I am in my bliss right now, with both teams' schedules picking up. For some reason the QCats schedule is always much heavier on the back end (that's what she said) than in the first few months. And now that the Cougar(hawk)s got our 6 bye weeks out of the way, we're playing weekly games. From Friday through Monday I had three games, two wins and a loss.
Friday night the QCats had a home game against a team we haven't played in a while. We weren't sure what to expect, as their organization has several levels and you never know which players are going to show up on any given night. As it turned out, we got the low end of the spectrum. Coach (aka "GoalieHusband") was delighted and said it was an awesome game to coach, and all the skaters were pretty jazzed about it too, but I was kind of bored. We won 3-2, and it shouldn't even have been that high. The first goal was courtesy of my d-man's stick blade. The second was probably due to a slightly slower than usual reaction on my part, with my head somewhat out of the game. I find it so hard to stay focused when you're only seeing a few shots a period.
Fortunately our next game was more exciting. It was a Sunday night away game, against a team we match up against fairly well. We were down 4 players; one injured, three with whatever germs are running rampant right now. We managed to get two extra bodies on the ice though, since gionta182 was free (even though she'd originally not planned to play), and our very own Assistant Coach hkygrl12 hit the ice with us. I don't really know what was going on that night, but our D was nowhere near as tight as is usually is. It might have been a combination of unfamiliar partners, and the other team's tendency to creep down really low. I've never yelled about my back door so much in one night. Also, the refs were fairly clueless. Icing was apparently optional, as was indicating whether it had occurred or not, and one was either completely oblivious, or purposely baiting me. With the score 2-0 and only a few minutes to go in the 3rd period, play was deep in our zone when the net came off slightly. It was the right post that got knocked off, and the near ref was right there to my right watching the play. I started saying "net's off", and when he didn't pick up on it, hkygrl12 joined in. It went something like this. "Net's off".... track track track skate.... "net's off!!" ummmm the other team has the puck, what's the deal here .... "HEY! Net's OFF!!!"..... "wtf THE. NET. IS. OFF!"
Yes, the other team had the puck the whole time I was yelling my head off. Apparently the bench was going bananas too, with the far ref right near them. He was craning his neck to see but I guess I was blocking his view. I told hkygrl12 later that if I didn't have a shutout on the line, I would absolutely have let my "inner Tuukka" out and shoved it WAY off myself, and taken the penalty. The funniest part though? After that play, and me adjusting the post myself, the play came back into the zone and suddenly there was a whistle. Everyone - including me- was looking around, looking for the ref for an explanation. "Net's off" he said, calmly putting it back into place.
And that is why I think he was f-ing with me.
Regardless, we won, and I got a shutout, one which I felt was pretty well-deserved. I worked hard for it and made some decent stops, and I guess I got a little too cocky about it, because the hockey gods handed me a slice of humble pie when I played again on Monday night.
This was a Cougar(hawk)s game, one I was particularly amped for, due to our opponent's reputation. Those who have been in the league for a while were indicating that this might be the "d-bag" team of this league. They pretty much lived up to expectations. They were also the "Italian Soccer Player" team, flamboyant dives being a specialty of theirs. Unfortunately we were pretty scrambly in the first period and although we did score first, they got 4 in that frame. I feel that I definitely should have had 2 of them; one being a bad bounce off my arm, the other being a complete paddle-down fail. The other 2 were pretty impossible though. And they only got 1 more goal for the rest of the game, early in the 2nd period. After that we shut them down. The end result was a score of 5-2, and a very humbled goalie. I was told that it's not unheard of for this team to score 8 or more goals though, so I wasn't pouting too much.
We've got another similar weekend lined up, with games on Friday and Saturday, and then a game on Monday night, which is a good thing because it gives me a nice outlet for all my pent up my-company-went-bankrupt-angst.
Showing posts with label refs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label refs. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The Church of Hockey
"Back in the day", when we used to play roller hockey outside on an asphalt rink, we played a few times a week. But our biggest turnout and usually best games were always Sunday mornings. It was always kind of a thrill to arrive there, grumbling and sleepy-eyed, and gradually wake up as you put your gear on, sitting next to someone on the bench just as foggy and cranky as you were. And as more and more folks showed up, you'd start waking up a little bit, dicking around on the rink until most of the group was assembled... and by the end of it all, you'd played balls-out for a solid three hours. I have great memories of those days. (I'm a spoiled brat now and wouldn't go back, but it's fun to reminisce). A lot of us jokingly said those Sunday morning games were our "church". And on the rare days when it was neither too hot nor too cold, it certainly did feel divine.
