Hockey = therapy

*I actually wrote and was about to post this the night Rich Peverly collapsed. Somehow it didn't seem right to post it at that time, so here it is a few days later.

Eight years ago, GoalieHusband and I adopted a black cat, who was supposed to be "his" cat. We already had a kitty at home who was allegedly "mine", but who in all honestly bonded mostly with GoalieHusband. We continued his tradition of naming black cats after something red or firey, and at the time the Carolina Hurricanes had just won the Cup, and on the way home he turned to me and said "Who is that guy with the big red hair?" He was referring, of course, to Mike Commodore. And that is how Commie got his name. "Commodore" didn't last long before we were shortening it to "Commie". and everyone thought we were making a political statement when we told them our cat's name. Even the vet couldn't quite get it right. They always thought it was "Commander" or "Coma-dore". Every now and then I'd call him "Commander Commodore", or even "Commodore Barry" (don't ask where that came from, other than a road trip to PA for a tournament). But although we adopted him ostensibly as GoalieHusband's cat, he soon became mine. He wormed his way into my heart and we had a bond that if I tried to describe it will only make me sound like the quintessential crazy cat lady. If he wasn't sleeping, he was following me around. I could only be seated for approximately 3 minutes before he'd materialize and jump into my lap. He'd lay on my chest at night and "hug" me, putting a paw on each shoulder and leaning his head against my cheek.

Over the last few years, Commie developed some health problems. He had an overactive thyroid, and his kidneys weren't the greatest. Having already lost one cat to kidney disease, I steeled myself for what I pictured his end would be like. I never imagined that taking him to the vet for what I thought was a bad tooth would be the last time I saw him. (Although.... if you follow me on twitter, you know I did have an inkling... I just did a fantastic job of shoving it way down underneath the sofa cushions of my mind). He'd been drooling, which at first was kind of funny and cute - he was old, after all - but when there began to be a not so pleasant odor, and a tinge of brown or red to it, I knew I had to take him in to be looked at. He was eating fine, and acting totally normal, the two things that are first to go when he doesn't feel well, so I didn't really think it was anything serious. Boy was I wrong. My little buddy had an enormous tumor on his right temporal mandibular joint, preventing him from opening his mouth more than about an inch. It was embedded into his jaw and extended to the roof of his mouth. Even under sedation, they couldn't get his mouth open. Thoroughly stunned, GoalieHusband and I met at the vet's office that afternoon to say our last goodbyes. Although he seemed to be acting ok, we knew it was only a matter of days before he'd be unable to eat, and we couldn't possibly even consider putting him through that torture.

I've spent the last several daze in a zombie-like state, doing best when I have something to distract me. I've used the words "heartbroken" and "utterly devastated" to describe the tear through the middle of my heart, but I know deep down it was the right decision. I keep reliving the last few minutes we spent with him. I removed his collar and stuffed it in my pocket, and for the next few days wore it as a bracelet. The clinking sound his tag made comforted me. But I had three games this weekend. Some people might have found a sub, and indeed I skipped practice that week, but I knew that getting on the ice with my "other" family would be the best thing for me. I put his tag on a long chain and tucked it under my shirt, close to my heart, and on Friday night my team played the best game I've ever seen us play, and we won 2-0. I faced 23 shots. It being the novice team, it was wonderful to see the way everyone clicked. Some of our newest players are really starting to "get it", and we were rolling as a unit the whole time.

Saturday, unfortunately, was the complete opposite. It was the white team, the league team, and we had more players than we'd had for the last several games; three lines of offense and three lines of defense. I think that sort of threw everyone off. I was way off my game myself, having a tough time adjusting from the previous night's pace. I know when my timing is off, and going back and forth between levels has been wrecking havoc with my game all season long. I'll play on the white team one weekend, and then be completely unable to stop a shot in practice three days later against the red team shooters. I'll go from a red game to a white game and completely forget that pucks can come at you up high or totally misread the speed of a shot. We lost 7-1. It was ugly. I'm not taking sole responsibility, because it was a team-wide collapse, but I was right there in the thick of it.

Fortunately we had a chance at redemption the next night. I think everyone felt the same- we needed to make up for that horrid performance. So much so that for the entire first period, I saw a grand total of three shots. I started to worry that I wouldn't be ready when the shots finally started coming, but I was. We ended up winning 3-1, and I would estimate my shots around 20. But they were 20 ridiculously hard shots to stop, including one dive to the side that was an ode to Tim Thomas. I hit my rhythm and was back in my groove, much to my relief. And none too soon. We have a game this weekend that is do-or-die, playoff-wise. If we win, we have a chance. If we don't, we're done until October. (Well... except for tournaments, which are in a world unto themselves). Since the minute we lost our playoff game last season it has been my goal to get back to playoffs again and do some damage this time. I think we can do it, if we realize we have to earn it.

Getting after it

It’s March? When did that happen? All of a sudden we only have two more league games before the end of the season, and it’s crunch time. Last season we clinched a playoff spot early, finishing first in the division. This season we struggled a bit more, and are fighting for our playoff lives as we come down the stretch. Saturday night we faced a particularly difficult opponent. The last time we played them, we lost 1-0, and were told that no one else in our division had been able to keep the score so low. That was back in the beginning of the season though, when we didn’t have holes in the roster. For a few weeks we were without our coach (injury), and for various other reasons we seemed to never have our full team for games. Everyone came back just in time though. Having recently been cleared by her doctor (even though she played the week before, shhhh), Hkygrl12 was back in the lineup, and most of the rest of the team was there as well on Saturday. We have a few exuberant young-ins, which adds a whole other layer of amusement to a locker room that's already rife with it. They’re quite taken with the movie “Frozen”, and have been serenading us with its songs lately during practice. They commandeered the iPod player as we got ready for the game and forced us all to listen to … I have no idea. Some song from the movie that sounded like a Broadway musical to me. Not exactly pre-game hockey music. I belly-ached about it good-naturedly, and gionta182 and I kept rolling our eyes at each other, but they were not to be deterred and sang along loudly.  In recompense I requested one of the few popular-music songs I’ve latched onto recently: "Radioactive". I honestly have no idea what most of the words even are, I just really dig that song. In fact it got stuck in my head Saturday night and is still there. This is it, the apocalypse.

