the entire game was his fault because he screened me on two of the goals, at least we are playing. It's kind of shallow comfort though. Losing all the time sucks. You start to question yourself and whether you belong where you are and that doesn't help your game. I can't give an honest assessment of my own game last night, because I don't feel it was that great. The guys said I played well but all I see is that big fat L. And this was against a team that's comparable to us, i.e. not stacked with ringers and d-bags.
One good thing to come out of last night though was I finally got my QCat jerseys. YAY! I'm official! And they are really nice too. I thought I'd have a chance to wear one last night but we decided to go with the 3rd jersey (which is also new, but just not as cool because it's not so totally "official"). Now I don't have to remember which jersey I brought when I'm writing my name and number on the scoresheet before a game. From now on it's always the same: Goalie - 39. I think that's going to be "my number" too. When the Hawks order new jerseys to replace the rag-tag ones we have and get ones for the guys who don't have them at all, I'm going with 39 there too. Of course it's hard to think about ordering jerseys for a league that you wonder if you even belong in. The problem is, I think about half of the guys would be ringers in the next level down. Not trying to sound cocky or anything, just my feeling. And I don't want to be "that team" with all the ringers on it.
Whatever. We have a whole season ahead of us. Maybe hard work will start paying off. We could use a little luck too.
As I told GoalieHusband, who was convinced the entire game was his fault because he screened me on two of the goals, at least we are playing. It's kind of shallow comfort though. Losing all the time sucks. You start to question yourself and whether you belong where you are and that doesn't help your game. I can't give an honest assessment of my own game last night, because I don't feel it was that great. The guys said I played well but all I see is that big fat L. And this was against a team that's comparable to us, i.e. not stacked with ringers and d-bags.
One good thing to come out of last night though was I finally got my QCat jerseys. YAY! I'm official! And they are really nice too. I thought I'd have a chance to wear one last night but we decided to go with the 3rd jersey (which is also new, but just not as cool because it's not so totally "official"). Now I don't have to remember which jersey I brought when I'm writing my name and number on the scoresheet before a game. From now on it's always the same: Goalie - 39. I think that's going to be "my number" too. When the Hawks order new jerseys to replace the rag-tag ones we have and get ones for the guys who don't have them at all, I'm going with 39 there too. Of course it's hard to think about ordering jerseys for a league that you wonder if you even belong in. The problem is, I think about half of the guys would be ringers in the next level down. Not trying to sound cocky or anything, just my feeling. And I don't want to be "that team" with all the ringers on it.
Whatever. We have a whole season ahead of us. Maybe hard work will start paying off. We could use a little luck too.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Just had to share...
When I first watched all the videos for the Ultimate Goalie Training, I remember giggling when Maria described all the muscle groups one particular exercise would work and then said "...so I think you'll really like- well, you won't like it. But it'll be good for you." Now at Week 7 in the training program, I've come to the workout with this exercise in it, and I watched the video to refresh my memory before starting out. I laughed again when she said that but knew I was going to really be in for it. And man, was I. You're supposed to do 3 sets of 10 reps of this puppy, and I eked out 4 reps before my body said "STOP RIGHT THERE!" Determined to try again, I did another set of 2 reps, and one final set of 2 reps after which I fell off the stability ball and crumbled to the floor. So no, Maria, I don't like it. In fact I hate it. But I'm now also determined to kick it's butt.
Yeah. Talk to me again in three weeks and see how much of it's butt I kicked. If I can do 3 sets of 4 reps it'll be a miracle.
One thing I can say about really difficult workouts is this: when you're done and you eat a giant bowl of yogurt, strawberries and granola? It tastes REALLY good. I might even have more.
Tomorrow night it's double-header time again: QCats in Westchester and then Hawks at 11. Maybe I should start napping now.
Yeah. Talk to me again in three weeks and see how much of it's butt I kicked. If I can do 3 sets of 4 reps it'll be a miracle.
One thing I can say about really difficult workouts is this: when you're done and you eat a giant bowl of yogurt, strawberries and granola? It tastes REALLY good. I might even have more.
Tomorrow night it's double-header time again: QCats in Westchester and then Hawks at 11. Maybe I should start napping now.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Mrs. Nice Guy?
Practice last night went a lot better than last week's did. I left the chest protector untucked and made sure I had my water right there on the net with me and took drinks whenever I could; no overheating. I used the suspenders again, underneath the c/a this time, but they ended up slipping off my shoulders. I spent half the practice feeling like I had an annoying bra strap issue. Next time I'll cross them in front and that should solve that problem.
I wasn't too thrilled with my ability to stop pucks though; several crappy 5-holes got through, and I just felt like I wasn't up to my potential. For the most part the drills were great, the kind that are productive both for me and the skaters. There was one that got under my skin a little though, but I guess it's probably supposed to. Coach had us working on deflections and screening the goalie, which I'm all for. Several of our goals for have been of that variety, so reinforcing that battle level is a great idea. And of course having me practice establishing myself at the top of the crease and seeing around screens is always good.
