Why pre-game routines are important!!!

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that a few weeks ago, I let my gear out of my sight and it ended up hanging out at the rink unsupervised for a while, prompting me to vow never to let anyone else handle my gear again. It was an innocent mix-up, but still, I was very angst-ridden until "eco_panda" came to the rescue, stashing it aside and threatening bodily harm to anyone who touched it. (Actually I'm not so sure about the bodily harm part. But knowing her, she did). You'd think that would teach me to keep better track of my equipment,  no? Well apparently it's not just other people I have to worry about.

I'm very particular about how and when I pack my stuff before a game. Any variation from this routine usually ends in disaster. Yesterday afternoon I didn't follow my regular steps and wouldn't you know it, I forgot something. Something really important. Unfortunately I didn't realize it until it was much too late.

I was half dressed, sitting in the locker room, when a feeling of unease came over me. "Something's not right", I said. A few people looked at me askance. "Did you forget something?", someone asked. I replied that I hadn't, but something just didn't feel right. Something about my gear. The girl to my right, who is new on the team, blurted out "Goalies!", then laughed and apologized and looked guilty. She explained that her ex-boyfriend was a goalie and I reassured here that I understood. Trust me, I know we're kind of out there. I shook off the weird feeling and continued getting dressed, and all was fine until I stood up to head out of the locker room and grabbed my mask, blocker, and .... wait a minute. OH MY GOD I FORGOT MY GLOVE. Panic set in. How was I going to play without a glove???? I ran (ok, no one runs in goalie pads... I hobbled quickly) out of the locker room and told GoalieHusband about my idiocy and asked him to check with the other goalie to she if she had an extra. And then I took off in the direction of the front desk in hopes there was some random gear lying around.

There was, but it was all for kids. I have small hands, but not that small. Someone suggested I talk to the guy in the pro shop. I was aboslutely mortified - what goalie forgets their freakin equipment? He didn't have anything either but offered me his own skater's glove. "I don't know if you want it, it's falling apart..." he said. I didn't care- the teams were already on the ice at that point, and the refs had waited as long as they were willing, and play had started. I grabbed the glove and headed back to the rink. I figured it was better than nothing, at least some protection for my hand.

Threadbare doesn't even begin to describe this thing. In fact when I handed the ref the puck after I'd covered it, he laughed at me. There was no palm. At all. The fingers were barely hanging on. It took every bit of effort to hold my fist clenched and by my side instead of holding it out in normal glove position. I figured I'd use it like a second blocker, Dan Blackburn style. That worked pretty well and that's how I played for the next period and a half. GoalieHusband had left to go to a teammate's house and get a glove from her husband, who just started playing goal. It was the 3rd period by the time he got back with it, but I used it anyway- the more protection the better.

The game itself was unusual as well. The team we were supposed to play backed out (which they do a lot) so we had the QCat "white" team come play. We split the teams up though, to make it more even. I can't even tell you who won or lost, because the other goalie and I switched sides at one point. All I know is, the other side pulled their goalie in the last half minute, and they evened up the score with 1.9 seconds remaining.  We went to a shootout and I lost that too. The first shooter scored. I knew exactly what she was doing too, but I completely overthought it. I may also have been slightly rankled because she did the Anisimov gunshot gesture toward me before she took center ice. I decided not to bitch at her about it though, because she scored. Not much I can say- if it was a distraction tactic apparently it worked. Still, I am pretty peeved that someone on my own team would do that.   I guess she thought she was being "cute", but I still think that's B.S.

Because of the holiday we have no practice this week. I've been on the ice way too infrequently lately, so I intend to make my annual appearance at the shit-show that is Thanksgiving Morning Open Hockey. That one's always good for a post-game blog post if nothing else.

PS - Here's a picture of the glove I wore for most of the game. You can see why I kept my hand balled in a fist!