Why pre-game routines are important!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The twilight of the Cougarhawks

I have to hand it to @hkygrl12 and @eco_panda, they have put together quite an awesome team. It was a ton of fun to play with those guys (and gals) this season, and all of us are bummed that we won't be together again for the Spring session. The Cougars have several (about 5) regulars coming back to the team and so there isn't enough room for all of us to stay.  So last night was our final game together, a consolation game between two losing teams of playoff games. Which is to say, it didn't mean much, and started out as just a ton of fun. I even wore my brand spanking new glove that I'd had for all of about 3 hours, figuring a game that didn't "mean" anything was as good a time as any to try it out.

And it was a smashing success. It needs some more breaking in, but I think it will definitely be ready for Florida. It needs to mold to my hand a little more but once it does it will be perfect. I'm already a little in love with it, because it makes awesome saves all by itself. Seriously. It's got a little goalie-brain of its own in there. I made a wicked save toward the end of the game, one that got lots of cheers from the bench. Cheers, and then jeers. The jeers were for GoalieHusband, who had deflected it perfectly from its trajectory, which I had covered, to one that was going up and over my shoulder. But The Glove flicked out and snatched that sucker out of the air like a frog slurping up an unsuspecting fly. It surprised even me. The puck even nestles perfectly in the pocket, getting a nice little goalie hug. See? I told you I'm in love with it

As for the game, it started out perfect, exactly the kind of game I was expecting and looking forward to; a laid back affair that was fun, yet still competitive. There was even quite a bit of jawing between some of us and one of the refs, a drinking buddy of ours from a few years back. Unfortunately the other team didn't seem to have quite the same expectations. I think they thought our game was the prelude to the Stanley Cup playoff games about to begin. They were chippy, even with each other, and there was no end to their bitching and moaning. More than once, my D and I looked at each other with a "what is WITH these guys?" look on our faces. One guy was particularly consistent with the complaining and yapping, aimed at one of my D for standing up for me. He yapped as he set up for the face off, continued yapping at the drop of the puck, and followed her into the corner, still carrying on. I took that opportunity to inform him that I hadn't heard that much bitching since I was in a women's locker room. I don't think he heard me though. He was too busy chasing eco_panda and trying to insult her by calling her "DUUUUDE".  Because that's so highly offensive.

Though we'd gone up 4-2 at one point, we ended up tied 5-5 at the end, and when the buzzer went off, we were on the penalty kill. There was some discussion as to how to resolve the tie, and though I was praying for a straight shootout (knowing our guys would smoke the other goalie... sorry goalie gods), they gave us a 3 minute OT first. Unfortunately they took advantage of the extra man and scored before the power play was over. Dang. Not how I wanted to end that game, not at all. We made up for it in the parking lot afterwards though, as anyone who saw my tweets can attest. I was the unofficial secretary of MBN that night, chronicling all the new rules we had to create based on the crassness of the conversations (thank you GoalieHusband).

It will be interesting playing against this team next session. As Cap put it, at least we know there's one more team that's not a bunch of complete d-bags now.  I have taken the reins in organizing what will be known as the Silverhawks, a nod to our first ever instructional league team. There aren't enough of us to have a full team, so we'll have a few free agents added to the roster, but hopefully they won't be d-bags either. I'm actually kind of nervous about the whole thing. I've never stepped into this role before, and I'm anxious about the team not doing well, or people not getting along. I guess we'll see - the season starts next week already. Hope that glove is ready for more action.

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....)

Wait.... it's over???? Already?!?

I still can't get over how quickly this season went. The QCats played our final game on Saturday, a win in which I saw 15 shots if I was lucky. Our unofficial record for the season is 12-5-5. That is pretty damn satisfying. We have one practice left, which GoalieHusband and @hkygrl12 have promised will be "fun", but will not reveal any other details. We're all hoping that "fun" means "no Herbies".

We have tournaments lined up for the whole off-season, and I'm definitely looking forward to them, but it's still a little sad for the season to be ending. We're going to feel pretty aimless the next few Sundays, with no games to hurry off to. I guess we can probably fill the void with firepit gatherings and other warm-weather type stuff. (Yuck. Warm weather.)

Fortunately, being the hockey whore I am, I am impacted a little less than the rest of my teammates, since Cougar(hawk)s games go year round. We've got another matinee tonight, and then a game at 11pm tomorrow night. We've also learned that several regular Cougar members are coming back for the Spring session, so our Cougar-Hawk blend is going to have to part ways since there isn't enough room for all of us on the same team. It's too bad, because this team has some pretty good chemistry. But, GoalieHusband and the other Hawks and I are already working on forming a team of our own. It looks like we'll even have a few QCats on the roster. We're tossing around the idea of calling ourselves the Hawks again, and busting out the snazzy yellow jerseys we all bought. More on that in the coming weeks.

On the NHL front, I'm still extremely mopey about Rask being hurt, so I went searching on Youtube for the pre-game interview he did on NESN last week. My perusing also revealed a nifty little video that I watched out of mild curiosity, but which ended up with a huge "A-HA!!!" moment. Bless Tuukka's crazy little Finnish heart, he solved my slimy-glove problem! (Ok, technically I guess his trainer solved it. Tomato, tomahto.)

Vizualizing, and I Fail at Sharing

How is it possible to feel like I've come so far and yet still have so, so far to go? I continue to be absolutely amazed at the body's ability to heal. Just 5 days out of the brace and I have just about complete range of motion back in my knee. It's a little tight, but it's there. I'm walking around without a limp already. I really thought it would take so much longer to get to this point. And yet... my big accomplishment today was doing leg lifts with a 1lb weight on my ankle, and 10 minutes on the bike- with no resistance. Ugh.