Well, now we will be forced to listen to the musical number before every game we have left, because we played probably our best game of the season. Everyone played hard, and just did not give up. They scored first, in the first period, on a play I was handcuffed on. I had to cover the puck carrier, but there was another girl sneaking down behind that no one saw, and with the D drawn to the puck carrier she had an easy goal. I tried to get over in time but didn’t quite get there. That was probably in the first half of the period, but fortunately we evened it up not long after. I think that buoyed everyone’s spirits. And then I spent half a period with  my head up my ass. Ok, not really. But there were two pretty lousy goals in the second period, putting us down 3-1, and I figured that was it. But we didn’t give up. Including me. We just kept fighting and fighting and slowly climbed out of our hole, eventually scoring 4 unanswered goals. Including killing a 6 –on-4 power play (empty net). When we made it 3-2 I shouted and cheered. When it was 3-3, I just bent down and breathed deep, determined to center myself and stay steady and do my part. Then it was 3-4 and again I drew deep on my yoga to stay calm. When the empty-netter sealed it with 3 seconds to go, I nearly dropped to my knees. I couldn’t get to my teammates fast enough after that final buzzer. We were a giant mass of happiness. That win meant A LOT in terms of our confidence and our playoff hopes. One down, two to go. In games I’ve been working on focusing only on the next shot, and that’s what we have to do in a broader sense with these games. One at a time. That’s the only way we can get there. And do we ever want to get there. #GoGoalieGo

Waking up the Goaliebrain

For the last five months at work I've been on a major project and logging lots of hours. I didn't take any time off over the holidays, in fact I worked most weekends and holiday days. I have a reprieve, just in time for my favorite thing ever - Olympic hockey. I've taken a few much-needed days off, scheduled around the women's hockey games I don't want to miss. (The big men's games are mostly on the weekend, so no vacation time needed there). Yesterday morning I settled down with a nice hot cup of coffee and watched the replay of the Canada vs Switzerland game. And I was hooked within minutes. I had the same feeling I got all those years ago when I walked into the rink for a public skate and saw women playing. The skating plans were quickly abandoned, and I spent the next hour transfixed.

It would be a few years before I would become a part of that big and quirky family, and I really did enjoy my years playing with the guys. In fact sometimes I miss it a little bit. For as much as I have been a proponent of there being no gender on the ice, there really is a difference. I've always said "I don't care what's in you're pants, when you're on the ice you're just a hockey player". But now I kind of get it. I've spent years watching the NHL and hearing about players who as kids idolized this or that player, and whose goal was to make it to the show one day. It wasn't until yesterday morning that I really got it. The close-up of the goalie reveals the same intense gaze, but this one is highlighted with eyeliner and mascara. (Hey, they're going to be on camera. I don't blame them for wearing makeup). There are braids and pony-tails flying out of the backs of helmets as the players hustle up the ice. The shots of the bench look an awful lot like my own bench. Those are WOMEN out there. People just like me. I found myself randomly just breaking out into a grin, basking in the joy of watching the best women in the world in the sport I love. I still think that when you get right down to it, hockey players are hockey players regardless of their chromosomes, but having the chance to watch all women at this skill level is really invigorating.

The game itself wasn't all that exciting - at least for most people. I was in goalie heaven. Most of the play was in Switzerland's zone, and Swiss goalie Florence Schelling was absolutely killing it. My eyes were glued to her the entire time, hoping maybe some subtle thing would subconsciously soak into the Goaliebrain. She had 69 shots and stopped 64 of them, there certainly was ample opportunity for me to learn something. But as poised and confident and disciplined and skilled as they are, it's nice to hear they can be a little goofy too. It was during the game that the commentators mentioned that the teams dress at Shayba Arena, but practice at a different one, which they have to walk to. (I don't really get that... are there no locker rooms at the practice rink?)  Evidently the Swiss team was walking over for practice, and poor Florence Schelling was waddling along in her gear, when an Olympic volunteer took pity on her and gave her some assistance:

As if she was the first goalie to ever go for a ride on a luggage cart....

How to Evaluate a Rink Shower

Last week I didn't feel much like writing and reporting the less than successful weekend the Cats (and I personally) had. White tied again, 4-4, in the exact same manner: a late goal to tie it. In fact, it was with 1.7 seconds left on the clock. See? Nothing to write home about. Red lost 3-2, and I felt I could have been better in both games. I sullenly asked what the point was of all the off-season work I did if I couldn't help my team win. Since finishing Ultimate Goalie Training, I've been dithering around with other workouts, mostly back to the start of "Goalie Workout Club", but I wasn't finding that challenging enough. So on Friday I decided to start UGT over again from the beginning. Let me tell you, Phase 1 was nowhere near the piece of cake I thought it would be. I don't know if it was coincidence or not, but last night I felt back to my old form. Confident, strong, and alert. There were a few saves I made that in previous games probably would have gone in. I'd been over thinking things and playing awkwardly. Now I feel much more confident and comfortable in my own skin. We faced off against a pretty challenging team last night and won 5-1. We played a really good game, including killing off almost 3 complete penalties. (The lone goal came at the very end  of the last PK, on a screened shot from the point). I was very happy with the way I played. Nice change of pace.

Today I'm in the net for Red, at a rink we love to visit because of the proximity to a Houlihan's, which we always end up descending upon after our game. It's pretty funny when the conversation in the locker room goes like this:

"Where are we next week?"

"We're at the Blades"

"Yes!!!! Beers and stuffed mushrooms at Houlihans!!!!"


Personally, I evaluate rinks partially by the likelihood of a decent post-game shower. I'm the only player on either of my teams who showers after a game or practice, and I think for the most part this has a lot to do with the distance of my drive home. Most of them live pretty close to the rink, so don't have the prospect of a long stinky ride home. I got into the habit of it when I used to play early in the morning before work, and it seems to have stuck.  A post game/practice shower is not only refreshing, it's extremely relaxing. Unfortunately, the facilities in a lot of rinks leave a lot to be desired. Perhaps men are a lot less picky about their showers, but I evaluate them based on the following criteria:


Is there actually a handle on the faucet or is it just a knob of hockey tape on the naked stem?
This could be a deal-breaker. The ability to turn the water on is pretty crucial.

Is the water at least lukewarm?
Some showers take a while to warm up, so this could be deceiving. I have showered in some pretty cold showers though, it all depends on how disgusting I am. This also helps train you to take quick showers.

Does it smell like a combination of pee and Axe?
If so, a high school team has been in the locker room the session just before you. A sturdy pair of shower shoes negates the risk.

Are there small insects rising up from the drains?
Yes? Well.... when you run the water you'll drown them, so this one can go either way.

Do the showers join two locker rooms, with access from the other room?
Not a concern for guys, I guess, but when you realize some dude could walk in on you, it's going to be a smelly ride home.

Are there suspicious brown smears on the walls?
I'm not sure how these get there, other than by someone holding their butt cheeks open and spraying like a cat, but if showers are in that condition, I will invariably skip them.