The problem arose with just how much elbow grease I should apply. I know this is practice, and I always approach practice exactly the same as a game; if you don't work hard in practice, you're not going to work hard in a game. I had no problem jostling for position and shoving the girls around a little, but I held back on the ankle chopping or more rough stuff. Most of the time they were right on top of my crease, which in a game would be allowed. But one in particular was consistently actually *in* my crease, and manhandling me way more than would be allowed in a game (one would hope). At one point I looked to Coach after she skated away and asked if that would have been interference. He said it probably would have.
My frustration came from two points. Firstly, as previously stated, I have no problem being physical or practicing being physical. But I felt like I was playing two positions at once there; D and goal. The way I was battling with them was just like the way my D battles with people parked in front of me. Obviously, I should be prepared for anything and you never know when something like that might arise. But for the most part, am I really going to be having to wrestle that much? And secondly, I wasn't sure just how much to fight back, these being my team-mates. Like I said, I had no problem pushing and shoving, and obviously they expected that, but the one person I mentioned before I think I may have gotten a tad overzealous with. She was going at me with her elbows to establish position and feel where I was and I just gave her a really hard shove. Not sure she was too thrilled with that but I guess I have to learn how to say "oh well".
For the record, had I been doing this drill with the guys, that would never have entered into my thinking. I'd shove just as hard as I had to and not worry about what they thought. This is my own shortcoming; I care too much about what other women think about me. But I do not take well to people in my crease and elbowing me, practice or not, and I was not happy about that. Had that been a game she would have had a blocker in the kidneys. Certainly there's no place for that in practice, right? Or maybe that's what Coach was looking for? If he wants them mucking it up a little with their elbows (as he described before the drill), then what's wrong with me responding in kind?
I'm just not sure where the line is between balls-out hard praticing and going overboard. I certainly don't want to injure anyone. But man did my goalie hackles get up with all that crease-jostling. #NotAsDirtyAsItSounds
But on a more upbeat note, my "3rd jersey" came in and I had it last night at practice. This is ironic because I don't even have my standard jerseys yet. (Yes, it's January already...) I was thrilled though, because I was able to really custom-order the right size. The place we got them from had a goalie-cut option for each size. I'm really happy with how it fits, except for the fact that it might be *slightly* too wide, as the first and last letters of my nickname on the back are kind of in my armpits.
Have I not explained my nickname yet? I feel like I have but I just searched my own blog and didn't find it, so forgive me if in my doddering old age I'm repeating myself. Last spring the team went to a tournament in Massachusetts, and on the way passed a sign for one of the best-named-towns in the country: Belchertown. The gal I usually carpool with was instantly crowned Mayor of that town, as there is not a single practice or game during which she doesn't let loose a loud, ice-cracking belch. I wasn't along for that trip, but I did earn myself the nickname of Deputy Mayor at the next tournament, because I have apparently spent way too much time around guys in my life, and belch with the best of them. It's so attractive and ladylike, I know. So even though it looks liket he back of my 3rd jersey says "EPUTY MAYO", that's Deputy Mayor to you. BRAAAAAAAP.
I wasn't too thrilled with my ability to stop pucks though; several crappy 5-holes got through, and I just felt like I wasn't up to my potential. For the most part the drills were great, the kind that are productive both for me and the skaters. There was one that got under my skin a little though, but I guess it's probably supposed to. Coach had us working on deflections and screening the goalie, which I'm all for. Several of our goals for have been of that variety, so reinforcing that battle level is a great idea. And of course having me practice establishing myself at the top of the crease and seeing around screens is always good.
The problem arose with just how much elbow grease I should apply. I know this is practice, and I always approach practice exactly the same as a game; if you don't work hard in practice, you're not going to work hard in a game. I had no problem jostling for position and shoving the girls around a little, but I held back on the ankle chopping or more rough stuff. Most of the time they were right on top of my crease, which in a game would be allowed. But one in particular was consistently actually *in* my crease, and manhandling me way more than would be allowed in a game (one would hope). At one point I looked to Coach after she skated away and asked if that would have been interference. He said it probably would have.
My frustration came from two points. Firstly, as previously stated, I have no problem being physical or practicing being physical. But I felt like I was playing two positions at once there; D and goal. The way I was battling with them was just like the way my D battles with people parked in front of me. Obviously, I should be prepared for anything and you never know when something like that might arise. But for the most part, am I really going to be having to wrestle that much? And secondly, I wasn't sure just how much to fight back, these being my team-mates. Like I said, I had no problem pushing and shoving, and obviously they expected that, but the one person I mentioned before I think I may have gotten a tad overzealous with. She was going at me with her elbows to establish position and feel where I was and I just gave her a really hard shove. Not sure she was too thrilled with that but I guess I have to learn how to say "oh well".
