Welcome Home

Given that I hit the ice two nights ago for the first time in nearly two months, you'd think I would have been in here bubbling over with excitement before now. It has taken me forever to write this post though, because of two reasons. First, after my jubilant return my thoughts were so scrambled I couldn't corral them much beyond FUCK YEAH, BITCHES!, which I think is what I tweeted from the car. Second, with my boss out all week with pneumonia (!), work has been absolutely insane and by the time I get home at night my brain has hung out the "gone for the night, come back tomorrow" sign.

But now, on a gorgeous Friday that makes for a very empty office, I have some time to get my thoughts down. All day on Wednesday I was bouncing off the wall, relishing the thought that I'd be packing up my hockey bag and throwing it in the back of the truck with GoalieHusband's and making our way to the rink. (The Hawks had a rare "early" game and were on the other ice surface at the same time the QCats were practicing... more on that later). I was giddy in the locker room, and was actually met with squeals of glee as teammates came in and saw me sitting there with my giant bag, putting my gear on. The Mayor even told me that it was a sight more beautiful than her wedding day. We're serious about our hockey eh.

I was actually quite nervous though, not knowing what to expect. My plan was to spend some time off on my own, working on skating and movement etc. If my knee felt ok, I figured I'd go in the net for some shots, but I wasn't counting on it. Fortunately, it went much better than I expected! After about 10 minutes of t-pushes and pivoting and pushing, and yes, even butterflying, I thought I was in good enough shape to face some rubber. Yes, my knee hurt, but my physical therapist said the kind of pain I was experiencing was to be expected and would go away gradually with time. That's all I needed to hear- as long as I'm not damaging anything, I can work through it.

I skated over to the coach, told him I was ready, and he stopped the drill and I got into the net. And GoalieBrain instantly took over. Without even realizing it, I went through the quick get-pumped, get-focused, bang the crossbar, hit the left post, hit the ice routine that has become second nature upon getting into the net. A huge cheer went up from the girls gathered at the red line. I am having a hard time finding a way to express what I felt. It felt like something fell neatly into place and clicked. Earlier, when we'd pulled into the parking lot, GoalieHusband leaned over and kissed me and said "welcome home"... but it wasn't really until that moment that I felt it. I truly felt like I was exactly where I belonged. And it was exhilarating.

I took shots for about ten minutes and found myself completely winded. I knew I'd lose endurance but wow... I have a lot of work to do. For the most part everything felt fine. There's just one movement that gives me a bit more pain than the rest, and I'll keep my eye on it (so to speak) and make sure it doesn't seem to be getting worse the more I practice. At one point, the puck was at my knees and the forward who'd skated in and shot jumped to cover it at the same time I did (I got it... haha), and jokingly shoved me around a little. Flipper, who was previously my partner on the IR, came over and manhandled her all the way over to the boards. All involved were laughing and cheering- it was all in good fun.

With about 15 minutes left in the practice, I decided to be smart and pack it in. My knee was getting stiffer and more painful and I didn't want to push it. So I wandered (waddled, really, since I didn't want to waste time taking my gear off) over to the other rink to see how the Hawks were doing. Since they were playing the "Drunk Punks", who beat us last time, I was certainly hoping to see a scoreboard in our favor. And I did. We were up by 3 goals to their 1 when I walked in, with a Hawk in the process of putting another one in the net. With only a few minutes left, I stayed to watch, and saw the most idiotic thing I've ever seen at a rink. When they beat the goalie yet again, our guys stood dumbfounded as one of the Punks tackled another one in their defensive zone. I thought at first they were horsing around, but then I heard their voices. They were actually fighting each other. Another Punk came over and dragged the instigator off by the back of his collar, looking an awful lot like a mother cat. It was absolutely bizarre, and with only 38 seconds left, the refs just let the clock run out. Real classy bunch of guys, those Punks.

By a few teammates' accounts, it was a fantastic game on everyone's part and I'm sure it felt great to beat those guys. As anxious as I am to get back into the net "for real", with my teams, I'm playing it smart and leaving the rest of the games this season to my sub. The new season starts up again in mid-April, which is perfect timing. Just before that is the tournament with the QCats up in Massachusetts, so I'll definitely be back in top shape endurance wise. If I'm not, after 4 games in 3 days, I never will be.

But first, clinic, practice, clinic, open hockey etc etc etc to get those muscles back in motion and get my stamina back. I have a grand plan: win the tournament so I can come back and email my physical therapist a sweaty victory picture. DAMN, does it feel good to be back.