Other than the two professional facilities I've played in, most rink showers seem to fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. Sadly, my home rink doesn't pass most of these criteria, but most of the time I end up showering anyway. With my glasses off, I can't see much anyway, so as long as I don't touch anything I'm pretty good. (Except for the brown smears. That is just unacceptable.)

Game 1 of ???

If nothing else, it's going to be an interesting season. Oh wait. We're the Quarry Cats. It's ALWAYS an interesting season! For me though, it will be a little challenging and I have very mixed feelings. My partner, Bacardi, is unable to commit to the season this year because of some major life stuff going on. She's devastated, as I would be, but she just can't do it this year. The teams have conferred and we think we can keep her involved, playing whatever games she is able to, and I will cover the rest. There are only a few times in the season where it would be physically impossible for me to play both the Red and White game that weekend. But between Bacardi possibly being able to play, and a handful of other goalies (heeeey #goalieharem) we can ask, it should be just fine. Nobody wanted to just go out and get another goalie to take her place. That's not how we roll. And that is what makes this team so awesome. So what does that mean for me? Well, I am in the strange position of looking forward to the opportunity to play lots of games, but at the same time feeling terrible for my buddy. We are keeping in touch though, and I hope she doesn't hesitate to jump in when she can.

So, my very busy season started last night. The White team traveled to face off against the Hawks. Last season we beat them in the regular season (I got a shutout in fact), only to take them too lightly in the playoffs and lose to them in the semi-final. As a result I was looking to the game for a bit of personal redemption. It was that loss that had prompted me to bust my ass training all summer, and I was hoping to make a very good showing. Unfortunately I disappointed myself and, I feel, my team. I know that everyone was busy blaming themselves, and not me, but we tied 4-4 and two of those goals were pretty weak, so I am frustrated with myself. What was all that training for if I'm going to give up goals like that? I'm trying to be patient with myself- it's only the first game of the season.

There were several high points though. I made lots of good saves, and our two rookies each got a goal. One is a teammate from the Red team last season who tried out for White this summer and made it. When she scored a beautiful goal with a shot over the other goalie's shoulder and into the top of the netting, I whooped and hollered with the rest of the team. The other was a girl who had the unusual distinction of earning her nickname at the very first game. Before it, in fact. Her name is Gabby, but she will be forever known as "Pete" now. We already had a Gabbie on the team, and were trying to figure out how to make the distinction. "Old Gabbie" was immediately rejected. "Classic Gabbie", "Vintage Gabbie" and "Pre-existing Gabbie" were floated but when new-Gabby said "You can call me anything you want. You can call me Pete for all I care," that was the end of that. When Coach (i.e. GoalieHusband) came in to read off the lines, and got to her, everyone interrupted him and said "No, her name is Pete!". He paused, confused, and said to her "P-e-a? Or just 'P'?" We all giggled and yelled "No, PETE"! He shrugged, crossed something out on his pad and said "Ok then. Pete it is." So, naturally, when she scored, everyone went nuts and yelled "Peeeeeeeete!"

All teams are off today. Blue played last night as well and won, 7-2, with only 8 skaters. Monx77 netted one after a long and frustrating season off due to injury, which only made that victory sweeter. Next weekend the double-duty starts for me. Red on Saturday and White on Sunday. But before that, practice on Wednesday. A dry glove? What is that?

Fighting MS in PA

After enduring the traffic hell that caused a 260 mile trip to take 8 hours, GoalieHusband and I were on the road again Saturday morning to meet up with the three QCats teams that had gone to Bethlehem to participate in another Hockey Fights MS tournament. We had two teams in the D division and one team in the C division. I was playing on the C team this time around. Bacardi had subbed for me in Friday night's game, which we won 3-1. I have to admit I was pretty nervous about playing with the C team, even though I knew I could handle it.

The first game on Saturday was one of those deceptively difficult ones- I only saw 5 shots. Fortunately I improved over my last experience in a game like that and came out of it with a shutout. Whew. It always feels pretty crappy to get scored on when you have so little to do, but that's exactly what makes it so hard to stay focused. I cleaned imaginary snow out of my crease, sang to myself, and yelled helpful things to my teammates, even though I'm sure they couldn't hear me anyway all the way down in the other zone.

The next game was slightly more challenging. I didn't count shots and neither did the scorekeeper but I'd estimate about 15. We won 6-2. The most challenging game of all though was the championship game, which we played Sunday morning. The team we'd faced on Friday was our opponent again in this game, and I was pretty nervous after hearing the others talk about how intense that game had been. It was everything I expected: physical, fast, and even a little chippy. We went up 2-0 but they answered back and the first period ended at 2-1. We traded goals a few times and with just a few minutes left in the third period, we were ahead 4-3. Until they scored.

Here's a little tip from your friendly neighborhood goalie. Skaters- when the other team scores, especially a crucial goal, it really makes the goalie feel lower than worm turds when you slam your stick on the boards/glass in frustration. Yeah, we know we screwed up. The puck's in the net, glaring at us like a giant accusation. We don't slam our sticks if you miss a wide open net or lose the puck on a breakaway. So even if it's only in frustration at yourself, knock it off, ok?

The format for this tournament was a five minute, 4 on 4 overtime, followed by a 5-person shootout if necessary. We didn't make it that far. We took a penalty about a minute into the overtime, and they scored with someone camped out all alone on the back door. I had twisted around to try to grab a piece of it, and after it went in I just flopped forward onto my stomach. Worst. Feeling. Ever.

Fortunately the tournament didn't end completely on that note. We had time for a nice relaxing lunch at the outdoor tables of the rink pub, and then headed in to watch the D division championship game. It's unusual for people to stick around on a Sunday afternoon once their game is over. But this one was different: it was Quarry Cats vs Quarry Cats. It was fun and bizarre all at the same time. (In fact, both teams came out in their away jerseys for warm-ups. The home team changed into their whites for the game, but that was pretty funny.) I'm just glad I didn't have to play. I hate playing against my teammates, as is well documented here. With less than a minute to go, we moved from the stands to the door in the boards, and joined the on-ice festivities. The "white" team won, but after they were presented with the trophy someone started handing out all the extra black jerseys to those of us from the stands. All three teams mashed together for the official tournament picture. It's awesome. One giant mass of happy Cats. I love us.