For the record, had I been doing this drill with the guys, that would never have entered into my thinking. I'd shove just as hard as I had to and not worry about what they thought. This is my own shortcoming; I care too much about what other women think about me. But I do not take well to people in my crease and elbowing me, practice or not, and I was not happy about that. Had that been a game she would have had a blocker in the kidneys. Certainly there's no place for that in practice, right? Or maybe that's what Coach was looking for? If he wants them mucking it up a little with their elbows (as he described before the drill), then what's wrong with me responding in kind?
I'm just not sure where the line is between balls-out hard praticing and going overboard. I certainly don't want to injure anyone. But man did my goalie hackles get up with all that crease-jostling. #NotAsDirtyAsItSounds
But on a more upbeat note, my "3rd jersey" came in and I had it last night at practice. This is ironic because I don't even have my standard jerseys yet. (Yes, it's January already...) I was thrilled though, because I was able to really custom-order the right size. The place we got them from had a goalie-cut option for each size. I'm really happy with how it fits, except for the fact that it might be *slightly* too wide, as the first and last letters of my nickname on the back are kind of in my armpits.
Have I not explained my nickname yet? I feel like I have but I just searched my own blog and didn't find it, so forgive me if in my doddering old age I'm repeating myself. Last spring the team went to a tournament in Massachusetts, and on the way passed a sign for one of the best-named-towns in the country: Belchertown. The gal I usually carpool with was instantly crowned Mayor of that town, as there is not a single practice or game during which she doesn't let loose a loud, ice-cracking belch. I wasn't along for that trip, but I did earn myself the nickname of Deputy Mayor at the next tournament, because I have apparently spent way too much time around guys in my life, and belch with the best of them. It's so attractive and ladylike, I know. So even though it looks liket he back of my 3rd jersey says "EPUTY MAYO", that's Deputy Mayor to you. BRAAAAAAAP.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
First game, new season
After going 1-11 on our last season, the Hawks decided to gut it out for one more season and see if we could pull ourselves together. Wednesday night was our first game of the Winter season, against the universally-adored "Drunk Punks". Some of the QCats stuck around after practice to cheer us on, and in addition to the giant GO HAWKS sign, two other smaller signs appeared. One was right next to the giant one and said "Go Coach S!" or something to that effect. Cool of Gionta182 for not embarrassing GoalieHusband with "Coach Sparkle", but I honestly don't think he'd have cared at all. Another one was taped right behind my net in the 3rd period and said "Beware the [my last name]inator!" Haha. They need to come to every game, I think, because the best games we have played have all been with the cheering section in attendance.
We didn't win this one, but we played really well and I think we have a chance at actually winning a few games this season if we play like that every night. I managed to shake off my exhaustion (thank you, Gatorade) and had a pretty strong game. I always feel like a pollyanna when I say that after a game where I've let in 8 goals... but I really do think I made a lot of good saves. A couple goals were screens, and one was a wide open back door, and I'm sitting here laughing at myself because I honestly can't remember the others. Over my shoulder? Have no clue. Way to go, Goldfishbrain!
I did have one near-disastrous brain fart though. In the second period, with play in the neutral zone, the puck came straight down the middle. One of my D was hustling back to get it, and had an opponent right on him, and it was coming straight for me, so I figured the thing to do would be go out and get it. I didn't communicate with the D where I was going to put it, and for some reason I thought he was going to go to the right, so that's the direction I pushed it in. Unfortunately just as I did that, he peeled off to the left, which left the opponent a golden opportunity. THANK YOU HOCKEY GODS, I was right there and made the stop. That would have been an awful goal to give up. I talked to my D after that and asked what I should have done, and he said he should have told me where he was going, or failing that I should have put it back in the corner. Duly noted.
Though final score was 8-5, in reality it should have been 7-5. Apparently the bug up the ref's ass thought otherwise. In the 3rd period, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the net was off, and as I was tracking the puck I was yelling "Net's off! Net's off!", so the ref who was right there would notice and blow the whistle. The other team had the puck and was setting up a play... and no whistle. And wouldn't you know it, they scored. I immediately turned to the ref, pointed to the net off it's mooring and asked how that could be a goal if the net was off. He just shrugged. I said "Didn't you hear me yelling that the net was off?" He just gave me this totally smug look and said "Nope," and skated away. I yelled after him "Are you kidding? I was screaming my head off!" It was totally obvious that he knew damn well the net was off, and just didn't give a damn. Later, there was a play where two players crashed into the net, sending the whole thing off by a couple of feet. That ref happened to be the far ref at that point, and was in the neutral zone by the benches. "NOW the net's off!" he yelled down to me.
FUCK. YOU.
I don't chirp. I'm pretty quiet. Plus I don't want to put my team down a man. But at that point, with only a few minutes left, I'd had it. I was making snarky comments the whole rest of the time. From the bench, Senator objected to the fact that the face-off following the net crash was in our zone; I yelled back "did you expect anything different?" Welcome back to playing against the hometown boys. (In all honesty, it was just one of the refs who was being a douche. The other guy was fine, and he refs a lot of our games and is a pretty fair ref.) It's not like the goal with the net off was the difference in our winning or losing, so whatever. It was the smugness that pissed me off more.
