Silverhawks debut (again), and watching Rinne

Back when the core of us who shifted from outdoor roller hockey to indoor ice, we joined the Instructional League and were given the name Silverhawks. The league at that time gave out new names to each team each season, and most seasons we had some form of "Hawks" in our name. Now that the leagues have gotten so skewed and the D league is ridiculously faster than it used to be when we moved up, we're back in the Instructional League (which is also quite a bit faster than it used to be), and when we needed a name, Silverhawks seemed the natural choice. We didn't want to stick with "Hawks", because we'd end up with "Hawks AIL" on the schedule since there is still a Hawks in the D league. Plus it has the added advantage of conveying our old fart status.

I was really nervous going into our game on Monday night. I haven't been in the role of team organizer before, and this season that task fell to me. We have three groups of people forming this team; former Hawks, a few Quarry Cats, and a few guys no one knows that the rink put on our team to give us enough players. Being the mother hen that I am, I was nervous about everyone getting along, and hoping that the "new guys" would be cool and not d-bags. We lucked out in that department; they seem like good guys. We had to scrounge around for some extra yellow jerseys, since not everyone had one, but we made it work.

Unfortunately our first game was kind of what I expected it would be, with everyone getting used to each other. We lost 7-1, and I think I've played better. A few of those goals my head just wasn't focused the way it should be. But I'm not beating myself up over it. I think we have a decent team, and once everyone becomes more familiar with each other I think we'll do just fine.

And speaking of obnoxious yellow jerseys, I've found another goalie that I just love to watch. Until it's Tuukka-time again, I'll have my eye on Pekka Rinne. He is just pure energy. I am pretty sure he's made of lightning. The other night while watching the Predators I was transfixed, and tweeted "Does Rinne ever stop moving?" One of the things about Rask that I've never quite been able to put my finger on is the way he moves. Rinne has it too, only with more electricity. But it's not wasted energy, he doesn't wear himself out. Rather it's like he feeds off it. It's a kinetic chain of goalie awesomeness. I was pretty satisfied with myself when just a few minutes later, goalie scout extraordinaire @TheGoalieGuild tweeted similar observations in his article "Rinne and the Trait of Constant Motion". (Go read it. He explains it way better than I ever could). Anytime I'm on the same page as Justin I feel pretty smart.

These playoffs have featured some really excellent goalie-watching. Unless you're watching Pittsburgh/Philly, that is. But hey what those games lack in goaltending they make up for in bloodshed, and we all need hockey to go back to the goonery of the 70's/80's, right? But that would be another post. For now I'll just leave it here, and be excited that I have 7 playoff-filled days before I get on a plane for Nationals. Only a week away! It seems like an eternity, with my focus still largely on work crap. I am so looking forward to this trip. Yay hockey!

You Be The Judge

Yesterday, I informed my friend that I am not a complete goalie whore, and had a story to prove it. Her response? "I know you're not, because you don't slobber over Maaaaaarrrtyyyyy". She has a point. However, that didn't stop me from telling her my story. But she had a completely different take on it, so I bring it here for you all to be the judge.

I've known for a while now that I really need to invest in a new glove. Mine is, in addition to it's layer of slime on the inside, completely discolored with sweat on the outside, missing several key pieces of lacing, and rusted where there are metal eyelets. This is not a high quality glove. I got it on clearance maybe 4 years ago, in an effort to replace the one I'd bought without thinking, which was slightly smaller than a satellite dish. It served me well, but it's past time to upgrade. So, off GoalieHusband and I went to the local Hockey Monkey, for a little shopping.

I'm not completely married to a brand, but I do tend to like Vaughn. My pads, pants and blocker are all Vaughn and I love them. Naturally, I figured I'd be in the market for a Vaughn glove as well. Since I have dainty girly hands, senior size is too big (hence the satellite glove), so we were looking at intermediate sized gloves. I went straight for the Vaughns, but they didn't fit quite right. The break in the palm was just a tad off. I tried a few other brands and styles, one of which fit perfectly. I didn't settle on it then and there though. The problem? It was a ghastly bright yellow-orange. The tag said "Bauer RX8 SE - Bruins". For a split second my brain went "OOOOOOOOO! Bruins!" and then the logical part took over. That glove would just look hideous with the rest of my gear (and jerseys).

I am not one of those goalies who is all nutso about their gear being perfectly matched.  My pads and blocker are both Vaughn, yes, but my pads have a maroon graphic whereas my blocker has black. So it really wouldn't bother me if the glove was white with black, black with silver, etc. But..... gold??? Talk about an eyesore. And imagine that with my black and red, or predominately red Quarry Cats jerseys. Ewww. It would look right at home with the gold-yellow Hawks jersey but we never know from season to season what we're doing, so that's not something to bank on.