Go Goalie, Go

Three and a half months ago, after a bitter bitter loss in the league playoffs, I found UGT 3.0 VIP and signed up, vowing to do everything within my power not to feel like that ever again. My track record with workout programs for the year prior to that wasn't the best- I'd start out with great intentions and a week later I'd find all kinds of excuses and reasons not to get my butt out of bed and into the gym. But this program seemed different. There were interactive elements to it that I thought would help with not only my motivation, but my accountability. The way I felt about this program was similar to the way I felt when I first started playing goal: I was absolutely, positively determined not to sabotage myself. And it's been very difficult at times, but it's paying off. I can feel a big difference on the ice, and quite honestly off it as well. I'm about 3-4 weeks behind the rest of the group that started at the same time as me, but I've had a tournament each month since starting that I've had to work around. I just completed Phase 3 and am about to start Phase 4, when I get back from vacation and the upcoming tournament this weekend.

This program is designed for professionals. It's progressive, the workouts are long (60-90 minutes), basically, it's hard. There have been times when I've wondered if I'm being ridiculous, a late 30's beer leaguer with a full time job trying to keep up with (very much younger) guys who have nothing to do but train all day and be in great shape for training camp. At one point I even emailed Maria, asking how I'd know if the program was just too hard for me. She said it's only too hard if you don't make the time for it and keep your commitment to it. Well, ok then. That little flame of self-doubt squelched, I banked on my competitiveness and pushed on. When I did the final workout in Phase 3 I felt triumphant. As I tweeted, I really thought that phase would be the death of me. I was really dragging, and in desperate need of some recovery days. Fortunately, that's when my vacation started. It's been several days of complete sluggy bliss, lounging about on the beach, reading, just being flat out lazy. Imagine my surprise when, in the midst of my best impression of a slug, I got an email from Maria informing me that she had chosen me as this month's "All Star".  I was flabbergasted. Of the hundreds of athletes she trains, and of those God knows how many are pros, she chose me??? I read the email out loud to my husband and brother-in-law (who happened to be sitting right there). I told my sister and my cousin. I may have squealed a little.

This morning was the end of my recovery period. I had a body-weight workout all ready to go, my clothes laid out to jump right into and get going. When I rolled over to shut off the alarm on my clock I saw it - the email going out to everyone, with the article about... me! Tough to beat that for motivation. I was out there on the porch, facing the water, kicking my own ass. I'll be at it again Friday morning, too. I have a tournament to play in this weekend, and I'm playing in the highest division. Behind 8 skaters. I'm going to need all the help I can get. Go goalie, go.

Fighting MS in Vermont - Part 2

After our 2-1 win and visit to the ice cream Mecca, we gathered again for our second game of the day. The sign in sheet had us listed as "away", and I distinctly remember asking the girl at the desk "That means we're dark, right?" She confirmed. Then I saw the name of the team we were playing. I'm not the only one who noticed it. Several other people in the locker room commented on it, and quipped that we might want to give the refs a heads-up, since this team apparently likes to body check them. Pants relayed some commentary she overheard while walking through the parking lot. Oh boy, we thought, here we go again.

And then we walked out of the locker room, in our dark jerseys, and the ref was standing there telling us to go back in and change, because the other team only had dark. Ok... this wasn't something they could come and tell us BEFORE we all got dressed? I mean, if you're a team with only one jersey, fine, I get it, but wouldn't you check with the other team in order to avoid a giant clusterfuck? It has definitely happened before, in fact it happened in our first game. They only had powder blue and asked what color we were, to make sure it wouldn't be confusing. Not exactly the most difficult concept in the world. 

So, we were a little miffed at being told just before getting on the ice, to go back and change. Then someone said "What about our socks? Do we have to change those too?" Everyone looked at me. They all know that, given the choice, I'd rather have all dark or all light socks in front of me, and all socks of the opposite side of the spectrum on the other. It's not a huge deal, but it definitely makes a difference. When you're primarily looking down, especially if you're down on the ice already, what you see are socks. When you see socks of one color or the other you know if it's a teammate or not. Is it a huge deal? No. Have I played a million games of open hockey and beer league games where everyone's socks are all different colors? Yes. But in this league, everyone's jerseys and socks tend to match, so that is what I am used to. However, I wasn't about to make a big deal out of it. With all of them looking at me expectantly, I kind of shrugged. I know changing your socks is an enormous pain in the ass, and I didn't feel like I wanted to ask that of everyone. The decision however, was taken out of my hands. Someone spoke up and told the refs to tell them if they want us to change, they have to wait for us to change our socks too. As we were in the locker room changing, a tournament person came in and said they were wearing light socks. The Captain made a split second decision and told everyone to put their socks in a pile - the other team could wear them. 

Looking back, it's a little silly. But clearly it was more gamesmanship than anything else. The Captain explained to the tournament rep that we have a history with this team, and told her about the game where one of their players checked a ref. She explained that if they were going to wait and then make us change, they could change too. By now, I was feeling like an idiot, because no less than three players had sliced their fingers open trying to get their socks off over their skates, one of them pretty badly. But I wasn't the one who had made the decision. Anyway, back out we went, onto the ice. I had just stepped onto the ice from the bench when I turned around and saw one of the opponents standing on our bench, addressing the few of us that were there. 

"I don't understand, what's the reason we all had to change our socks?" she asked. Someone explained that our goalie wants us to all have the same socks. We thought she honestly had come over to ask, so we answered. But the next few things she said made it clear she was there purely to give us a hard time. She started giving us an attitude about the socks. I asked her what took them so long to tell us about the dark jerseys. She huffed and said "We don't know you! We don't know what kind of jerseys you have!" I asked her if it was really that hard to ask. A couple people started talking at once, and one player told her to leave. She then demanded  in a very pissy voice "Where's your goalie?" I'd been standing no more than two feet in front of her, talking to her the entire time, so I opened my arms wide and said "Uhhhh, right here." She said something again about the socks and I, like an idiot, tried to explain. She said, as she turned to leave "Well then you should be a better fucking goalie". Since I never have been the queen of the comeback, I very wittily told her to go fuck herself. 

Were we a little obnoxious about the socks? Yeah, I can admit that now. But not without reason. Did they have to send someone over to our bench before the game to bitch us out? Well, I guess we shouldn't have been surprised. Initially, I was really steamed, but I took a few breaths and told myself not to let it get to me, and concentrated on kicking some ass. Imagine my delight when the final buzzer went off and I had stopped every single one of their shots. I couldn't stop thinking "Clearly I need to be a better goalie. I just shut you bitches out". Unfortunately in the handshake line I couldn't identify the one who'd come over to spout off at us. We didn't win- it was a 0-0 tie, but we still shut them down just the same. I've never had a shutout feel sweeter. 