Our next game isn't until a week from today, and it's the one I'm going to have to make a mad dash back from Westchester for. I seem to play really well in these double-header type situations. I think I kind of thrive on the intensity. YEAH HOCKEY.
We didn't win this one, but we played really well and I think we have a chance at actually winning a few games this season if we play like that every night. I managed to shake off my exhaustion (thank you, Gatorade) and had a pretty strong game. I always feel like a pollyanna when I say that after a game where I've let in 8 goals... but I really do think I made a lot of good saves. A couple goals were screens, and one was a wide open back door, and I'm sitting here laughing at myself because I honestly can't remember the others. Over my shoulder? Have no clue. Way to go, Goldfishbrain!
I did have one near-disastrous brain fart though. In the second period, with play in the neutral zone, the puck came straight down the middle. One of my D was hustling back to get it, and had an opponent right on him, and it was coming straight for me, so I figured the thing to do would be go out and get it. I didn't communicate with the D where I was going to put it, and for some reason I thought he was going to go to the right, so that's the direction I pushed it in. Unfortunately just as I did that, he peeled off to the left, which left the opponent a golden opportunity. THANK YOU HOCKEY GODS, I was right there and made the stop. That would have been an awful goal to give up. I talked to my D after that and asked what I should have done, and he said he should have told me where he was going, or failing that I should have put it back in the corner. Duly noted.
Though final score was 8-5, in reality it should have been 7-5. Apparently the bug up the ref's ass thought otherwise. In the 3rd period, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the net was off, and as I was tracking the puck I was yelling "Net's off! Net's off!", so the ref who was right there would notice and blow the whistle. The other team had the puck and was setting up a play... and no whistle. And wouldn't you know it, they scored. I immediately turned to the ref, pointed to the net off it's mooring and asked how that could be a goal if the net was off. He just shrugged. I said "Didn't you hear me yelling that the net was off?" He just gave me this totally smug look and said "Nope," and skated away. I yelled after him "Are you kidding? I was screaming my head off!" It was totally obvious that he knew damn well the net was off, and just didn't give a damn. Later, there was a play where two players crashed into the net, sending the whole thing off by a couple of feet. That ref happened to be the far ref at that point, and was in the neutral zone by the benches. "NOW the net's off!" he yelled down to me.
FUCK. YOU.
I don't chirp. I'm pretty quiet. Plus I don't want to put my team down a man. But at that point, with only a few minutes left, I'd had it. I was making snarky comments the whole rest of the time. From the bench, Senator objected to the fact that the face-off following the net crash was in our zone; I yelled back "did you expect anything different?" Welcome back to playing against the hometown boys. (In all honesty, it was just one of the refs who was being a douche. The other guy was fine, and he refs a lot of our games and is a pretty fair ref.) It's not like the goal with the net off was the difference in our winning or losing, so whatever. It was the smugness that pissed me off more.
Our next game isn't until a week from today, and it's the one I'm going to have to make a mad dash back from Westchester for. I seem to play really well in these double-header type situations. I think I kind of thrive on the intensity. YEAH HOCKEY.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Practice, and WJC musings
The holiday season is over, and I have to say I am happy for things to get back to "normal" in Goalie Household. As I type this, on a Saturday morning, GoalieHusband is upstairs in bed lost in a good book. And he'll be off tomorrow too. Unreal! This more reasonable schedule also allows for him to return to QCat practices as assistant coach. I know the D have been looking very much forward to his return, in spite of the fact that he threatened to skate them to death for the whole "Coach Sparkle" thing. It was great having him back.
I mentioned in my last post that I had a private coach of sorts at practice this week. After our introductory run-down of what we were going to be working on that night, Coach took me aside and said he'd asked his son (a college freshman, home on break) to come and work with me a little on my own. I had a couple of thoughts... "Oh no, this kid absolutely owns me every time we play pickup"... "Ok you know what this will actually be good, I could use some individual attention"... and "damn am I glad I didn't wear my Russian jersey tonight."
Coach and his family are Canadian. After finding out in the locker room that Canada had blown its 3-0 lead in the World Juniors and that Russia had come back to tie it- all in the 3rd period mind you, I very smartly suppressed my glee. I hate gloaters, so I try not to do it myself. For example, I think I'm doing an admirable job of not cracking jokes and ragging on the Devils' general state of disaster right now. *wink* By the time we went out on the ice Russia had finished its triumphant comeback, something that Coach ruefully mentioned in his pre-practice speech. Don't get me wrong, I think Canada's pretty awesome. But when it comes to national hockey rivalries there is none like USA/Canada. It's fantastic. Plus you know my penchant for Russia and things Russian (second only to Finland). So I'm pretty excited about the outcome of the WJC; regardless of their nationality, that a team battled back the entire tournament like that is pretty cool. And watching these teenagers whoop it up during their national anthem was touching. And that was before the alcohol!
