I tested the new gear out in open hockey today. My timing's still a little off and I'm still a little clumsy but it's getting better. While at the rink I ran into my coach, and he seemed to approve of the upgrade. He gave me a few pointers for getting used to them, which was cool. I mean... other than just get out there as much as you can with them. That part is obvious.
The one thing I'm wondering about now is, the more comfortable I get with these, won't it throw me off to switch back to the old ones for games that count? I'm not sure what to do about that. I'm tempted to use them this week in the league but I'm not sure yet. I have one more outing (a clinic) before my game, so that will help me decide. Right now though, I'd just like a nice nap.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Breaking the downward spiral
I won't rehash our last game (much), other than to say we lost 9-4. It was pretty bad. The other team was much better than we were in terms of the little things that make the difference. Scoreboard notwithstanding, I'm a lot happier with my game than I have been in recent weeks. On the whole, anyway. I made one colossally stupid move, the likes of which I haven't made in about 9 months, and put the puck in our own net. Big mistake, but at least its something I know I don't do on a regular basis and recognize the error I made in judgement that lead to it. Two other goals were due to poor positioning, and one would have been prevented if my leg was just two inches longer, dammit. Immediately after the game I wasn't even that upset; I didn't feel like the loss was solely on my shoulders because I recognized that the other team was much better.
It was upon waking the next day, however, that the doom and gloom set in. Looking back at my last 4 or so games (plus open hockey outings), I began to question my coach's sanity in his assurances that I needed to move out of the instructional league. How could I possibly be ready to move up when I'm playing like this? The recent game drove that point home even more; while I felt out of sync in all the other games, in this one, I felt like I had my grove back. I was moving much better, seeing things more clearly, etc. But look at the result.
I was mentioning this to a friend who, until recently, played at a pro level and who also has trained with my coach. I generally don't spew my post-game mental garbage on him; I'll mention the result of a game and how I felt I did but that's about it. So I was surprised when he said "you're in a downward spiral. It's all mental." I hadn't realized it, but he's right. And I guess a more experienced goalie-brain doesn't need much info to pick up on that. So we talked for a bit about how to snap out of it, and I told him that I thought I'd actually already begun that process. Hopefully I'm right. It's just interesting how there can be all this stuff you know, and yet sometimes it takes someone else to point it out for you to go "Ohhh! Duh!" and smack your forehead.
He also gave me tons of advice on breaking in the new pads, as well as how to deal with one particular defenseman who doesn't understand that "SCREEN!" means "you're in my way. move. NOW." (Honestly I'm not sure how this guy doesn't get it. He's been told over and over that when I yell "screen" he has to get his ass out of my way. It just doesn't sink in.) My "mentor's" solution? Violence. A hard shove or a good chop with the stick. I just don't have it in me to do that. That's the difference between me and this crazy sonofabitch. I'm not going to go around hacking at my own defensemen. An opponent? Hell yeah. But my own guy? Maybe I'm a softie because I'm a chick, because that's not the first time I've heard a goalie recommend something like that, but I just don't see the point at our level.
Though give it a few more weeks and a few more goals because I can't see anything but his ass and his number, and that might just change...
It was upon waking the next day, however, that the doom and gloom set in. Looking back at my last 4 or so games (plus open hockey outings), I began to question my coach's sanity in his assurances that I needed to move out of the instructional league. How could I possibly be ready to move up when I'm playing like this? The recent game drove that point home even more; while I felt out of sync in all the other games, in this one, I felt like I had my grove back. I was moving much better, seeing things more clearly, etc. But look at the result.
I was mentioning this to a friend who, until recently, played at a pro level and who also has trained with my coach. I generally don't spew my post-game mental garbage on him; I'll mention the result of a game and how I felt I did but that's about it. So I was surprised when he said "you're in a downward spiral. It's all mental." I hadn't realized it, but he's right. And I guess a more experienced goalie-brain doesn't need much info to pick up on that. So we talked for a bit about how to snap out of it, and I told him that I thought I'd actually already begun that process. Hopefully I'm right. It's just interesting how there can be all this stuff you know, and yet sometimes it takes someone else to point it out for you to go "Ohhh! Duh!" and smack your forehead.