Our Sunday morning game turned out to be the championship game. The way the tournament was organized, in our division, there was no actual "championship game". The winner was to be decided on a basis of points. But by Sunday morning, it was clear that whoever won our game would win the tournament. And they were just a step faster than we were. We hung in there for most of the game, with the score tied at 2, but in the last few minutes they just really turned it on and we ended up losing 4-2. I didn't even beat myself up over it though- I know I played damn well. We all did. We were just slightly outmatched.

All bullcrap aside, it was a great tournament, and we had a great time. I haven't even written about the fantastic awesomeness that was the Beer Festival... but really what is there to say except that I tried A LOT of beers and even loved some of them, but as luck would have it, I misplaced the program where I made all my notes. I'm actually kind of peeved about that. Anyone on the team will tell you I'm a huge beer aficionado (ok, snob) and I was very much looking forward to trying a lot of quality beers I'd never had. I can tell you though, that my favorite by far was Heady Topper. I was in that line no less than three times. And it was a pretty long line.

Right now I'm on vacation, but we are back on the ice fighting the good fight this coming weekend - this time in Bethlehem, PA. And this time, we're bringing THREE teams. Heads up, bitches. Here come the Quarry Cats. 

Fighting MS in Vermont - Part 1

It's not every day your team makes it onto a newscast. But then again, it's not every day your team gets a chance to help raise money for MS research. This year the QCats brought two teams to the Hockey Fights MS tournament held in South Burlington, Vermont, and I was fortunate to be one of the goalies. I was very excited about it, not just because of the location (and, as luck would have it, the beer fest going on that weekend), but also because a good friend of mine was recently diagnosed with MS.

It was quite a drive but it was so worth it. It was a typical tournament schedule: one game on Friday, two on Saturday, one on Sunday. But given the duration of the drive to get there (between 5 and 6 hours, depending on traffic), many of us decided to head up a day early. We seem to always do poorly in the first game of a tournament, and most of us are pretty sure that's due to the "road legs" we all have from the long drive to get there. So, on a Thursday morning in the middle of a heat wave, The Mayor and I hit the road. The further we got into the Adirondacks, the more beautiful the scenery got. We had the extra treat of taking a ferry to cross Lake Champlain from NY to VT. It was easy to find- all we had to do was follow the "Jesus car" signs:

Even though it was one more night to pay for in a hotel, it turned out to be a really good idea to head up early. When we got there, we had plenty of time to relax. We parked ourselves in the Captain's room, and as people arrived they drifted in and before long we had a typical QCat party in full swing.

Our games weren't until Friday evening, so we had a full day to explore the beauty of Vermont. Most of the team went on a three hour schooner ride, on a gorgeous wooden sailboat. They tried and tried to get me to join them, and as much as I love the water in general, and sailing in particular, the prospect of spending three hours in the blazing sun on a 95 degree day did not appeal to me in the least. Even with all my teammates and a cooler full of refreshments. I knew I made the right choice, but I was pretty bummed out when everyone was gone and I was left to my own devices. I had brought a book and intended to spend a few hours reading by the pool, but as luck would have it, when I went out to replenish our cooler ice, I ran into someone from another team with whom we're all friendly.  She mentioned that she and some friends were heading out to take a tour of the Magic Hat brewery, which was only minutes away. It couldn't have worked out more perfectly.  To be honest, at first I said no, because aaaaaahhh people I don't know. But I told myself to knock it off and take her up on the offer, and I was glad I did. We visited not only Magic Hat, but another brewery, Fiddlehead, at which I bought a mini growler of Double IPA to bring home for the hubs.

Given that most of the team was out on their booze cruise, I was a little worried about the game Friday night. As a twitter friend pointed out, dehydration and heat stroke would probably make for a pretty busy game for me. I needn't have worried. I had three shots. And regrettably, one goal. Games like those are actually extremely difficult, because keeping your focus is a real challenge (as you can tell by that abysmal GAA).

Friday night was a pretty tame night, because we all had early games on Saturday morning, and my team's first game was in a rink a half an hour away. (In the middle of a cornfield. I shit you not.) It was a much more even affair, and we came away with a 2-1 win. With only two hours between the end of that game and the beginning of the next, we high-tailed it out of there so we had time to hit the Ben & Jerry's factory on the way back to the other, closer, rink. There wasn't enough time for a tour, but there was plenty of time to enjoy some delicious ice cream.

(I'm the one in the vulgar t-shirt. And championship hat.)

It turned out to be pretty good pre-game fuel, despite my reservations about having a belly full of dairy product before a game. Of course, the fire in my belly from the nonsense that went on before the game probably had a lot more to do with my overall performance. As luck would have it, we were matched up against a team we'd faced in a tournament earlier this year, one that played dirty, and had a player who, coming out of the penalty box at the end of the game, actually checked one of the refs.  We should have known we were in for some drama when the passive aggressive commentary started out in the parking lot when two of our players passed two of theirs. Were we entirely innocent in the shenanigans that followed? Probably not. But we decided to give back to them a little of what they gave to us. 

How I lost my coffee privileges (and how I'll win them back)

There's nothing I like more on my way to work than a nice hot cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee. Especially after a workout (which is probably horrible for you but oh well). Unfortunately for the next 30 days I will have to forgo that particular pleasure, because I have to keep a promise to myself.

Last month when I started UGT, I expressed concern that I wouldn't stick with it. That I'd get going real good and then just flop. Maria suggested I set a goal, and also define something I'd sacrifice if I didn't meet the goal. So, I said I'd do the whole month of workouts, and if I didn't, no Dunkin on my way to work, for a month. I know. I heard you gasp. (But I didn't say no Dunkin, ever. Just clarifying).

As I mentioned yesterday, I fell short of that goal. In reality what I meant was get through the whole month without slacking, but that's not what I said. And I completely forgot a out the tournament when I was making that proclamation. So... no Dunks for me for the next month.

So now I have the chance to win it back. Here's my goal for this month, right here on the Internet where I can't back out of it. I will do the complete month of workouts- if for some reason I miss one I will make it up before moving on to the next phase. Barring major health issues though, I'm only giving myself 3 extra days. What I don't want is to end up 7 weeks later still derping along, not finished with 4 weeks worth of workouts. This stuff is progressive, so taking too long kind of defeats the purpose.

Setting the alarm for 5 a.m. #gogoaliego #accountability

Tales from the parking lot

I needed to get out of the office for a bit, so here I am in my car, chilling in the spring air. I expect this to last approximately 3 minutes before the pollen chases me back inside.