Crap. That was a hell of a tangent. Where was I? Right. Coach's Kid and my personal lesson. As it turned out I needn't have been leery of feeling like I couldn't stop anything, because he's a smart kid and he knows how to work with goalies. We had a net up against the boards by the penalty box, and he started off with some low shots, then warmed up the blocker and attempted to do the same with the glove, but I can't catch a puck for shit. He had me hold the post and banged a puck off the boards behind the net to simulate a rebound and took a shot that way. It was pretty interesting, and definitely productive, because he gave me lots of feedback and pointed out some things I didn't realize I was doing (dropping a shoulder, cheating to one side, etc).
I worked with him for a bit, then worked with the team, and went back to working with him at the end of practice. It wasn't long before I realized that because we were running late, a crowd of impatient hockey players was gathering just on the other side of the glass. Impatient hockey players from the team I was about to play as soon as the ice was cut. And because I was pretty exhausted at that point, I wasn't doing very well at all. Kid was also sneaking in some trick shots (grrrr....) that no goalie in our league would have been able to stop. I just put it out of my head that my opponents were watching me struggle, but it was definitely not the best feeling in the world. (This team is the Drunk Punks. They all work at the rink, so they all know who I am. I'm not sure they knew I also play with the QCats, but I'm sure they recognized me the second they saw me. Not too many chick goalies with glasses playing at this rink).
After practice, I said a quick goodbye to the girls, and dragged my giant (empty) bag from one locker room to the next. The Hawks were all sitting around, antsy to get out there, but I was glad for the break the Zamboni gave me. I mentioned that they'd kicked my ass out there, and one team-mate said "all right, well shake it off". And I think I did just that...
(game recap coming soon...)
I mentioned in my last post that I had a private coach of sorts at practice this week. After our introductory run-down of what we were going to be working on that night, Coach took me aside and said he'd asked his son (a college freshman, home on break) to come and work with me a little on my own. I had a couple of thoughts... "Oh no, this kid absolutely owns me every time we play pickup"... "Ok you know what this will actually be good, I could use some individual attention"... and "damn am I glad I didn't wear my Russian jersey tonight."
Coach and his family are Canadian. After finding out in the locker room that Canada had blown its 3-0 lead in the World Juniors and that Russia had come back to tie it- all in the 3rd period mind you, I very smartly suppressed my glee. I hate gloaters, so I try not to do it myself. For example, I think I'm doing an admirable job of not cracking jokes and ragging on the Devils' general state of disaster right now. *wink* By the time we went out on the ice Russia had finished its triumphant comeback, something that Coach ruefully mentioned in his pre-practice speech. Don't get me wrong, I think Canada's pretty awesome. But when it comes to national hockey rivalries there is none like USA/Canada. It's fantastic. Plus you know my penchant for Russia and things Russian (second only to Finland). So I'm pretty excited about the outcome of the WJC; regardless of their nationality, that a team battled back the entire tournament like that is pretty cool. And watching these teenagers whoop it up during their national anthem was touching. And that was before the alcohol!
Crap. That was a hell of a tangent. Where was I? Right. Coach's Kid and my personal lesson. As it turned out I needn't have been leery of feeling like I couldn't stop anything, because he's a smart kid and he knows how to work with goalies. We had a net up against the boards by the penalty box, and he started off with some low shots, then warmed up the blocker and attempted to do the same with the glove, but I can't catch a puck for shit. He had me hold the post and banged a puck off the boards behind the net to simulate a rebound and took a shot that way. It was pretty interesting, and definitely productive, because he gave me lots of feedback and pointed out some things I didn't realize I was doing (dropping a shoulder, cheating to one side, etc).
I worked with him for a bit, then worked with the team, and went back to working with him at the end of practice. It wasn't long before I realized that because we were running late, a crowd of impatient hockey players was gathering just on the other side of the glass. Impatient hockey players from the team I was about to play as soon as the ice was cut. And because I was pretty exhausted at that point, I wasn't doing very well at all. Kid was also sneaking in some trick shots (grrrr....) that no goalie in our league would have been able to stop. I just put it out of my head that my opponents were watching me struggle, but it was definitely not the best feeling in the world. (This team is the Drunk Punks. They all work at the rink, so they all know who I am. I'm not sure they knew I also play with the QCats, but I'm sure they recognized me the second they saw me. Not too many chick goalies with glasses playing at this rink).
After practice, I said a quick goodbye to the girls, and dragged my giant (empty) bag from one locker room to the next. The Hawks were all sitting around, antsy to get out there, but I was glad for the break the Zamboni gave me. I mentioned that they'd kicked my ass out there, and one team-mate said "all right, well shake it off". And I think I did just that...