He also gave me tons of advice on breaking in the new pads, as well as how to deal with one particular defenseman who doesn't understand that "SCREEN!" means "you're in my way. move. NOW." (Honestly I'm not sure how this guy doesn't get it. He's been told over and over that when I yell "screen" he has to get his ass out of my way. It just doesn't sink in.) My "mentor's" solution? Violence. A hard shove or a good chop with the stick. I just don't have it in me to do that. That's the difference between me and this crazy sonofabitch. I'm not going to go around hacking at my own defensemen. An opponent? Hell yeah. But my own guy? Maybe I'm a softie because I'm a chick, because that's not the first time I've heard a goalie recommend something like that, but I just don't see the point at our level.
Though give it a few more weeks and a few more goals because I can't see anything but his ass and his number, and that might just change...
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Starting over again
I knew breaking in the new pads would take time and effort, but what I didn't count on was feeling like I had to learn everything all over again. Yes, the pads are stiff. But that's not the biggest problem. Its the fact that they are so incredibly different from my old ones in several important ways. Needless to say, even though I have a game tomorrow night, I will not be using them there. I have several more clinics and open hockey sessions to go before I'm comfortable using them in a game that counts.
I should have realized what I was in for when I ambled into the rink, and when I passed by Coach Johnson he asked "new pads?" and responded to my affirmation with "good luck". I stepped onto the ice and was greeted by Coach Mark (who runs the clinics, and is an excellent coach), who asked the same question. When I said yes, he asked if this was my first time using them, and when I nodded my masked head he quipped "have fun". Oh boy.
My biggest problems, aside from feeling like my legs were encased in concrete, lie in three areas;
1. The height of the pads. Yeah... I was wondering what that whole "plus 1 sizing" system is that Vaughn advertises, and I found it out. The new pads are the same size from ankle to knee as my old ones, but they have significantly more height at the top. This causes the tops to crash together as I drop into my butterfly, which slows me down. Not to mention its pretty awkward [insert awkward turtle here].
2. The thickness of the knee stacks. For non-goalie-geeks: knee stacks are the square-ish pieces of padding that are strapped to the area of the pad you land on when you drop into your butterfly. Also referred to sometimes as "landing gear". There's a reason for this; it's the only thing separating your knee from a very hard sheet of ice. Knees take a beating in goaltending just by nature of the butterfly/hybrid style, but they take even more of a beating when there's only about a half inch of foam between them and the ice they're repeatedly being slammed into. That half inch of foam (on my old pads) became indented from my knee, so the foam was actually crushed down to about a quarter inch thickness. On my new pads... I have FOUR knee stacks. I haven't measured it but it's got to be a good 5 inches of foam, all velcroed together, between my knee and the ice. Sweet. Well, "sweet" once I get used to them. Right now they make me extremely clumsy because I have to stand/crouch/skate ... basically everything... with my legs farther apart than I'm used to. Between this and the height on the pads, my stance has to change. Getting used to a new stance is going to take a lot of patience and time. Imagine a batter having to stand a new way in order to hit a ball. Yeah. Fun.
3. Leather inside edges as opposed to fabric. Again "Sweet". Once I get used to them anyway. The reason I was having so much trouble doing butterfly slides and moving laterally while down on the ice was because my pads were actually sticking to the ice, due to the fabric stuff that was on the edge making contact with the ice. It wasn't just weak legs, as I thought. Today in clinic I was sliding all over the place- farther than I intended. I have to get that under control and work on integrating lateral slides into my arsenal of save tactics. But once I do.... man is that ever going to be awesome.
So... all good stuff. But stuff that's going to take a lot of adjusting. And hopefully during that period of adjustments I'll stop a decent amount of pucks and get some scuff marks on those puppies, because as much as mostly-white pads are "hockey camouflage", no goalie wants to take to the ice in a game without so much as a mark on his or her pads.