As you probably could have guessed by the lack of posts, the tournament didn't go too well. We won our second game by a landslide, beating the other "sacrificial lamb" team 10-0. Our final game was against a very tough opponent and it was a great game, in spite of the fact that we lost. There's a lot to be said for three periods of good hard battle, that is also not nasty. Just good old hockey, no b.s. And it was a much more respectable score as well: 4-2. This meant no game on Sunday, which was a major bummer, but we made the most of being in vacation land.

Now I'm back in the real world, doing the corporate grind again. The less said about work, though, the better. Today I'm patting myself on the back a little, after finishing Phase One of UGT 3.0. I went the whole month without missing any workouts due to slacking, and I am really proud of that. Seriously, that is a huge accomplishment for me, the Queen of Slack. I did miss a few though, two because of the tournament and one because I w ole up feeling like complete ass one day and decided it would be smarter to give my body the rest. Not quite my goal of doing all of them, but much, much better than I have been historically . Tomorrow I start Phase Two. I'm looking forward to it but I'm also a little nervous. There are more exercises in these workouts that involve the cable columns, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little intimidated going over there. The cable columns seem to be Meathead Territory, and my toe-shoe-wearing, unconventional-exercise-doing self doesn't really fit in. But who cares right? I'm there for me. And as much as I worry about what people think about me, I'm pretty sure they're a lot busier looking at themselves in the mirrors. At least that's what I tell myself. That said, I will definitely retreat to the relative safety of the more female dominated "ab area" to do anything remotely resembling a glute bridge. Every time I do those I think of the guy in this cartoon*:

* This is from a great poster The Oatmeal did... unfortunately the link to the full comic doesn't seem to work, so in the interest of full credit, it's on this page 

Day One wrap-up

A day that began with a mercy-kill shellacking ended with the Rangers clinching a playoff berth with a marvelous overtime goal by none other than Captain Cally. That dude is clutch. Since NBC was broadcasting a completely meaningless game in the "road to the playoffs", we Ranger fans resorted to finding a live stream online to watch a game that actually mattered. Two or three people were clustered around Spitfire's laptop, and with cheering that erupted with that overtime goal, you'd have thought it was an actual playoff game. But since we were all pretty much certain the Rangers' playoff chances would come down to the very last game - against the Devils - we were elated to have that monkey off our backs.

I know.... I'm not here to write about the Rangers. But that game, even the 10 minutes of it that we saw, was much more interesting to write about than our own.  We are in the unfortunate position of having been bumped up to a tier I'm not entirely sure we belong in, after last year's win. One would think you'd at least be allowed the chance to defend your title before being moved up a division,  but when you look at the fact that there are only 3 other teams in Tier 1, I suppose they had to move us in order to get four teams in the tier. I don't think the rest of the games are going to be this bad (God, I hope not), but yesterday was pretty painful. They were just everywhere. We were down 6-1 at the end of the first period, and managed to stop the bleeding for the most part in the 2nd and 3rd, but by then it was too late. They scored another goal in the 2nd (two, actually, but one was waved off because the net had come off), so with a 6 goal differential going into the 3rd, we went to running time. That, for me, was a blessing. I'm not sure how many shots I had. And with that many goals you can imagine how I feel about my game. All I know is by the time we got off the ice I could barely stand and was weak with low blood sugar. Poutine's husband told me "you played triple the game you usually play". Still, it didn't feel too good to lose like that. We did manage to get one more in the 3rd, but they came right back with a few of their own. The official score was 8-2. The actual score was 10-2. Ouch.

After the game, Flipper was in the rink bar and a guy walked up to her and said "You're #29, right? You have an A on your jersey?" Besides being slightly creeped out by this complete stranger's ability to recognize her out of her gear, she stayed long enough to hear him tell her that the other team had one former Olympian, a couple Division 1 players, and a couple UNH players. I'm not sure how much stock I'd put in that information from some random creeper at the bar, but it sure does make us feel better about the beating we took.

Right now it's slug-ville at our condo. Pretty soon I have to get my butt in gear and work on my stretching/mobility though. I've been keeping right on schedule with my training, but this vacation has thrown a bit of a monkey wrench into it. I had it all planned out; even though I was going to be away, I'd do some body-weight workouts to keep myself going. Except then I looked at the schedule and realized all our games are at 2pm (ish). I asked Maria if I should be doing workouts in the morning with a game that early in the day and she said no, probably not. I said I didn't want to get behind on my training, and she said "don't forget we train to win- so go and win some games". Duh. I had to laugh at myself. As dedicated as I am to this training program I completely forgot the whole purpose. So I guess I can give myself a few days off if it means I'll be better prepared for the games. Certainly don't need to deplete my energy stores, if the games are going to be like they were yesterday.

Today's opponent: Mass Attack. Yeah. All the teams in this tier are from MA. We're gonna need all the help we can get.

Just sayin'

Testing....

I re-read the posts from Nationals last year and got all wistful. And then I thought "wow I bet there's an app that will let me blog from my phone!" And then I thought "that could be dangerous....". So here's a test post from the Blogger app. Have to get everything all set. A week from tomorrow I will be in full on hockey vacation mode. Muahahaha this is going to be fun!

Run, Goalie, Run

When I was in high school I thought it would be a great idea to play field hockey. Ok, no I didn't. I was a quiet, loner type of kid and my Mom resorted to bribery to get me to participate in an afterschool activity. The carrot on the stick was a phone in my room. Since I loved hockey so much, I figured hey, why not play field hockey. (At the time there was no ice hockey team at my school, and certainly nothing available for girls). I soon discovered I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I remember two things the most from that experience: running, and what a horribly cliquey group the team was. Ok, three things: I was also terrible. I wasn't a goalie though, so clearly that was the problem. I ran all summer, because we were told we had to be able to run a 7 minute mile (I got up to 7:26). I ran for a week straight during "camp" before school started. Early in the morning, through the wet grass, through the muddy woods, in the rain, we ran. And ran. And ran some more. And then we did drills, which was more running. And played games, which was running, running, running. Maybe I hate running so much because I associate it with my field hockey experience. As an example of how crappy it made me feel, consider the end-of-season team dinner (held in the school cafeteria, of course). They gave out awards, and when it came time for "Most Improved" they went on at length about how terrible this person was when they started, and how much progress they'd made. And then they called my name. Gee. Thanks. At least it was better than having a nick-name bestowed upon me by the "cool girls" on the team. No, I won't tell you what it was.