And so, I didn't buy it. It was the only one in the store, so I went online and ordered it in a different "colorway". I got the Chicago 2 color... closest to what wouldn't look awful with the rest of my gear and jerseys. I told my friend this story, and pointed out that I could have just scooped it up because it was "Tuukka-colored" but did not, and therefore I am not a complete goalie whore. Do you know what she said? She said "That doesn't prove you're not a goalie whore, that just proves you're a chick who is worried about her gear not matching."

Now. I know plenty of boy goalies who are pretty particular about their gear. Not all of them, mind you, but most of them. So I leave it to you readers to decide. Proof of logic trumping fandom? Or proof that I'm really just pretty girly after all?

(I do feel the need to point out that neither Rask nor Thomas uses a Bauer glove, so I'm not sure what the deal is with the whole "Boston" thing. Rask uses a Vaughn and Thomas uses a Piku..... but somehow I don't think this statement is helping my "I'm not a goalie whore" cause that much so I'll just shut it right now....)

Mission Not Accomplished

I was really hoping for two things yesterday; a chance to watch Rask play live (and up close, because we had AWESOME seats), and a chance to maybe tell him that I think he's awesome ('cause he's never heard that before right?) and maybe possibly have him sign my goalie t-shirt. I came up short on both counts. At least I have good friends though. Toward the tail end of the morning skate, my friend who works at the rink texted me to let me know that Thomas was the first one off the ice and Rask was still out there taking shots. I expressed my disappointment and said I had really wanted to watch him play up close. A few minutes later my phone went off again, with another text from my buddy, and what was it? A short video of some of the guys shooting on Rask. Awww. Now that's a pal.

Eventually I got used to the idea of not being able to watch Rask work his magic and instead watching the beast known as Tim Thomas. Not a bad deal. (Is there a better tandem, anywhere, past or present?) He didn't disappoint. We got a nice flashy glove save in the second period, which is when he was in our end. And although the Bruins played the first period and a half as if they were asleep, they finally woke up and it was like the proverbial sleeping bear (haha pardon the pun). It was a treat to watch a game that close- 10th row, behind the net and off to the left side- and it was great to see the Bruins win. But with the sounding of the final buzzer, it was time to get into fangirl mode. Hkygrl12 had texted to let us know where to meet her outside the rink, and we joined the herd of people headed toward the exits. While we were in a big crowd on the stairs I jokingly said to GoalieHusband "Look for a Bourque jersey".

GH: There are Bourque jerseys everywhere. Look, there's one right there.

Me: Hey... that's Hkygrl12!

GH: No its not.

Me: Yes, it is! (yelling) HEY!!!! HKYGRL12!

And off we went to stalk - erm, I mean wait for- the players. There were a considerable number of people waiting there already, including two separate groups of Slovak guys who were chanting for Chara. We got right up to the barrier though, and .... were mostly ignored. What a letdown. Two guys came over to sign Hkygrl12's stuff: Tyler Seguin and Andrew Ference. Everyone else seemed to be in quite a hurry to get to the bus. Including Tuukka, who was one of the first guys to come out. Thomas at least grinned and partially waved, but he didn't stop to sign anything.

I was actually quite a bit more bummed about it than a sane person would be, but I guess that's probably no surprise. Hkgrl12 did tweet @ Seguin and told him to "Tell Tuukka he broke my goalie's heart". Haha. We're not stalkers. Honest. Maybe at some other point the hockey gods will see fit to allow me to greet Rask in person, but if not, I'm content with watching his awesomeness on TV. I guess.

But, now it's back to reality and back to my own hockey merry-go-round. We QCats have another 3-in-3 this weekend. We just played this morning at the posh country club outdoor rink. Man, is that some fantastic ice. We won, 4-1, despite the fact that I could hardly see a thing. I thought it would be smart to wear sunglasses, since the last time we played there the sun glare in my eyes was brutal. They did cut down on the glare, but unfortunately they cut down on everything else too. I had such a hard time seeing any of the lines on the ice and was totally disoriented. I kept losing the puck in the shadows too. Next time, I'll just suffer and squint.