I know all the right rah-rah cheerleader mental trick things to do. And I still believe in them. But damn, is it hard to picture doing the things I used to do. Pigeon pose - are you kidding me? Deep squats - yeah right think again. Repeatedly slamming down on my knee, not to mention standing in a position that puts tons of stress on the very thing that hurts right now - are you out of your ever-loving mind??? But yet... these are the images I hold in my head. I have to. I have to believe that it's not as far away as it seems. If in 5 days I've gone from complete immobility to where I am now, I have to believe that I'll be back doing those things again. It's just... really hard sometimes to see that.

Here's why I fail at sharing: A skater was going to jump into the net for practice. She's borrowed some extra equipment in the past, but I guess wasn't going to have it tonight, so Coach asked GoalieHusband if he could bring anything of mine. Look, I am absolutely a team player, but I'm sorry, I just draw the line at using my gear. It's hard to explain, but that's like asking to borrow my underwear. If that makes me selfish, then so be it I guess. But I'm learning to stand up for myself and say "no" when I want to, rather than giving in because I "should" or because I'm "supposed to be nice". If that's a bitchy prima-donna goalie thing to do, then oh well. I know that there is other gear for her to borrow, so I'm not leaving her high and dry. And it's totally not personal. It's just that... that's my gear, man. Lots of goalies won't even let other people touch their gear, much less borrow it. Fortunately, in my frenzied "omg I don't trust my own opinion on this and am compelled to see what twitter says" moment, several tweeps backed me up, so I don't feel QUITE so selfish and guilty. I know I've said this before, but, gotta love the Union.

One thing at a time

Gear. Practice. Game. D-bag ref. Tourneys. Wireless internet. I have so many things swirling in my head that I want to write about that I've been stuck for two days writing absolutely nothing. Which is making me angsty. And no one wants an angsty goalie. I'll start with the shiny new gear...

~Giant Goalie Bag~
Rating: Awesome
Pros: Can carry ALL my gear in one place, easily. Can enter and exit doorways without having to rely on my bellydancing background to slither through with something balanced on each shoulder. Actually zips closed. Doesn't smell like cat pee.
Cons: I forgot about the fact that I will have to actually lift that sucker now and then. Like to get it into the back of GoalieHusband's pickup, or into my car, or up and down the basement stairs. I have to struggle with it, but I can manage it on my own. I need to get a little better at that and will just consider it strength training.

~New Pants~
Rating: Very Good
Pros: Aren't ripped up. Have actual padding in convenient places like inner thighs. Aren't big enough for the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man.
Cons: Are slightly shorter than my old pants, leaving more leg exposed (oh baby!) when I'm down in the b-fly. That can be rectified with something I was considering purchasing anyway: combination knee/thigh pads. Tailbone protector is just a tad too short as well, but I think I can swap out the one in my old pants with this one.

~The Suspender Issue~
Yes, I know you're going "Wait a minute. What suspender issue?". I never wore suspenders with my old pants. A discussion on the Goalie Crease board about tucking vs not tucking your chest protector (into your pants) and where and how you wear your suspenders made me think that might be the solution to my chesty's tendency to pop out of place sometimes. So I bought suspenders when I got to the rink for practice on Wednesday.
Rating: Still Under Evaluation
Pros: Keep chesty in place as recommended. Too well.
Cons: Still have to figure out in which configuration I'm going to use them, to avoid what happened at practice happening again...

(Ohhh I'm slick. Like that teaser?)

What I tried doing Wednesday night was tucking the chest protector into my pants, and wearing the suspenders over the chesty. I ran them under the "floater" on each shoulder (piece of padding that's only attached in two places), to keep them from sliding down off my shoulders as I moved around. The point of doing this is to keep all your gear in place, and have everything move with you as one unit. I have trouble with my chest protector being a tad too loose so I figured this might solve that problem.

And oh, did it ever. Too well, as I mentioned. Not only did I feel like I was trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, it kept all my body heat in and I ended up completely overheating in the middle of practice. I was working a little harder than usual, because I had my own private "coach" (more on that later), and then went straight to the main net for the forwards' shooting drills, without any water break in between. In the middle of that drill I just spaced. I had that dry hot bright red face, no-sweating, disoriented thing going on again. I was just standing there in the net at one point, bent over, letting the pucks fly past me, and the coach looked at me, barked my name, and asked if I was ok. I told him I needed water and went to the bench. I felt like a complete ass. I drank lots of water during the day, knowing I had a double-header that night. I guess it was just the fact that the heat had absolutely nowhere to go that put me over the edge. Once I guzzled some water, stripped off the layers and got rid of the suspenders, I felt better. After a bit of a rest I re-dressed, without suspenders or tucking, and went back out on the ice. I felt so much better; no restriction of movement, no boiling inferno in my body.

I still plan on experimenting with the suspenders. I think I might still use them, just underneath the chesty. Lots of guys on the board swear by tucking, but I don't think it's for me. I just felt way too restricted. We'll see. Work in progress.