I should have realized what I was in for when I ambled into the rink, and when I passed by Coach Johnson he asked "new pads?" and responded to my affirmation with "good luck". I stepped onto the ice and was greeted by Coach Mark (who runs the clinics, and is an excellent coach), who asked the same question. When I said yes, he asked if this was my first time using them, and when I nodded my masked head he quipped "have fun". Oh boy.
My biggest problems, aside from feeling like my legs were encased in concrete, lie in three areas;
1. The height of the pads. Yeah... I was wondering what that whole "plus 1 sizing" system is that Vaughn advertises, and I found it out. The new pads are the same size from ankle to knee as my old ones, but they have significantly more height at the top. This causes the tops to crash together as I drop into my butterfly, which slows me down. Not to mention its pretty awkward [insert awkward turtle here].
2. The thickness of the knee stacks. For non-goalie-geeks: knee stacks are the square-ish pieces of padding that are strapped to the area of the pad you land on when you drop into your butterfly. Also referred to sometimes as "landing gear". There's a reason for this; it's the only thing separating your knee from a very hard sheet of ice. Knees take a beating in goaltending just by nature of the butterfly/hybrid style, but they take even more of a beating when there's only about a half inch of foam between them and the ice they're repeatedly being slammed into. That half inch of foam (on my old pads) became indented from my knee, so the foam was actually crushed down to about a quarter inch thickness. On my new pads... I have FOUR knee stacks. I haven't measured it but it's got to be a good 5 inches of foam, all velcroed together, between my knee and the ice. Sweet. Well, "sweet" once I get used to them. Right now they make me extremely clumsy because I have to stand/crouch/skate ... basically everything... with my legs farther apart than I'm used to. Between this and the height on the pads, my stance has to change. Getting used to a new stance is going to take a lot of patience and time. Imagine a batter having to stand a new way in order to hit a ball. Yeah. Fun.
3. Leather inside edges as opposed to fabric. Again "Sweet". Once I get used to them anyway. The reason I was having so much trouble doing butterfly slides and moving laterally while down on the ice was because my pads were actually sticking to the ice, due to the fabric stuff that was on the edge making contact with the ice. It wasn't just weak legs, as I thought. Today in clinic I was sliding all over the place- farther than I intended. I have to get that under control and work on integrating lateral slides into my arsenal of save tactics. But once I do.... man is that ever going to be awesome.
So... all good stuff. But stuff that's going to take a lot of adjusting. And hopefully during that period of adjustments I'll stop a decent amount of pucks and get some scuff marks on those puppies, because as much as mostly-white pads are "hockey camouflage", no goalie wants to take to the ice in a game without so much as a mark on his or her pads.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Bend, Fold and Manipulate
Well they fit. But daaaaaaaaamn are they stiff. I have my work cut out for me breaking these puppies in. I can now see why Arturs Irbe allegedly had his bus driver drive over his new pads to break them in for the Olympics. Or why people might think you need to take a baseball bat to them. Relax, I'm not dumb enough to do anything like that. I do think, though, that I'll be bumbling around the house in them for most of the day tomorrow. Or scrunching them up and sitting on them like chairs while watching tv or surfing the web. One recommended method of breaking them in is to scrunch them up and tie a belt around them to keep them in position. Not gonna happen, not with the belts in this house.
But while I am relieved to know that they do in fact fit, I'm a little nervous about wearing them for the first time. The knee stacks are so much thicker that it changes the way I stand a little bit. And the added height at the top (the "+1" in the 32 + 1 sizing I guess) will allow me a much lower stance, and holy cow... now I know why they want to get rid of that height in the NHL. Super-sealed 5-hole! Sweet. (Well... probably thats the case on everyone but me). It's going to take some work getting used to that extra height; preliminary experiments on butterfly drops had me dropping with my knees too close together, and the tops of the pads overlapped. Not a horrible thing, but it results in double coverage, which means a hole is bigger somewhere else (in this case... at the foot).