And now it's many years later (let's not start counting how many) and I'm rarin' to go on my new goalie training program. I have some kind of idea of what it might contain, having done Maria's programs before. The closest they came to running was doing footwork on an agility ladder. (Actually one segment had an optional run-up-a-hill part, but that was optional, so I opted out.) Imagine my dismay when I discovered a huge component of the first phase of the program is - you guessed it - running. At least it's not "run a 7 minute mile". Or "run for 45 minutes". No, it's shuttle runs. And sprinting. And lateral movement. All very goalie-y. So, I sucked it up and went to a nearby park with a paved running/biking track, measured out my 30 meters (with a 5 foot measuring tape), and marked the distance with cones. There were a few other people out and about, some jogging, some walking. One old guy asked me if I was taking a picture, because I was standing with my phone resetting the stopwatch feature. I think my times on the shuttle runs are probably horrendous. And they were pretty rough, but I compared them to doing Herbies in practice. On my last lap of my last set, when I felt like dying, I heard GoalieHusband's voice in my head, yelling "Come on, Goalie, let's go!!!" and pushed to the finish. I consider it a huge accomplishment that I didn't flop on the ground in the nice cool grass.

So, I guess I can handle it. Even though the running workout is twice per week. *grumble* I think I will continue to go to the park, because I like quiet early mornings, and even though I technically could run in the street by my house, I feel way too uncomfortable doing that. I'm actually pretty proud of myself. I've been dreading doing this, but it wasn't really as bad as I thought it would be. (It still sucked though). I like the feeling of accomplishment I have today. Hopefully I will be able to remember it on Thursday when I'm out there again, sucking wind on the track.

Greetings, old friend(s)

Making this blog as public as I have has been a bit of a double edged sword. It's neat that my friends and teammates can read it and comment on it, and it's fun knowing other goalies and goalie fans across cyber space have stumbled onto it, either through twitter or other means. Unfortunately it also means that I censored myself quite a bit this season, and haven't felt comfortable voicing all of my thoughts here, knowing that a lot of people I know could possibly read them. I know... that's the whole point of a blog, right? But I really miss it, and so I'm going to try to find that balance between musing/sharing my thoughts and remembering that other people besides me are reading this.

Since my last post was about the all star weekend, I might as well do a quick season wrap-up. As you may recall, I split my time between two teams, the Red team (club team, not in the league) and the White team (in the White D1 division). I'm terrible and don't know the records offhand, but I believe the Red team finished something like 10-10-5. It was a very interesting season, because we had several new players. Two completely brand new to playing hockey, and one who had played elsewhere but had been off for a few years. The difference between that first practice and our last one was simply amazing. Tons of credit to GoalieHusband (head coach of the team) and Hkygrl12 (assistant coach) for teaching them so well. It was a little strange at first, having a very different group of people after the new (White) team was formed, but we really came together. We went to a tournament in February and all the rookies were with us, and what a blast we had. I think the tournament is what sealed the closeness within the team.

The White team finished first in the D1 division. Finishing first is accomplishment enough, but doing so your first season in the league, and your first season as a team, no less, is pretty exciting. There was the same get-to-know-you period going on with the White team, as we had some people formerly on the Red team, some formerly on the Blue team, and a few new members as well. I'm proud to say that team became just as tight as the Red team, and even better, both teams intermingle socially to the point where it just feels like one giant team. Actually it feels like a family. If someone had told me that I'd be feeling like this at the end of this season I wouldn't have believed them, given how unsure everyone was of how the 3-team system was going to work. Watching one teammate go through a difficult time off the ice and seeing how she was taken under the wing of one of the veterans, and generally supported by the whole team, was really moving. Hockey really is an incredible community.

Erm.... where was I? Oh right, the end of the White season. I probably veered off because I don't really want to think about how it ended (ice-wise).  We went to the semi-final as the first seeded team, playing the fourth. In truth, I think we took the other team a little lightly. I think our success went to our heads a little and we were looking past that game to the championship game. I think given our circumstances it was kind of understandable that we were all a little giddy. Unfortunately we didn't expect the other team to be as physical and tenacious as they were (they hadn't played that way during the season) and it kind of set us back on our heels a little. The final score was 4-2. I couldn't get off that ice fast enough. I felt like the entire weight of the result was on my shoulders. When we got into the locker room it was very quiet, and I felt tears coming on (wtf??!?) and buried my head. Someone said "no one in this room should hang their heads, we had an incredible season" and I just lost it.  I was off in my own little world of self-recrimination, sobbing quietly in the corner, head down so others wouldn't see me, and the next thing I knew a teammate was draped over me, enclosing me in a giant hug, and telling me I had NOTHING to be upset about, that we win and lose as a team. I actually don't even really remember exactly what she said, I just remember the feeling of her arms around me and the support coming off of her. I'm getting teary just thinking about it now. I eventually calmed down enough to be joking ruefully with everyone else. I'll tell you something though, mine were not the only eyes rimmed in red when we left that locker room. No crying in hockey, my ass. Losing like that really, really stung.

That loss, that feeling, and the very serendipitous timing of @revcon's special offer for the Ultimate Goalie Training VIP program prompted me to get my ass back into training. No more slacking. For whatever reason, ever since I came back from the knee injury, I just could not get back into a consistent rhythm working out. I'd get all gung-ho and get myself to the gym a few days one week, and then it was back to hitting the snooze button and feeling like a slacker and a slug all day.

So what's different about UGT VIP? Don't I already have a full UGT program sitting downstairs gathering dust? The thing that I think is the key with this one is the interactive coaching aspect of it. This program is a monthly one, paid for in installments. It's a six-phase program, one phase per month. You get access to the training logs, videos, etc for the phase of training you're doing, plus an online forum for members and a monthly webinar with Maria. It's fantastic. I know I should be my own motivator, but having the accountability component to this is what I think is making the difference for me. And I was lucky enough to jump on board when she was offering the program at an extremely discounted rate. It certainly wouldn't be feasible for me otherwise.

It's been a week and I'm loving it. I'm doing the in-season schedule instead of the off-season schedule because of all the tournaments. I also wanted to make it more realistic- if I went full bore on the off-season schedule I think I'd have a much higher chance of slacking off and having it fall by the wayside. And in response to a forum post about my motivation concerns, Maria said to set a goal for the next 30 days, and hold myself accountable. If I don't achieve that goal what will I give up? You have to set that ahead of time, to make it concrete. So I've made my goal to stick to the schedule for 30 days. If I fail at that, I will not be allowed to buy Dunkin Donuts coffee on my way to work for a whole month. (Believe me, that's a sacrifice. I think they put crack in it).

So you read it here. Now I'm accountable to myself, the UGT team, and all my blog readers. If that doesn't motivate me, I don't know what will. Oh yeah.... that awful feeling in the locker room after that loss. Nothing inspires victory like the bitter feeling of defeat. Look out, bitches. I know it's a team sport but I'm working my ass off right now to be the best goalie I can possibly be. No excuses.