(game recap coming soon...)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
One thing at a time
Gear. Practice. Game. D-bag ref. Tourneys. Wireless internet. I have so many things swirling in my head that I want to write about that I've been stuck for two days writing absolutely nothing. Which is making me angsty. And no one wants an angsty goalie. I'll start with the shiny new gear...
~Giant Goalie Bag~
Rating: Awesome
Pros: Can carry ALL my gear in one place, easily. Can enter and exit doorways without having to rely on my bellydancing background to slither through with something balanced on each shoulder. Actually zips closed. Doesn't smell like cat pee.
Cons: I forgot about the fact that I will have to actually lift that sucker now and then. Like to get it into the back of GoalieHusband's pickup, or into my car, or up and down the basement stairs. I have to struggle with it, but I can manage it on my own. I need to get a little better at that and will just consider it strength training.
~New Pants~
Rating: Very Good
Pros: Aren't ripped up. Have actual padding in convenient places like inner thighs. Aren't big enough for the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man.
Cons: Are slightly shorter than my old pants, leaving more leg exposed (oh baby!) when I'm down in the b-fly. That can be rectified with something I was considering purchasing anyway: combination knee/thigh pads. Tailbone protector is just a tad too short as well, but I think I can swap out the one in my old pants with this one.
~The Suspender Issue~
Yes, I know you're going "Wait a minute. What suspender issue?". I never wore suspenders with my old pants. A discussion on the Goalie Crease board about tucking vs not tucking your chest protector (into your pants) and where and how you wear your suspenders made me think that might be the solution to my chesty's tendency to pop out of place sometimes. So I bought suspenders when I got to the rink for practice on Wednesday.
Rating: Still Under Evaluation
Pros: Keep chesty in place as recommended. Too well.
Cons: Still have to figure out in which configuration I'm going to use them, to avoid what happened at practice happening again...
(Ohhh I'm slick. Like that teaser?)
What I tried doing Wednesday night was tucking the chest protector into my pants, and wearing the suspenders over the chesty. I ran them under the "floater" on each shoulder (piece of padding that's only attached in two places), to keep them from sliding down off my shoulders as I moved around. The point of doing this is to keep all your gear in place, and have everything move with you as one unit. I have trouble with my chest protector being a tad too loose so I figured this might solve that problem.
And oh, did it ever. Too well, as I mentioned. Not only did I feel like I was trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, it kept all my body heat in and I ended up completely overheating in the middle of practice. I was working a little harder than usual, because I had my own private "coach" (more on that later), and then went straight to the main net for the forwards' shooting drills, without any water break in between. In the middle of that drill I just spaced. I had that dry hot bright red face, no-sweating, disoriented thing going on again. I was just standing there in the net at one point, bent over, letting the pucks fly past me, and the coach looked at me, barked my name, and asked if I was ok. I told him I needed water and went to the bench. I felt like a complete ass. I drank lots of water during the day, knowing I had a double-header that night. I guess it was just the fact that the heat had absolutely nowhere to go that put me over the edge. Once I guzzled some water, stripped off the layers and got rid of the suspenders, I felt better. After a bit of a rest I re-dressed, without suspenders or tucking, and went back out on the ice. I felt so much better; no restriction of movement, no boiling inferno in my body.
I still plan on experimenting with the suspenders. I think I might still use them, just underneath the chesty. Lots of guys on the board swear by tucking, but I don't think it's for me. I just felt way too restricted. We'll see. Work in progress.
What's really astounding though, is that a bunch of dopey hockey players had an internet discussion about "tucking or not tucking" without any references to genitalia. I guess everyone else is just way more mature than I am. *snicker*
~Giant Goalie Bag~
Rating: Awesome
Pros: Can carry ALL my gear in one place, easily. Can enter and exit doorways without having to rely on my bellydancing background to slither through with something balanced on each shoulder. Actually zips closed. Doesn't smell like cat pee.
Cons: I forgot about the fact that I will have to actually lift that sucker now and then. Like to get it into the back of GoalieHusband's pickup, or into my car, or up and down the basement stairs. I have to struggle with it, but I can manage it on my own. I need to get a little better at that and will just consider it strength training.
~New Pants~
Rating: Very Good
Pros: Aren't ripped up. Have actual padding in convenient places like inner thighs. Aren't big enough for the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man.
Cons: Are slightly shorter than my old pants, leaving more leg exposed (oh baby!) when I'm down in the b-fly. That can be rectified with something I was considering purchasing anyway: combination knee/thigh pads. Tailbone protector is just a tad too short as well, but I think I can swap out the one in my old pants with this one.
~The Suspender Issue~
Yes, I know you're going "Wait a minute. What suspender issue?". I never wore suspenders with my old pants. A discussion on the Goalie Crease board about tucking vs not tucking your chest protector (into your pants) and where and how you wear your suspenders made me think that might be the solution to my chesty's tendency to pop out of place sometimes. So I bought suspenders when I got to the rink for practice on Wednesday.