What's really astounding though, is that a bunch of dopey hockey players had an internet discussion about "tucking or not tucking" without any references to genitalia. I guess everyone else is just way more mature than I am. *snicker*

Road Trip Win and Big Fat Goalie Bag

Danbury, CT isn't nearly as far away as it seems. It took less than 2 hours to get there, but since it's 2 states away, it seems like a big deal to go play there. GoalieHusband and I carpooled to the game with The Mayor (story behind that nickname coming in another post), and that was an event in and of itself. She suggested leaving at 4:30 for our 7:00 game, and with the Long Island fiasco fresh in my memory I asked if she minded if we leave at 4:00. She seemed to think that was a bit excessive, but agreed anyway. No wonder- the game was actually at 8:00. Oops! Oh well, I'd much rather be early than scrambling and late. The extra time allowed us to attempt to find a place to grab a few slices of pizza before the game, which apparently was the meal of choice. A quick poll in the locker room (very scientifically rendered via show of hands) revealed that about 90% of us had pizza that afternoon/evening.

Pizza is now the official meal of the QCats, as we played our butts off and came out with a 3-1 win over a team that dominated us last time (we lost 4-1). Not only did we win, but we won in their inaugural game in their rink (they're a brand new team), which was being filmed for TV. The last time an opposing team had TV cameras at a game, they brought their C squad and creamed us 8-2. Hey if that's what ya gotta do to make yourselves look good on TV.... knock yourself out.

The game rather bizarrely consisted of two 12-minute periods and one 21-minute period (the third). We were scoreless heading into the third period, but used all that extra time to win the game; they didn't score until about 4 minutes left. Actually, they really didn't score at all. Technically, I shut them out. The lone goal was a very weird bounce off my stick and possibly other parts of me. Yeahhhh... I didn't really want that shutout anyway, that's ok.

We put the nail in the coffin with an empty-netter, and everyone agreed it was a fantastic game. Everyone played hard, and we were pressuring like nobody's business. GoalieHusband was the only coach there, and picked up his first solo coaching win. He said he had a blast- and that he's pretty sure he runs a much looser bench than Head Coach does. (Who's shocked? Show of hands?)

The QCats don't have a game again until the 16th, but the Hawks are on the ice tomorrow night (right after QCat practice again... eek). I'll be breaking in my brand new pants during practice, and if all goes well, will use them in the game afterwards. I threw my pads and chest protector on and butterflied a few times in the living room, and they seem like they'll be fine.

But the really exciting part of the Giant Gear Delivery yesterday? The enormous Vaughn tank - I mean, goalie bag. Holy crap is this thing badass. And this is kind of stupid, but even the one "downside" I had been mildly bummed about is a moot point. I had been slightly disappointed that with a bag like this, without the need to carry my pads over my shoulder, I'd lose that in-your-face evidence that yes, I'm the goalie. Vaughn is pretty smart, because the top of the bag has their goalie-silhouette logo, very large, front and center, along with their name all around the sides. So if the giganticness of the bag doesn't say "LOOK OUT, GOALIE COMING THROUGH!", at least the branding does.

As advertised, all of my gear fits in there, with plenty of space for clothes and various other crap (i.e., beer). As a matter of fact, I myself fit in there quite nicely. In my silliness, I jumped into the bag and had GoalieHusband take a picture. Giant Goalie Bag: Goalie not included. Hee hee.

GoalieBrain Dump

Ahh the holidays. Busy busy, but not much ice time. Booo! That doesn't stop the GoalieBrain though. There are some thoughts rattling around up there so I figured I'd get them out on "paper"... er.... "screen"? *scratches head* Anyway:

It hit me during my last game, and I just never got around to writing about it, how cool it is to be able to identify team-mates solely by their stride. Ok, I guess their size is a visual cue as well. But I might not be able to see someone's jersey, but I can tell just by how they're skating, who they are. That's pretty awesome. I've had that ability with the Hawks for some time, but I only just recently noticed it when playing with the QCats. It made me smile- it was sort of a bonding moment for me, I guess. Man, I love my teams!!!

Just a few nights ago GoalieHusband and I played in a pick-up game with @gionta182 and @hkygrl12 and some of their team-mates. This group has rented ice a few times, evidently, but I guess they needed a goalie, so gionta182 asked if we could come. (What's odd is, when I got there, there were actually two other goalies. And what's even odder is that one of them was a skater just playing goal for that night. But hey, with a 90 minute slot, taking shifts isn't the worst thing in the world.) It was a good skate, and I think I did pretty well. It wasn't until about 45 minutes in that I got scored on. How often does THAT happen in a pick-up game???

Towards the end of the game, my D suddenly disappeared and there was hkygrl12 coming down the ice on a breakaway, with gionta182 not far behind. GoalieBrain perked up for that one. It's always fun to face off against a friend, it adds that little extra competitive spirit. So I came out nice and aggressive to challenge her... and she totally blew it. It's ok, I can say that, because she told Twitter that I scared her into "Kovalchuking" herself. Gotta love it when a new word is coined. (And I'm sure she'll get me next time, so I'm staying humble. Maybe. Hee hee.)

And last but not least, GEAR!!!!!!! Merry Christmas to me! I finally was able to get that new pair of pants I've been wanting for oh, almost a year now. Yay! I also got a new bag. I've been using an old one with a broken zipper ever since my cat peed on my regular one this summer, and it's really a pain in the ass. What's also a pain in the ass is walking through doors and up stairs with a hockey bag balanced on one shoulder and a pair of pads balanced on the other. I always took some kind of dumb pride in the fact that I carried my bag, none of that wheel shit for me, thank you. Guess it's a bit of female machismo (machisma?), proving that hey I may be a girl but I can still lug my gear around without resorting to wheels.

Well, the guys at Goalie Crease made me see the light. Take the stupid machismo thing out of it, and really, it's pretty dumb to be struggling with a load like that when you could just be pulling it around behind you. Add to the fact that I suddenly began having problems with the shoulder I carry my bag on, and I figured maybe it was time to puss out and get a wheeled bag since I needed a new one anyway. I decided if I'm going to be making things simple I might as well go all the way and get the enormous goalie bag that you can put ALL of your gear in, including your pads. I can't wait to just go up to a door, open it and walk through, instead of having to maneuver myself to one side to get the bag through, then pivot slightly to get myself and the pads through, all while holding my sticks in one hand and water in the other. It took me so long to realize this, why? Dumbass.