Tomorrow night and Sunday night we have home games. Hopefully the weather won't ruin tomorrow night's game, because it's supposed to snow and our opponent is coming down from Connecticut. Both games are going to be a pretty good challenge. I'm really looking forward to it. It's a good thing we're this busy, too, because the Cougars got shafted in the scheduling department and don't play again until February 9th. Or maybe it's the 6th, but regardless, that's a whole month in between games, which flat out sucks. So until the next Cougar(hawk)s affair, it's Cats time. Spectators will receive free tampons and deodorant.

I'm not the only one

I used to like the Lightning, when Khabibulin was there. But now.... on top of the Bulin Wall being gone, I can't stand Coach Tortorella and his incessant goalie-bashing. Up until now I hadn't noticed any commentary in the press about this, but I finally came across something this evening. I discovered a weekly feature on Goalie's World magazine's website, called "In Goal This Week". It's a lot of statistical stuff, but there are writeups about certain situations as well. Finally, this issue gets some attention. Ironically, this was written earlier this week, before Denis was put on waivers. Ever since last season when they decided to throw Ramo into the mix, I've felt bad for him. I don't see this ending well for him at all. Here's what Gilles Moffet has to say:

Goalies’World rookie of the week

Ramo is new actor in soap opera

After three straight weeks as Goalies’World Rookie of the Week, Carey Price (Montreal) stepped down from the podium. This time the honor goes to Kari Rammo [sic - it's Karri Ramo], of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Recently called up from the Norfolk Admirals, Ramo had two home starts and he was red hot, stopping 64 of 67 shots. He first made 31 saves on Thursday in a 2-1 win over the Leafs, and on Saturday, he stopped 33 of 35 in a 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes. Needless to say, Ramo is the new ingredient in the goaltending soap opera that goes on and on in Tampa Bay. The Lightning is desperately trying to make a number one goalie but do they have one? The only one with proven credentials is Marc Denis but with only one hot performance out of 10, he is not exactly forcing the hand of coach John Tortorella. On the other hand, Tortorella hasn’t showed any respect to Denis. He hasn’t previously, and he hasn’t this year. In fact, it’s awful how he is treating Denis who only had four starts this year. Six of his 10 outings were in relief duties and if you don’t believe that’s an insult, read this. After three average (but not bad) starts On Dec. 11^th, Denis had his best start of the year in Montreal, making 28 saves on 30 shots and stopping all three shootout attempts to lead the Ligtning [sic] to a 3-2 shootout win. How was he rewarded? As of Dec. 23^rd, he as yet to get another start and they called up Ramo. Now, despite his solid play this week one may wonder how long that will last. Ramo has not even proved that he can be a dominang [sic] goalie in the Amrerican [sic] League. And Tortorella expects him to be a number one in Tampa? It just doesn’t make sense. Tortorella is not helping Ramo. He is not helping Denis. He is not helping Holmqvist. He is not helpimg [sic] his team.

(Note: What this magazine lacks in editorial ability it makes up for in technical knowledge and pure statistical prowess. Still, I crack up at the myriad spelling and grammar errors I come across in each issue. It looks like the website is no different).

Talk goalie to me

A few issues ago, Goalie's World magazine had a feature on Dwayne Roloson. Their features always analyze the goalie's style by taking pages from his "playbook", i.e. showing frame by frame what he's good at and how he does it. One of the things they focused on with "Roli" was what they called a "crest save", and explained that he is one of the few goalies who does it, and does it well. (Basically, it's lining yourself up to take the puck right in the crest on the chest of your jersey, allowing you to trap it there with your glove, or by crunching your body down).

Being the incredibly immature person I am when it comes to what I find humorous, I fell into a fit of giggles at hearing the announcer during an Oilers game describe such a save by saying "...and a save by Roloson. You know, he just loves to take it right in the oil." I thought no one could top that. Well, tonight, the broadcasters on Rogers Sportsnet did just that in calling the Blackhawks / Flames game. A Hawk walked in on Kiprusoff and was summarily stuffed; apparently by just such a "crest save" (I was listening, not watching). The following words actually left the announcer's mouth:

"...and there's Kiprusoff, taking it right in the flaming C and holding on..."

Damn good thing the Flames aren't in Atlanta anymore.

Required reading

I am a Ranger fan. Have been since I was 13, and will be even if I move to some other place. But I am also a goalie fan(atic), so when Martin Brodeur's book came out, I knew I had to read it. I just didn't want to buy it with my money, so my mom gave it to me for Christmas. I enjoyed the book for the most part, putting away my bias and taking it at face value. But even so, "Marty's" inflated ego kept getting in the way. I give him a lot of credit for the success he's achieved, and recognize that he is one of the best in the world at what he does. I also laud him for negotiating his own contracts, and for taking less money so that the team can afford better players to surround him with. But really, I don't need to be reminded of how great he is for those reasons over and over and over and over again. I also found his constant jibes at the Rangers to be very amusing, and good evidence that we're/they're in his head, big time. He actually penned the words "I hate the Rangers". Does he not realize how much a victory that is for Ranger fans?