Now, I still get to the rink grumbling and sleepy-eyed, but that's because our games are as late as 11:20pm. I don't know how they swing it, but the QCats manage to get some pretty prime ice times, Sunday evenings being the most common game time. This season we had a surprise Sunday morning game though, and it made me think of that year or so when Sunday morning was unquestionably devoted to hockey. And here I was, years later, with a different group in a different place, joking again about hockey being our religion. We played a team that our interaction with seems to be on the chippier side. That's putting it mildly, I guess, considering last time we played them, "Pants" flat out body-slammed a chick for two-handing her to the head. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on what you like), there were no such incidents in this game. It was a decently paced, evenly matched game that we mostly played very well in. I say mostly, because after the second period we were up 2-0. We went into the third knowing they were going to come really hard at us, and we had about a minute and a half's worth of collective brain fart and there we were, tied. That really ticked me off, because both goals against were pretty garbage-y. I'm not sure what the deal is with that but most of my goals against on that team have been cruddy garbage goals or bad bounces. I guess I have to be more aware of my movements or where the puck is. But everything I saw, I stopped. I was feeling really good, and I even counted shots (33). Once again Gionta182 wrangled a 5 minute OT period out of the refs, but we weren't as lucky this time. We were still tied at the end of it.
I was actually surprised that we ended up with the OT, since it's pretty much at the ref's discretion (what's up with that?), and I had kind of uncharacteristically mouthed off at one of them earlier in the third period. There was an offside whistle, and everyone else stopped, but the player with the puck continued into the zone, looked right at me, and shot. Now, I know sometimes that happens at the same time as a whistle, I know sometimes it's not intentional. But that was pretty blatant. She turned to skate away and I charged after her, yelling. She completely ignored me, and I was aware of the fact that I was nearing the blue line and the ref was in the vicinity so I figured I should cool my jets. (Hkygrl12, who is coaching this season, later told me she was really nervous because she's never seen me get mad before and thought it was going to be "Tuukka milkcrate time". I did notice that she looked a little wide-eyed to see me that close to the bench. Haha.) On my way back to the net I yelled to the ref "No call on that?" He said no and I blurted out "That's bullshit". Generally I don't do this. I may think it, but I don't give refs any lip. He replied "Come on now, let's keep it friendly" or something like that, and I just shut my mouth and focused on the faceoff. But that really ticked me off. That's blatant disrespect right there on her part. It's ok though, because I've got her number. She's a smallish forward, she'll be in my crease again. Oops! Did my stick get in your way? SORRY.
Now, I still get to the rink grumbling and sleepy-eyed, but that's because our games are as late as 11:20pm. I don't know how they swing it, but the QCats manage to get some pretty prime ice times, Sunday evenings being the most common game time. This season we had a surprise Sunday morning game though, and it made me think of that year or so when Sunday morning was unquestionably devoted to hockey. And here I was, years later, with a different group in a different place, joking again about hockey being our religion. We played a team that our interaction with seems to be on the chippier side. That's putting it mildly, I guess, considering last time we played them, "Pants" flat out body-slammed a chick for two-handing her to the head. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on what you like), there were no such incidents in this game. It was a decently paced, evenly matched game that we mostly played very well in. I say mostly, because after the second period we were up 2-0. We went into the third knowing they were going to come really hard at us, and we had about a minute and a half's worth of collective brain fart and there we were, tied. That really ticked me off, because both goals against were pretty garbage-y. I'm not sure what the deal is with that but most of my goals against on that team have been cruddy garbage goals or bad bounces. I guess I have to be more aware of my movements or where the puck is. But everything I saw, I stopped. I was feeling really good, and I even counted shots (33). Once again Gionta182 wrangled a 5 minute OT period out of the refs, but we weren't as lucky this time. We were still tied at the end of it.
I was actually surprised that we ended up with the OT, since it's pretty much at the ref's discretion (what's up with that?), and I had kind of uncharacteristically mouthed off at one of them earlier in the third period. There was an offside whistle, and everyone else stopped, but the player with the puck continued into the zone, looked right at me, and shot. Now, I know sometimes that happens at the same time as a whistle, I know sometimes it's not intentional. But that was pretty blatant. She turned to skate away and I charged after her, yelling. She completely ignored me, and I was aware of the fact that I was nearing the blue line and the ref was in the vicinity so I figured I should cool my jets. (Hkygrl12, who is coaching this season, later told me she was really nervous because she's never seen me get mad before and thought it was going to be "Tuukka milkcrate time". I did notice that she looked a little wide-eyed to see me that close to the bench. Haha.) On my way back to the net I yelled to the ref "No call on that?" He said no and I blurted out "That's bullshit". Generally I don't do this. I may think it, but I don't give refs any lip. He replied "Come on now, let's keep it friendly" or something like that, and I just shut my mouth and focused on the faceoff. But that really ticked me off. That's blatant disrespect right there on her part. It's ok though, because I've got her number. She's a smallish forward, she'll be in my crease again. Oops! Did my stick get in your way? SORRY.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)