Anyway, there is yet another reason why this bag will come in handy. I'm going to be *gulp* flying to a tournament in April. Most of you have only come to know me recently and probably don't know that I. Do. Not. Fly. Last time my ass was in a plane was in 2000, and that was for work so I had no choice. And no it has nothing to do with 9/11. But the QCats are going to Womens Rec Nationals (don't get too excited... it's the "over 40" division and last year there were only 4 teams. I'm allowed to go because you're allowed 3 players under 40 but over 35. So there, now you know how old I am.) So yeah, I'm flying with my gear, and somehow I don't think a goalie bag with a broken zipper is going to make it past security. The stench alone will set off the bomb detectors probably. And where the hell was I going to put my pads? So now at least everything will be all zipped up nice and tight and cozy and safe, and the bag handlers won't have to wear HAZMAT suits to load it onto the plane.

OMG did I just say plane? Aaaaaaaaaaaah! I confided in my captains that I am petrified of flying, so they'll have to take good care of me. They assured me that there is a bar right at the gate, so there's no problem. Also GoalieHusband will be going, so that helps too. He may want to smack me by the end of the flight but he'll be there. Yes, this flight is over 4 months away and I'm already stressed out about it. ACK!

Ok. Fun. It's going to be fun. And I have blathered on long enough for a post that's really about nothing. This is one of those ones that no one is reading at this point, isn't it? Hello? Anyone there? Oh well... off to do some work...

Nothin' but good stuff

The Hawks have a game tonight, and I'm sure it'll be a tough one. I'm ready for it though; I'm really pumped and can't wait to get out on the ice. I think my recent improved mental outlook (and improved play) has a lot to do with the training I've been doing. I was talking to GoalieHusband today about this, and I can't really put a finger on it, but ever since I started the training, I feel so much better out there. Maybe it's partly the training itself and partly mental, but I just feel great when I'm on the ice. I feel strong, I feel quick, I feel like I know what I'm doing. (Unless I attempt to play the puck...) I can tell that my hamstrings have bulked up somewhat, and I didn't even realize I was really training my hamstrings. I guess that means it's really working; if you notice a difference and you didn't even know you were working on that thing to begin with. I'm completely sold on Maria's philosophy of death to machines. There is no way working on machines would have ever given me the increase in stamina and sport-specific benefits I'm seeing now. So major kudos to Maria; any goalies out there, check out her newest product. (No I'm not getting anything for this, I just really think she knows where it's at.)

Good Stuff #2: finding pants that fit. Holy cow. If you've been reading this blog for a while you know what a royal pain in the ass it's been for me to find a pair of goalie pants that fit. I'm still wearing the pair I bought 4+ years ago when I first started playing - on pavement - and man is it evident. GoalieHusband and I went to the Hockey Monkey store today, with my pads, to try on some pants and hopefully finally find something that works. And hallelujah, we did. They're more than I was planning on spending ($170), but they fit pretty much perfectly. The secret? Once again: intermediate sizing. The Vaughn Velocity 7300s in intermediate XL fit absolutely perfectly. Now I just have to wait to save up my shekels and hopefully they'll still be either at the store or on the site and I can order them. The ones I'd gone to try were Vaughn Epics, in a senior size small; glad I tried them with my pads on, because the legs were way too long. The Velocity is a step up, quality wise (or, at least price wise), but that seems to be in fitting with what I'm finding. Intermediate gear seems to mostly be the higher end stuff. I guess if your kid is old enough to be wearing that size, he's pretty serious about hockey, so it's the higher end stuff that sells. Senior size stuff can have lower end quality because there will always be beer leaguers out there. Heh heh.

Good Thing #3: the thing that is most important and will actually also make my team-mates happy. Remember my conundrum over my stick position? Here's a picture of my basic ready stance, and this is how I was taught to hold my stick:


As you can see, the blade is at an angle to the ice. I was taught by my coach to hold it like this, and that was reinforced by seeing the goalies I've watched holding it like that. However, it resulted, time and time again, in a puck hitting it at that angle and going straight up over my shoulder and into the net. Much to my team-mates' constant frustration. Obviously I understood that holding the stick like that was causing the problem, but I couldn't understand why my coach would tell me to hold it like that, if it was going to result in that kind of angle with the puck. I admit I stuck to it rather stubbornly, thinking if Coach D told me to do it that way, then it has to be right. (Seriously, he's pretty awesome.)

It wasn't until today that I finally understood the problem, and it took a fellow goalie over at GoalieCrease.net forums to point it out. That stick position is correct if I'm facing really hard shots. It's supposed to deflect the puck up and over to the netting or glass behind the net. But in my leagues, the shots aren't that hard. So they don't have the velocity to go that far; instead they go up over my shoulder and arc back down- right into the net. I have to think that some of the guys I face in open hockey (and some of the ringers that show up in the beer league) have hard enough shots for the puck to go where it's "supposed" to with that angle, but I'm not going to screw myself up with testing it out. Up until now I thought it was just when going into the butterfly that I should be having my stick blade perpendicular to the ice, and that was my problem; not bringing it up to the right position when I dropped. But I guess I have to focus on having it perpendicular ALL the time.