Rating: Still Under Evaluation
Pros: Keep chesty in place as recommended. Too well.
Cons: Still have to figure out in which configuration I'm going to use them, to avoid what happened at practice happening again...
(Ohhh I'm slick. Like that teaser?)
What I tried doing Wednesday night was tucking the chest protector into my pants, and wearing the suspenders over the chesty. I ran them under the "floater" on each shoulder (piece of padding that's only attached in two places), to keep them from sliding down off my shoulders as I moved around. The point of doing this is to keep all your gear in place, and have everything move with you as one unit. I have trouble with my chest protector being a tad too loose so I figured this might solve that problem.
And oh, did it ever. Too well, as I mentioned. Not only did I feel like I was trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, it kept all my body heat in and I ended up completely overheating in the middle of practice. I was working a little harder than usual, because I had my own private "coach" (more on that later), and then went straight to the main net for the forwards' shooting drills, without any water break in between. In the middle of that drill I just spaced. I had that dry hot bright red face, no-sweating, disoriented thing going on again. I was just standing there in the net at one point, bent over, letting the pucks fly past me, and the coach looked at me, barked my name, and asked if I was ok. I told him I needed water and went to the bench. I felt like a complete ass. I drank lots of water during the day, knowing I had a double-header that night. I guess it was just the fact that the heat had absolutely nowhere to go that put me over the edge. Once I guzzled some water, stripped off the layers and got rid of the suspenders, I felt better. After a bit of a rest I re-dressed, without suspenders or tucking, and went back out on the ice. I felt so much better; no restriction of movement, no boiling inferno in my body.
I still plan on experimenting with the suspenders. I think I might still use them, just underneath the chesty. Lots of guys on the board swear by tucking, but I don't think it's for me. I just felt way too restricted. We'll see. Work in progress.
What's really astounding though, is that a bunch of dopey hockey players had an internet discussion about "tucking or not tucking" without any references to genitalia. I guess everyone else is just way more mature than I am. *snicker*
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Also... *shudder*
Don't mind me, I'm on my lunch break catching up on reading I haven't done in a few days. I was just reading this article, about Jeff Frazee's near miss in 2009, and had the thought I have every time I hear about a case like this. 1) Why some goalies still don't wear neck protection is absolutely beyond my comprehension; 2)We beer-leaguers wouldn't have a prayer if something like this happened in one of our games or open skates. Think about it. Malarchuk, Zednik, Frazee... all these guys had medical staff right there in the blink of an eye, which is why they are alive today. (In Frazee's case I'm not so sure, since it mercifully missed his jugular... but you get my point). At midnight at our rink, the place is deserted. Running out to the desk to notify the lone staff member (or running to the locker room to call 911 on your cell yourself) would take long enough, nevermind the time it would take for the EMTs to get there.
Am I saying beer leagues should have ambulances and medical staff right there? Absolutely not, that's absurd. It's a risk we take. The number of injuries that can be instantly life-threatening fortunately is very small (cut in the wrong place, heart problem, spinal injury are the ones that come to mind), and the chances that they'll actually happen are even smaller. For all I know there could be some kind of emergency policy in place at the rink, I have no idea. There is a defibrulator in the lobby, but I have no idea how many people are actually trained to use it.
Maybe the answer is to split up the MedWings and make sure there's a doctor or med student on each and every team or participating in each open hockey session. I gotta tell ya... I've never felt safer on the ice than when I skated with those guys. Actually that's not true. With GoalieHusband playing D in front of me, if anyone so much as looks at me cross-eyed they get knocked on their ass. But that's different.
Am I saying beer leagues should have ambulances and medical staff right there? Absolutely not, that's absurd. It's a risk we take. The number of injuries that can be instantly life-threatening fortunately is very small (cut in the wrong place, heart problem, spinal injury are the ones that come to mind), and the chances that they'll actually happen are even smaller. For all I know there could be some kind of emergency policy in place at the rink, I have no idea. There is a defibrulator in the lobby, but I have no idea how many people are actually trained to use it.
Maybe the answer is to split up the MedWings and make sure there's a doctor or med student on each and every team or participating in each open hockey session. I gotta tell ya... I've never felt safer on the ice than when I skated with those guys. Actually that's not true. With GoalieHusband playing D in front of me, if anyone so much as looks at me cross-eyed they get knocked on their ass. But that's different.
Road Trip Win and Big Fat Goalie Bag
Danbury, CT isn't nearly as far away as it seems. It took less than 2 hours to get there, but since it's 2 states away, it seems like a big deal to go play there. GoalieHusband and I carpooled to the game with The Mayor (story behind that nickname coming in another post), and that was an event in and of itself. She suggested leaving at 4:30 for our 7:00 game, and with the Long Island fiasco fresh in my memory I asked if she minded if we leave at 4:00. She seemed to think that was a bit excessive, but agreed anyway. No wonder- the game was actually at 8:00. Oops! Oh well, I'd much rather be early than scrambling and late. The extra time allowed us to attempt to find a place to grab a few slices of pizza before the game, which apparently was the meal of choice. A quick poll in the locker room (very scientifically rendered via show of hands) revealed that about 90% of us had pizza that afternoon/evening.
