The Church of Hockey

"Back in the day", when we used to play roller hockey outside on an asphalt rink, we played a few times a week. But our biggest turnout and usually best games were always Sunday mornings. It was always kind of a thrill to arrive there, grumbling and sleepy-eyed, and gradually wake up as you put your gear on, sitting next to someone on the bench just as foggy and cranky as you were. And as more and more folks showed up, you'd start waking up a little bit, dicking around on the rink until most of the group was assembled... and by the end of it all, you'd played balls-out for a solid three hours. I have great memories of those days. (I'm a spoiled brat now and wouldn't go back, but it's fun to reminisce). A lot of us jokingly said those Sunday morning games were our "church". And on the rare days when it was neither too hot nor too cold, it certainly did feel divine.

Now, I still get to the rink grumbling and sleepy-eyed, but that's because our games are as late as 11:20pm. I don't know how they swing it, but the QCats manage to get some pretty prime ice times, Sunday evenings being the most common game time. This season we had a surprise Sunday morning game though, and it made me think of that year or so when Sunday morning was unquestionably devoted to hockey. And here I was, years later, with a different group in a different place, joking again about hockey being our religion. We played a team that our interaction with seems to be on the chippier side. That's putting it mildly, I guess, considering last time we played them, "Pants" flat out body-slammed a chick for two-handing her to the head. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on what you like), there were no such incidents in this game. It was a decently paced, evenly matched game that we mostly played very well in. I say mostly, because after the second period we were up 2-0. We went into the third knowing they were going to come really hard at us, and we had about a minute and a half's worth of collective brain fart and there we were, tied. That really ticked me off, because both goals against were pretty garbage-y. I'm not sure what the deal is with that but most of my goals against on that team have been cruddy garbage goals or bad bounces. I guess I have to be more aware of my movements or where the puck is. But everything I saw, I stopped. I was feeling really good, and I even counted shots (33). Once again Gionta182 wrangled a 5 minute OT period out of the refs, but we weren't as lucky this time. We were still tied at the end of it.

I was actually surprised that we ended up with the OT, since it's pretty much at the ref's discretion (what's up with that?), and I had kind of uncharacteristically mouthed off at one of them earlier in the third period. There was an offside whistle, and everyone else stopped, but the player with the puck continued into the zone, looked right at me, and shot. Now, I know sometimes that happens at the same time as a whistle, I know sometimes it's not intentional. But that was pretty blatant. She turned to skate away and I charged after her, yelling. She completely ignored me, and I was aware of the fact that I was nearing the blue line and the ref was in the vicinity so I figured I should cool my jets. (Hkygrl12, who is coaching this season, later told me she was really nervous because she's never seen me get mad before and thought it was going to be "Tuukka milkcrate time". I did notice that she looked a little wide-eyed to see me that close to the bench. Haha.) On my way back to the net I yelled to the ref "No call on that?" He said no and I blurted out "That's bullshit". Generally I don't do this. I may think it, but I don't give refs any lip. He replied "Come on now, let's keep it friendly" or something like that, and I just shut my mouth and focused on the faceoff. But that really ticked me off. That's blatant disrespect right there on her part. It's ok though, because I've got her number. She's a smallish forward, she'll be in my crease again. Oops! Did my stick get in your way? SORRY.