It seems silly, but it's such a relief to finally figure out the disconnect between what my coach had taught me and what was actually happening on the ice. Obviously if I was still taking lessons I could have talked to him about it, but I haven't had a lesson in a long time. So thank you, ItechWarrior, for making it finally make sense!

And... I'm sure I've lost about 99% of you by now. But hey, this is my blog and this was a huge "ah-ha" moment for me, so there.

Now it's off for a pre-game nap. Looking forward to KICKING SOME ASS tonight.

I asked for it

Practice last night was... brutal. In a good way. I think I would have fared better if I'd eaten smarter during the day and drank more water. But I guess I wasn't expecting it to be as intense as it was. Coach has decided that he wants to really work on our conditioning. (See? I heard all of you groan!!!) Skating, skating, skating was the first order of business. Then we split up into forwards and defense, and I had continuous work for about 40 minutes straight. Lemme tell you, I was absolutely beat. The last 15 minutes or so passed pretty much in a haze, and I ended up with that bright-red-face-for-an-hour that happens when I really over exert myself. But, I lived to tell about it, and after wolfing down a Dunkin Donuts breakfast sandwich and still wanting more, I'm back to normal. Except that I'm not quite sure if I still have hamstrings. All griping aside, if practices keep up like this all season we're going to be kicking some serious ass.

Speaking of griping, allow me to complain for a moment about college kids working in pro shops. Who are obviously forwards. We got there slightly early, so I brought my skates into the shop for a sharpening. They didn't really look like they were doing much so I thought they were about to close, and asked if they could do a sharpening. The kid made a slightly affirmative noise, so I asked for them to sharpen the skates at 9/16ths. Kid looks at the skates...

Kid: Those are goalie skates?

Me: Yeah

Kid: We do those at a half inch.

Me: (wtf?) Uhh, yeah I don't want a half inch. Can you do them at 5/8ths then? (I'm thinking since not too many people ask for 9/16ths he couldn't figure out the math)

Kid: [shrug] sure, leave them there. (points to empty counter).

I can't say I was surprised when, 15 minutes later, I walked in and there were suddenly 2 pairs of skates in front of mine, and the machine wasn't even running. I told them since it seemed like they were pretty busy [ha!] and I needed to get on the ice, I was just going to take them. Yeah.... now I remember why I go elsewhere for my sharpenings.

So yeah, about those pants...

Funny thing about sizing charts on hockey retailer's sites. They're not meant for chicks. Since everything else in the universe in a senior size is too big for me, I figured intermediate would be a no-brainer. I looked at the size chart, which went solely by waist measurement, and that lil bugger said I should buy a size small. In intermediate. I wasn't too sure about that but hey, I'm sick of swimming in my gear. So int-small I ordered.

Annnnnd then I opened up the box. The much anticipated box, I might add. I was pretty excited about these pants. (Yes, it's pretty easy to please me. Buy me gear. Or beer, that works too, and it rhymes.) So yeah I open up this box and.... inside is a teeny tiny itty bitty pair of goalie pants. Like, I had to look at the tag on the inside to make sure they didn't send me a junior small. I really think these pants would fit no one bigger than an 8 year old boy. I should have known. If you have a 27" waist you must also have very short legs, narrow hips and no butt.

I'm not really complaining about the size chart. I understand that 98.55735% of the people who buy gear are males. And fortunately, Goalie Monkey's customer service pretty much rocks. I emailed them, explained my problem, and asked if they had any other measurements to go by on the pants other than waist size. I figured I'd just exchange them for a senior small and hope those weren't too big. But I got back a really nice long email from the head of customer service, explaining about size charts being based on male measurements, and the differences in females' bodies (um, thanks. i have one of those. i know what it's like) and asked me a bunch of questions and said he'll work with me to find a pair that fit. Figures, pants are apparently one of the things you need most to try on to get a good fit. Add having a girlish figure to that equation and no wonder I ended up with the completely wrong size.

And yes, it's this dude's job to make a sale. But he could have just written back and said "Yeah try a senior small. Here's how to exchange them." But he didn't. So, hopefully, even if it takes a little time, I will a nice snug protective pair of pants in my future. I don't even care what color they are. Well, as long as they're not pink. There's no pink on this goalie, ever. (Ok maybe my "fun panties" had some pink in them but shhhhh...)

Mask test...and goalie pilgrimage?

Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend. 90 degrees. Anyone who's smart would be in a nice, cool rink with a gorgeous sheet of ice, right? Right??? I guess me and the 4 other people who showed are the only nuts who think that way. And one of them was another goalie. At first I thought, oh great 3 skaters and another goalie, this is going to suck. But it actually turned out to be quite the workout, because we set the nets up across the boards and the 3 shooters circled around and took shots on both of us and defended against each other. I honestly couldn't figure out exactly what they were doing but hey I just have to pay attention to the rubber flying at me.

And fly it did. One kid was pretty young, just graduated college. He had a wicked shot and burned me glove side more times than I want to attempt to count. But he was cool, not a jerk at all. He liked to flop down and lay on the ice during our breaks and I told him there's no napping in hockey. Haha. But the big success story (other than working harder than I would have in an actual game) was my mask. It doesn't fit as perfectly as it should but it's as close as I'm going to get without paying for a custom mask. And it's damn good. It doesn't rattle around on my face like my old one did, and I can actually feel it against my cheeks! I took a few shots to it too, and it even felt different. I guess the old one would kind of slam against my face when I took a puck to it, but this one is already on my face so I don't get that effect. (And yes, I know that's like, super dangerous. Which is why I have been hot to get a new one.) So, new mask is a win. New pants on the other hand.... not so much. But I'll bitch about that some other time.