But aside from that, I did enjoy the inside look at the goings-on of the league, particularly during the lockout. I also learned something. Yes, this is something my husband and friends have been trying to drill into my head for months, but I guess it takes a guy with 3 Vezinas to bring it home. And that lesson is...

"My mindset has always been to take responsibility for my game and my teammates, but at the same time I have to put my part of the game in perspective. I've always found it interesting that fans will blame a goalie for a certain goal, but if a shooter fans on an open net, that's not viewed as a similarly serious error. That's how I overcome bad goals. I realize I can't put it all on my shoulders. If possible, I want to put myself in a position where I can make the save that makes the difference, because I'm not going to stop them all. The worst thing I can ever do is start doubting myself, or stop believing in what I'm doing. Even in the worst circumstances, I try not to do that."

Ok, you can all stop with the "I told you so's". And to lighten the mood a bit, here is a passage that I found especially amusing. This is in reference to Game 1 of the 2006 playoffs against the Rangers, when toward the end of a 6-1 rout of the Blueshirts, Madden got a hat trick. Devils fans threw hats on the ice, as per tradition, but angry Ranger fans threw the plastic giveaways the arena had given out at the beginning of the game. (Don't tell me no Devils fans at all were throwing them either... come on). Marty's kids were sitting behind his net, and apparently were throwing a lot of the cast-off giveaways that didn't make it to the ice.

"When I saw the boys doing this, it really ticked me off. I skated out of my net and smashed my stick as hard as I could against the end glass, motioning for them to sit down. Jeremy left his seat a few minutes later and found Gen. "I think Daddy is really mad at me," he told her. After the game, I sat down with the boys and told them why I was so mad. I explained to them that by doing what they had done, they were basically acting like Rangers fans. [oh puh-leeeze] "Daddy's working out there," I told them. "And when Daddy's working, he doesn't need to have to discipline his children." Just like any other father, I guess."

Someone please tell me there is footage of this floating around the internet somewhere. That might be almost as good as Norrena "cleaning" the glass in front of the goal judge's face.

And speaking of reading

Now that I've devoured my goalie magazines, I've moved on to Martin Brodeur's book. I'm reading it because a) he's a goalie, b) he's a very good goalie, and c) he definitely has a "personality" that I think would make for good reading.

So much for that one. I'm on page 4 of the book and already I'm rolling my eyes at how full of himself he is. But I just have to chuckle and keep reading, because that is definitely part of his personality. I really am looking forward to reading the rest of it, because I hear it's a bit of a different take than your typical written-by-a-player book. Plus my friends said it was great. But they're Devils fans so of course they would say that. Maybe I'll just have to keep a Ranger jersey on whenever I read it.

Summer Season Game 4 - The Non-review

This game probably fits under the category of "the less said, the better", but I want to chronicle all of them, so I have to say something. And I will say this- yes, it was an ugly loss (5-2 with an empty netter) and yes it was a TEAM loss (something I had drilled into my head in the locker room afterwards, probably deservingly), but I am frustrated with the fact that I keep making the same mistake over and over again. I think my problem might be overthinking things. I know from my own assessment and from other peoples' observations that I tend to go down too early, and I think in trying to correct that I'm forcing myself to stay up longer, which causes me to freeze for a split second. That split second would be better spent in initiating a drop, because before I know it the puck has gone past me- through the dreaded 5-hole.

My stance is naturally low and wide- this works well for a butterfly goalie, but is not a good tactic for someone who is going to stay standing longer. And I think therein lies the problem. Do I change my stance so that my legs are closer together while standing? But that will affect how quickly and how well I get into the butterfly. I think I should watch some game tapes from last season and see how King Henrik does it. After all, I have many of his tendencies. I never started out saying to myself "I want to pattern my play after Henrik Lundqvist", but it seems natural that the goalie I spend the most time watching would have the most influence on my own style.

As the Cool Old Guy pointed out this weekend, I play deep in my crease like he does. I was quick to add that I also have no ability to handle the puck- just like the King. He tends to drop early, as do I, and his stance is low and wide, as is mine. I feel like a total homer, but if you're going to emulate someone you could certainly do worse, right?