Well, that was just about as weird as I thought it would be. It was strange enough being on the other end of the ice from my teammates, but when play started and I had to yell "man on", etc., to the team I was playing for, I felt like a traitor. This team, however, was made up of all 20-something girls fresh out of college, with absolutely boundless energy and amazing skill. As a result, I didn't have to do too much. I think I had 5 or 6 shots. Which was absolutely fine with me, except for the fact that it meant that Bacardi was getting absolutely hammered (haha no pun intended) at the other end. The final score was 11-0, and it could have been much, much worse if the Wunderkinds hadn't backed off and focused on passing instead of making it a shooting gallery.
The strangest thing for me was seeing our team from a perspective I never see them; that of the other goalie. I am very glad I don't have to face #66, our very strong power forward, with a foaming-at-the-mouth tenacity for puck possession and a wicked shot. Seeing her come flying in on the forecheck was pretty intimidating! And our diminutive but speedy center known as "Pirate" was just as annoying around the net as she is in practice. No one ever seems to notice her buzzing around on the back door. So, in that regard it was pretty cool, seeing our forwards in action from a perspective other than hustling down on a backcheck or executing a breakout. Still, that is something I will never do again. Ever. It was just too weird. I had to stop thinking of them as the individual people they are and think of them as just some team in white. I have to say I am glad I got the shutout, if only because a goal on 5 shots would have made for a terrible save percentage going on the books.
We have another game today. By "we" I mean QC Red. (This multi-team thing is so confusing). It's a home game, early on a Sunday evening, so we'll have a bench full beyond bursting. I think all 17 of our players will be there, and so we'll probably doing some kind of team picture- I just hope it's before the game and not after. I'm going to be a very busy goalie today, this team we're facing is quite good. Two players who usually play on our tournament team are on this team, and it's always a fun challenge to face them.
Speaking of challenges, I have my work cut out for me. I've long known that I'm horribly un-flexible, in goalie terms, and today I had it unilaterally confirmed. Super awesome goalie fitness and training guru Maria Mountain posted a 9-point goalie assessment on her site a few days ago. Today I finally got around to taking it. I wasn't surprised by the results. In the area of mobility, I flunked big time. The only test I passed in that area was the one that was part of the butterfly flare widening program of hers that I did a while back. Hmmm... coincidence? Doubtful. Lesson learned: stretching DOES make a difference. Fortunately in stability and strength I passed with flying colors. But as she points out, what good are those if you don't have a strong foundation of mobility? Time to get to work on some serious stretching. I'd started planning out a fitness program that works with my schedule, and interestingly enough, I made stretching a big part of it, with injury prevention in mind. Hey, I'm 38, and I have had a few small reminders in the past week or so that my body is not as young as it used to be. But now I know exactly which areas to focus on. So I guess I'll spend a little less time on the stationary bike and a little more time stretching. My plan is to do the assessment again in 3 months and see if there is any improvement.
Oh yeah, and the lockout is over. Almost forgot about that. I'm of two minds about it. There's the "meh, whatever, I'm totally disgusted" part of me, but then there's the "ZOMG HOCKEY'S BACK!!!!!!!! THERE WILL BE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS! YEEEAHHHHHH!!!!" part. The latter part is winning out, but you can be sure I won't be buying any tickets or merchandise for quite a while. Will it matter much in the long run? Probably not. And if we all did that, the owners would cry even more poverty and there we go again... but at least it makes me feel like I'm not TOTALLY drinking the Kool-Aid. I just want to watch some hockey, dammit. The WJC was awesome and now that it's over I want more. Oh I get to watch Tuukka again? Yeah, I'm not that mad/disgusted. Give me the remote.
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3 comments:
It will be epic to see what Tuukka does this year since the net is his now, and every game is on the line for playoff consideration.
Is it bad that I'm more excited about watching Tuukka than Lundqvist? Maybe because there's kind of a story there. Its going to be difficult given the circumstances but yeah he has to come out and grab the net that's his for the taking. Hopefully he can stay healthy!
There in lies the rub, Tuukka has had some nagging groin problems, and it will be interesting to see how that's managed. There wont be a lot of time to recover from injury with a short season.
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