And... brought to you by late night drinking... what's scarier than a bunch of goalies together? A bunch of goalies on a pilgrimage. That's right. Sign up here for your Goalie Road Trip. First stop: Finland. So far it's me, @TheGoalieGuild, @msconduct10, @abnmoose2, and GoalieHusband (he's an honorary goalie. he thinks like one, and would have been one if I hadn't enforced the One Goalie Per Household rule.) I'm thinking we could get into an awful lot of trouble together. Set aside the bail money now. Hey, it's a lot safer than Goalie Ghost Hunting.

Splurging

Since buying the house, things have been pretty tight for us financially. It's been a huge cause of stress for me but I hear it starts to get better after a year. So it is with much guilt that I spent some of a very unexpected and generous bonus on hockey equipment. How awful is that. Shouldn't I have put it right to some of the debt we're trying to pay down? Or bought a couch for the ManCave? But I didn't spend it all (less than half!), and what I did spend it on was important.

My mask is in bad shape. It's about 3 years old, which wouldn't matter if it was of better quality, but the foam is pretty hardened, the cage is completely rusted on the inside, and it's way too big for me and always has been (which is actually pretty dangerous). I originally bought a junior mask and played with that for a while but that was too small. So I went to a senior and fiddled with the straps to make it fit... sort of. But it's the shell itself that's too big and you can't adjust that. I didn't realize at the time that the higher quality masks come in different sizes. (And then there's custom masks but uhhh hello bonus or no bonus I'm not spending that much money) I worked a little with a guy at a hockey shop and discovered that really there isn't a mask out there that will fit me, other than a custom made one. However I did find one that comes pretty close, and I'm thinking some of those gel inserts from Maltese Hockey might make up the difference (it's the cheek area- my face is apparently REALLY narrow). So, I ordered the Bauer NME 7 in a "fit 1". Much higher quality materials, there really is no comparison between that one and my old one. I'm also going to get a chamois cloth to wipe the cage down after every session. Yes you can order replacement cages but a chamois is cheaper. So as I sit here feeling guilty I just remind myself: lesson learned from GoalieHusband? Protect your noggin. You only have one of those. New mask is more important than couch for ManCave. (Right?)

Second purchase on the list was a pair of pants. I've been using mine since I started playing 4 years ago; I think I got my cheap $60 worth out of them by now. They're falling apart, are too big (notice a theme?) and don't have the greatest protection. Hey what do you want for $60 right? So I upgraded there as well. Of all the cool "features" these new pants have, from anti-microbial fabric on the inside, special stretchy mesh in places that need to stretch, etc, the one that made me go "oooo!" was the mp3 player pocket. Sweet! Now I can listen to my ipod much easier while getting geared up!

I have one more thing on the list of Stuff To Purchase Now That I Can Afford It: a gel clavicle protector. I absolutely adore the gel collar I got from Maltese Hockey, but have discovered the hard way that my collarbone is exposed to pucks flying at high speeds. Given some of the dudes I'm playing against lately in open hockey, I think it's smart to cover up that area. I'm waiting on ordering that though because I'll order the gel inserts for the mask at the same time, and I want to have the mask first. Fortunately 2 day shipping was FREE! and I'll have it on Wednesday!!!

And after all this stuff, there's still money left over that I'm going to throw into the savings account, so I don't feel TOO guilty. But really, it's not like I'm frivolously going hog wild on stuff I don't need. All of these things are smart purchases and the mask especially is long overdue. So my guilty conscience can go away now. (Ya hear that, Guilty Conscience? Shoo!)

And now off to yoga... fortunately it's a different teacher and she never kicks our ass as hard as Shannon does.

Delayed review

Hanging out after a late game drinking beer is fun, but it sure does tax one's system. Two such nights in a row tired me out and though I probably would have been fine playing open hockey today, I decided to pass (mostly due to other factors). The second game of our back-to-back schedule gave us another much-needed win, and put us tied for 3rd place. (I think....) I've personally played better games; I did play well overall but two brain farts and one bad angle cost us 3 goals. The final score was 4-3. The new pads are still awesome, but I think I did the straps a little differently, because they felt a little looser that night. One of the goals was a result of the puck getting caught in my feet, and as I fumbled around to find it, I kicked it in. Argh. I'll blame that one (and the first one; a lousy 5-hole) on the new pads. Convenient scapegoat.

And speaking of 5-holes... here's an article that discusses the changes the NHL is making to goaltending equipment over the next two seasons, and why goalies with narrow butterflies will be affected this season while their counterparts with wider butterflies won't have to adjust until next season.

Invention made obsolete... and an invitation

My snuggly fleece arm protectors got one use... and already they're being retired. What started out as a routine trip to the pro shop for some skate sharpening turned into a much more expensive endeavor than I had planned, and also got me an invite to check out a traveling women's team.

When I handed the young woman behind the counter my skates and requested a half-inch cut, she looked at them disbelievingly and asked "Are these yours?" Yes, my feet are that big. I confirmed that indeed they were, and she asked who I played for. I told her that I was currently playing in a beginners league, and she went off to find someone who was more familiar with sharpening goalie skates than she was.

During the requisite meander around the store while waiting for my skates, my husband started nosing around the rack with the chest protectors. I joined him and discovered that in addition to a few junior sized pieces of equipment, there was also an "intermediate". You got it- as in, between junior and senior. As a matter of fact there was an intermediate Large. I didn't need much prompting to take it off the hanger and fiddle with the adjustments to see if it would fit. On first glance I could tell that it was a much better quality upper body protector than the one I'm currently using. The one I have has very few adjustable straps- this one was absolutely loaded with them. After about a half hour of tweaking and tightening and some assistance from a very helpful store employee, my husband and I left the store with a brand new RBK upper body protector. Yes, it was expensive. But I think my husband and I both realized that what I'm wearing now is not adequate protection, so out came the credit card. Now I have a piece of what looks like armor and feels like it was custom fitted to my body, protecting all those vital organs and jutting-out-elbow-bones. Plus, it's neon green and black, so it looks really cool.