Pizza is now the official meal of the QCats, as we played our butts off and came out with a 3-1 win over a team that dominated us last time (we lost 4-1). Not only did we win, but we won in their inaugural game in their rink (they're a brand new team), which was being filmed for TV. The last time an opposing team had TV cameras at a game, they brought their C squad and creamed us 8-2. Hey if that's what ya gotta do to make yourselves look good on TV.... knock yourself out.
The game rather bizarrely consisted of two 12-minute periods and one 21-minute period (the third). We were scoreless heading into the third period, but used all that extra time to win the game; they didn't score until about 4 minutes left. Actually, they really didn't score at all. Technically, I shut them out. The lone goal was a very weird bounce off my stick and possibly other parts of me. Yeahhhh... I didn't really want that shutout anyway, that's ok.
We put the nail in the coffin with an empty-netter, and everyone agreed it was a fantastic game. Everyone played hard, and we were pressuring like nobody's business. GoalieHusband was the only coach there, and picked up his first solo coaching win. He said he had a blast- and that he's pretty sure he runs a much looser bench than Head Coach does. (Who's shocked? Show of hands?)
The QCats don't have a game again until the 16th, but the Hawks are on the ice tomorrow night (right after QCat practice again... eek). I'll be breaking in my brand new pants during practice, and if all goes well, will use them in the game afterwards. I threw my pads and chest protector on and butterflied a few times in the living room, and they seem like they'll be fine.
But the really exciting part of the Giant Gear Delivery yesterday? The enormous Vaughn tank - I mean, goalie bag. Holy crap is this thing badass. And this is kind of stupid, but even the one "downside" I had been mildly bummed about is a moot point. I had been slightly disappointed that with a bag like this, without the need to carry my pads over my shoulder, I'd lose that in-your-face evidence that yes, I'm the goalie. Vaughn is pretty smart, because the top of the bag has their goalie-silhouette logo, very large, front and center, along with their name all around the sides. So if the giganticness of the bag doesn't say "LOOK OUT, GOALIE COMING THROUGH!", at least the branding does.
As advertised, all of my gear fits in there, with plenty of space for clothes and various other crap (i.e., beer). As a matter of fact, I myself fit in there quite nicely. In my silliness, I jumped into the bag and had GoalieHusband take a picture. Giant Goalie Bag: Goalie not included. Hee hee.
Pizza is now the official meal of the QCats, as we played our butts off and came out with a 3-1 win over a team that dominated us last time (we lost 4-1). Not only did we win, but we won in their inaugural game in their rink (they're a brand new team), which was being filmed for TV. The last time an opposing team had TV cameras at a game, they brought their C squad and creamed us 8-2. Hey if that's what ya gotta do to make yourselves look good on TV.... knock yourself out.
The game rather bizarrely consisted of two 12-minute periods and one 21-minute period (the third). We were scoreless heading into the third period, but used all that extra time to win the game; they didn't score until about 4 minutes left. Actually, they really didn't score at all. Technically, I shut them out. The lone goal was a very weird bounce off my stick and possibly other parts of me. Yeahhhh... I didn't really want that shutout anyway, that's ok.
We put the nail in the coffin with an empty-netter, and everyone agreed it was a fantastic game. Everyone played hard, and we were pressuring like nobody's business. GoalieHusband was the only coach there, and picked up his first solo coaching win. He said he had a blast- and that he's pretty sure he runs a much looser bench than Head Coach does. (Who's shocked? Show of hands?)
The QCats don't have a game again until the 16th, but the Hawks are on the ice tomorrow night (right after QCat practice again... eek). I'll be breaking in my brand new pants during practice, and if all goes well, will use them in the game afterwards. I threw my pads and chest protector on and butterflied a few times in the living room, and they seem like they'll be fine.
But the really exciting part of the Giant Gear Delivery yesterday? The enormous Vaughn tank - I mean, goalie bag. Holy crap is this thing badass. And this is kind of stupid, but even the one "downside" I had been mildly bummed about is a moot point. I had been slightly disappointed that with a bag like this, without the need to carry my pads over my shoulder, I'd lose that in-your-face evidence that yes, I'm the goalie. Vaughn is pretty smart, because the top of the bag has their goalie-silhouette logo, very large, front and center, along with their name all around the sides. So if the giganticness of the bag doesn't say "LOOK OUT, GOALIE COMING THROUGH!", at least the branding does.
As advertised, all of my gear fits in there, with plenty of space for clothes and various other crap (i.e., beer). As a matter of fact, I myself fit in there quite nicely. In my silliness, I jumped into the bag and had GoalieHusband take a picture. Giant Goalie Bag: Goalie not included. Hee hee.
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