PS - Back in Florida for Nationals in 10 days. We got bumped up a level after winning it all last year, so we have our work cut out for us. Stay tuned.

Still Giddy

Two games and 69 shots later (9 shots in one game, 60 in the other), I'm still giddy about the "all-star" game on Saturday. I was grinning like an idiot today at work telling people about it. So I'm back to share some pictures. For the most part I keep this blog vaguely anonymous, but ever since I linked it to my twitter account and GoalieCrease.net account I've long since lost any illusions of privacy. Might as well post some pictures, right? Here are some of my favorites:

The corner of the locker room I dubbed "Goalie Land", since when I walked in it already had two bags, sets of pads, and sticks there, and a third empty chair just waiting for me and my load of crap:

My entrance onto the ice from the tunnel - I knew GoalieHusband was there somewhere, and I wanted to look around for him, but I was busy trying my hardest not to make an idiot of myself by falling the second I stepped onto the ice:

Here's a shot of me and the other goalie making our way to the sin bin while we waited our turns (I'm #39):

And here is a sequence captured by our team photographer- "the save" that had everyone on the bench asking "Whose goalie is that??!?" (according to Hkygrl12, who said she was proud to say "MINE!"). Before I put the pictures up I will add a caveat: this is a really really awful save, in terms of technique. It looks even more awful if you don't realize that in the first picture I'm squared up perfectly to the person with the puck - who is not the person with the puck a millisecond later in the next picture. I squared up to the shooter, but there was a wide open person on the top of the crease, and the (original) shooter passed to her the second I got set. I should have slid over instead of diving, but my instinct was to dive, and I got awfully lucky that I was able to knock it away (and that the rebound got scooped up by my D and not the other team). I'm almost cringing, putting it here where people who know what they're looking at will realize how sloppy it is, but, it kept the puck out of the net, and it made everyone cheer. You can't really argue with that. 

And last but not least, my very favorite picture. GoalieHusband usually has to work on Saturdays but he arranged his schedule so he could have the day off, and it meant a lot to me to have him there. I think he had almost as much fun as I did, being down there with "his girls". Here we are with shit-eating all-star grins after the game:



All-Star (sort of) weekend

It's not very often your run of the mill beer leaguer who started playing in their 30's gets a chance to skate on professional ice, in a "real" arena. But that's exactly what I was doing on Saturday afternoon, and it was just as awesome as I expected it to be.

The league one of my teams is in holds what they call a "Classic" every year. Apparently it used to be an all-star game, but they changed it somewhat. Everyone still calls it the all-star game, even though I feel a little strange calling it that because based on stats, there's no way I'd be in it. But I was, and I stole the goaltending show for my side, so maybe it wasn't completely unwarranted for me to be there. It was held in Hershey this year, though I understand in other years it's usually an NHL affair. There were two different games (different levels), and later that evening everyone came back to watch the Hershey Bears vs the (I can't even type this with a straight face) Connecticut Whale. The league did a fantastic job with it, and I soaked in every minute of it, from stepping out onto the ice from the tunnel (don't trip... don't trip... don't trip...) to the end when it was over and everyone was taking pictures.

The benches were packed; with four full forward lines and three lines of D, there wasn't any room for us three goalies, so the two who weren't playing got to have a seat in the penalty box. That was pretty amusing. Even more so was the quip by the ref as we went in. I made a comment about how we had already been bad, and she said "this is your penance for all the times your teammates have had to sit for your penalties." I suppose that's fair.

There were three goalies for each side, so I sat for the first two periods and played the last. Still, with only 12 minutes of playing time I managed to get into the flow quickly and ended up with three bench-banging, audience cheering (!!!) saves. We were down 4-3 when I went in, and fortunately our forwards scored to tie it up. I kept my end of the bargain and flat out robbed a girl on a 2 on 1 with one of those saves my glove makes all by itself, and another desperation save where I launched myself to my left to stop a shot that was coming from an open player on the weak side. One of the spectators told me I looked like I was completely horizontal and not touching the ice at all, flying through the air.

There were several other QCats on my side, and one on the other side. It was really an experience playing with them in a game like that. Several other teammates made the trip out as spectators as well, so we ended up with a pretty large group tailgating in the parking lot between our game and the Bears game. It was the most pathetic tailgate ever in the history of tailgates I think. But it was also a ton of fun- other than the part where we nearly blew ourselves up with a small portable propane stove that wouldn't light. Until it WHOOOSHED into life, flames engulfing the whole thing. Most of us ran away from it, but one quick thinking Cat doused it with water, and we were able to take the propane canister out and keep the two components safely apart. Frankly, I'm surprised she found water so quickly. Most of what we were drinking was flammable.

Being at the Bears game was fun too; there aren't any AHL teams near us, and it's not a big college hockey area, so options for watching a live game of pro or similar caliber are limited. This was the first game most of us had been to this season, and it re-ignited the thrill of watching the greatest game on earth, live. Being able to hear the puck hit a stick on a perfect tape-to-tape pass, the sound of the skates on the ice, just watching the whole thing unfold... we all really missed it.

Tonight I'm subbing in the AIL, where the last version of the Hawks most recently played. The team pretty much disbanded, but one guy is still playing, and asked if I could sub. Eco_panda is on the team as well, so it should be fun. And the team we're playing against has a QCat too. It'll be her last game in the league for the foreseeable future, so naturally she'll be gunning for a goal. And of course, I plan on stopping her.

My Desk is Boring

As I suspected, last night's game evened things out in the shot department. There's no official count for these games, but I counted 42. We lost 4-1 and even though it's a loss, the overall consensus is that we played very well against a very strong team. The one thing that seemed to vex us for the whole game was having open players in front of the net. I never figured it out - I was too beat by the end - but there seemed to always be extra open people by the net, even with the D covering their man (woman....I guess... just sounds weird). I guess they were sending another player in low behind them. Not sure about that but I was a busy goalie and I felt I had a really good game. Two things I noticed about my play: I had a much more active stick than usual, and I pulled out the Hasek acrobatics more than once. (Seriously. I did one barrel roll so fast I almost made myself dizzy). I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. It either means I was out of position and scrambling, or it means I was throwing everything I had into it, to make the stop. Sometimes ya gotta make one that's not all that pretty, but if the puck stays out, that's what counts. But I was really in the zone, and I love, love, love that feeling.  Now I'm back at my desk, counting beans for Corporate America. I wish I could just be on the ice all the time. #GoalieAfterglow

Most Awkward Game Ever

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.