But in addition to walking out of the shop $200 more in debt, I left with a seed planted in my brain. Apparently while I was busy fiddling with straps and velcro closures, my husband had picked up my skates when they were finished and the gal at the counter told him about the team she plays for and asked him to mention it to me. I've heard about this team, and part of me thinks it would be a really neat experience to play for them if they'd have me, but part of me is extremely hesitant to play on a women's team. I did talk to her about it a little, and since it didn't seem like they were in need of a goalie I think I'll sit tight for a while. But she mentioned what night they practice and gave me the coach's name and told me to check out their website for more information. I might contact the coach, or I might wait until the fall and contact her before their next season gears up. If it would conflict with the league I'm in now, all bets are off, because I love this group and want to keep playing with them. But if they needed a goalie next season, and it didn't get in the way of the league I'm in now, I might consider it. Nothing says I have to play more than one season if I don't like it.

But this is how my brain works. I have this little piece of information, and it will sit and simmer on a back burner somewhere for a while, and then when I'm good and ready I'll act upon it. But I suppose it couldn't hurt to send the coach an email. Maybe they'd need a goalie to fill in now and then... you never know.

Not entirely a success

My home-made sleeves, that is. But not a complete failure either. I played some open hockey this morning, and while they did exactly what I wanted them to, they also were extremely hot. Yeah.... forgot about that whole "fleece is warm and snuggly" thing. The discomfort wasn't too bad, but the big problem was that my glasses fogged up more easily than usual- I guess because of my higher than normal body temperature. I think I can cut them down a bit so they're mostly just around the elbow, leaving more of the skin on my arms exposed for sweat evaporation.

I know this is incredibly important information, so I had to share it immediately!

Arts and crafts- goalie style

Hockey equipment manufacturers are starting to realize that there's a sizeable female contingent among hockey players, and it's now possible to get gloves, chest protectors and "undergarments" designed specifically for women. Unfortunately this revolution hasn't yet reached goalie equipment - or if it has, I'm unaware of it. I don't have a problem with any of my equipment fitting me improperly except for my chest/arm protection. If I was a bit beefier of a gal, I probably wouldn't have this problem at all, but because it's designed for men, the arms on my c/a are quite loose, width-wise. Because of this, I end up with the equipment twisting around out of place during games, and as I discovered recently, even if it's in the right place it might do more harm than good.

I wasn't sure how to remedy this until I discovered a thread on a goalie message board, written by a woman asking if there were any female-oriented c/a's out there, because she's having fitting problems as well. It was from that board that I got the idea of creating inner sleeves to wear under my c/a, to artificially bulk up my arms and keep the c/a's sleeves in place. I dithered about the idea until I took a shot in my last game that has left a very large, very ugly bruise on the bone of my elbow- and that's from the impact of the puck hitting my elbow protection, which then slammed into my elbow. Given the fact that it broke the skin in two places, I'm sure a harder shot would have actually broken the bone. With that in mind I hit the local fabric store last night and purchased a yard of thick, soft fleece and some velcro.

Since in my "other life" I enjoy the very feminine persuit of quilting, I know my way around a sewing machine. I set up shop last night and created a sleeve that I can wrap around my arm (with an extra width of padding at the elbow) before putting my chest/arm protector on. Hopefully it will be thick enough to fill in the space left by my scrawny arms, and absorb some of the impact of shots.

Now if I could only do something about the fact that, in spite of the fact that I don't have much in the chest department, my c/a also makes me look like a very well endowed, albeit much older lady, I'd be a lot less self-conscious. It must not look as bad as I think it looks, because there have been numerous occasions (some documented here) when other players have been completely unaware that I'm female, and that's just fine with me.

Sometimes I wish I had a helmet-cam

Today was definitely one of those days. Open hockey this morning looked at first like it was going to be a bust; three skaters, and TWO goalies. When does that ever happen? But we eventually had enough people for a 4-on-3 (or sometimes 3-on-3, whenever someone on the white team got a clue and realized they had an extra guy on, and someone would sit). It ended up being quite a good game, and I played pretty well despite not being at my best due to some left over grogginess from a tad bit o' wine the night before. With about ten minutes to go, two of the skaters left, and the other goalie decided he'd even the "teams" out by skating out. In his full gear. So for the last ten minutes we played 3-on-3 on half the ice... and I've never seen anything more surreal than facing a shot fired by a goaltender at the top of the circles. Or a goal-mouth scrum, where I desperately tried to freeze the puck while another goalie was trying to poke it in past my foot. I thought maybe I was still in bed, dreaming chardonnay-induced dreams.

And speaking of helmets... I debuted the new mask I bought yesterday. It dawned on me not too long ago that the reason I had such trouble seeing the puck at my feet was because my mask was too small. When I bought my mask, I tried a senior size on, and when it was gargantuan, I didn't even try to shorten the straps enough to make it fit; I just figured it wouldn't. Even a junior mask took a little tweaking to get the right fit. But apparently, it never did have the right fit. It sat too high on my head, which caused the chin portion to block my vision when I looked down. I just assumed that's how it was supposed to be, until I was reading about how a mask should fit, and realized that the cage was nowhere near where it was supposed to be on my face; and I put two and two together and realized I had the wrong size.

So, yesterday I ended up going to a hockey shop, and after some help from one of the staff, got a regular senior size mask to fit me. And what a difference. In warmups, one of the players shot pucks at and around my feet, and I saw them 90% better than I had before. Not only was the line of vision greatly improved while looking down, the cat-eye cage allowed for much a much better view of the game overall. I still haven't got the chin cup quite right, but a little more finagling should get it to where it needs to be.

Oh yeah, and because I no longer have to think about the effect standing in the sun will have on me, I went for a black mask this time. It's cool and imposing... but the one bad thing about it is that it won't show the puck marks from when I take shots to the head. That was pretty cool; shiny new gear is nice, but gear covered in puck marks proves you're doing your job.

Goalie pants are your friend

One thing that both the guy in the store and I overlooked when amassing the pile of gear I'd need was protection for my hips/butt/thighs... i.e., goalie pants. (Yes, they are techincally "shorts", just like regular hockey pants. I still haven't figured out why they're called "pants".) The store clerk might have assumed I didn't need them, since I would be playing roller hockey outside and a roller hockey ball doesn't hurt much in comparison to an ice puck. Unfortunately he failed to take into account both my lack of balance, and the strength with which some of the guys at the rink can wing that light plastic puck. I had the bruises to show for it. But what really alerted me to the fact that I needed something to protect my delicate derriere was falling on my backside twice in one week, and landing so hard on my tailbone that I let out what a friend described as a sound a lemur would make if it burnt its paw on a hot stove.

The second time, I really thought I had broken something. Getting up and skating to the bench was probably a 6 on the happy-face-to-sad-face pain scale. But I was more upset at being out of commission and unable to play than I was about some silly ol' pain. I paced the bench (because sitting on it was too painful) and bitched and moaned for a few minutes but eventually settled down. Later that morning when I got home, the first thing I did was go online and order a pair of goalie pants, and I vowed not to play until they came in.

Now, I must confess, when you look at me, you probably don't instantly assume "hockey goalie" when you see my build. It's probably much better suited for... maybe a gymnast. Basically, I'm pretty scrawny. Or I was. Not anymore, but that's for another post. Throw a giant pair of goalie pants on me and it makes my chicken legs look that much more strange, like two string beans sticking out of the bottom of a giant plastic bag. But hey, once I get the rest of the equipment on, I'm J.S.-freaking-Giguere. Ok, maybe only in my own mind. But that's where it counts, right?

(Next up: Pick-up Hockey Rule #241: Don't Show Up the Goalie)

In the beginning, there was doubt.

It all started just before Christmas, 2005. My husband said he wanted to buy goalie gear for me, and at the time I refused. There were oh so many reasons why I “couldn’t” be a goalie, and would just have to be satisfied with watching them and reading about them instead of joining their ranks. I wasn’t flexible enough. I had the wrong temperament. I was too sensitive about letting people down. I just flat out wouldn’t be able to do it. I thanked him for offering, but said it wouldn’t be a good idea and I’d end up frustrated and upset. He respected that and instead found a way to get me a jersey all the way from the Swedish Elite League instead.

But the seed had been planted. As much as I tried to push the idea away, it kept coming back, until one day when I read something a friend had written about the drive, the passion he had for playing hockey, which pushed him past limits he thought he had and made him welcome the feel of his head soaked with sweat and his muscles sore from overuse. I just knew that same passion was within me, and all this time I had been denying myself the chance to see what it could do. I decided to come out and watch my husband and my friend one Sunday morning as they braved the February chill to do what they loved. Coffee in hand, I paced the bench to keep from turning to a block of ice and watched. Everything enthralled me, from the chatter on the benches as they donned their equipment, to the way nothing but the game existed as they worked up a sweat in the 25* air. And of course, watching the goalie. I stayed for an hour and a half before I had to leave to finish a freelance project that was due that evening. But the atmosphere stayed with me; I’d been bitten hard by the bug.

I later announced to my husband that I was ready to give it a try, and off we went to Play it Again Sports to buy some used equipment. I got by many accounts a set of one of the best pads for butterfly goalies (of course not knowing that at the time), beat up, torn in places, and stained with sweat and who knows what else, for $50. (Bauer Reactors, in case anyone’s curious. I wish they still made them, I’d buy them in a heartbeat.) The guy in the store helped me find the rest of the equipment I would need, all of it “junior”sized to fit my small frame. The only thing I was missing was a mask. As luck would have it, a sizeable snowstorm rolled in that night, and for the next week I was unable to go outside and practice my new craft. Not to be deterred, I donned my gear and stood in the living room attempting to deflect the cat toys my husband shot at me.

The delay caused by the snowstorm gave me time to find a mask. None of the inexpensive street hockey masks in the chain sporting goods stores fit, so I called around looking for a place that sold smaller masks. It was at this early stage in my journey that I experienced the natural assumptions of others that a woman asking about hockey equipment must be asking for her son. (Stay tuned, more on this later). We ended up at a hockey specialty store, and fiddled around with a junior sized Itech ice hockey goalie mask until it fit just right. It was pretty expensive, but my husband and I both figured that was the most important piece of equipment in terms of protection, and not a good thing to skimp on. Besides, I had dreams of one day playing on ice, and with a quality mask like that I could make the transition without having to buy another one.

So finally, fully outfitted, I could start the process of re-learning the response to move away from things hurled at me at high speeds. But before I did that, I felt I needed to work on something that’s widely disregarded by those who don’t play the position, but crucial to one’s success at it: skating.

(Next up: And Then There Was Skating)