Ah but I hear your brain waves lapsing into theta.... so I'll stop rambling about knee stacks and such. Simply put- they're going to take quite a bit of getting used to, and I'm nervous about that. But I can't wait to try them out in a practice. Yay Awesome Pads!
But while I am relieved to know that they do in fact fit, I'm a little nervous about wearing them for the first time. The knee stacks are so much thicker that it changes the way I stand a little bit. And the added height at the top (the "+1" in the 32 + 1 sizing I guess) will allow me a much lower stance, and holy cow... now I know why they want to get rid of that height in the NHL. Super-sealed 5-hole! Sweet. (Well... probably thats the case on everyone but me). It's going to take some work getting used to that extra height; preliminary experiments on butterfly drops had me dropping with my knees too close together, and the tops of the pads overlapped. Not a horrible thing, but it results in double coverage, which means a hole is bigger somewhere else (in this case... at the foot).
Ah but I hear your brain waves lapsing into theta.... so I'll stop rambling about knee stacks and such. Simply put- they're going to take quite a bit of getting used to, and I'm nervous about that. But I can't wait to try them out in a practice. Yay Awesome Pads!
Oh man...
Holy cow, that was fast. My pads just arrived!!! I'm sitting here in my office, with this giant box taunting me. There are pads inside, really amazing unbelievably good quality pads that want me to take them out and play with them. Beat on them a little to break them in, fiddle with the straps, examine them from top to bottom. But alas, I have a conference call coming up, so I'm stuck here. Even though it's Friday and on any other Friday I could blow work off for the afternoon (no bosses here heh heh heh), but not today.
So I sit here and stew. Because it's very hard to tell without trying them on with skates and pants on, but I think they might be a little too big. I'm not sure. I think the first break (down by the ankle) needs to be broken in a bit more so it sits lower on my leg... that might be the problem. I'm screwed if that's the case though, because 32 is the smallest adult size. And I'm currently wearing 32 in my other pads. Arghhhh the suspense.
But wow.... its insane how different they are from the low end ones I have. Little things that if I started describing them would put you all into a coma, but just take my word for it, WOW. My knees are already thanking me.
So I sit here and stew. Because it's very hard to tell without trying them on with skates and pants on, but I think they might be a little too big. I'm not sure. I think the first break (down by the ankle) needs to be broken in a bit more so it sits lower on my leg... that might be the problem. I'm screwed if that's the case though, because 32 is the smallest adult size. And I'm currently wearing 32 in my other pads. Arghhhh the suspense.
But wow.... its insane how different they are from the low end ones I have. Little things that if I started describing them would put you all into a coma, but just take my word for it, WOW. My knees are already thanking me.
Monday, August 4, 2008
You know you're in bad shape when....
...your husband calls from the rink because he stopped by for something else, and tells you there's a "million" goalies out on the ice, all running through different drills, and you can hear the coaches yelling "GO!" and you get a feeling like a jealous little monster stamping its foot and you think "god DAMN I wish I was out there!" Even though he tells you one group of goalies is running through the dreaded "iron cross" drill... and ten minutes later he says "hey they're starting to look tired". So you know this workshop/camp/whatever is serious business and you'd get your ass kicked to hell and back but still you wish you could be out there, learning, learning, learning... burning the skill into your muscle memory with countless reps. Dammit.
Gal With Awesome Pads
My pads are low quality, beat to hell, and broken down in places that are starting to be dangerous to be broken down in (see the ever-present bruise on the inside of my left knee). And so, although I haven't had a chance to try them on in person, I ordered a set of Awesome Pads today. I contacted the site to find out if there is any difference in size between manufacturers, and told them what I'm wearing now, and they said these should fit just fine.
I do feel a pang of guilt though, because we have a bunch of medical bills to pay off. But Goalie Husband told me a few months ago that he wanted me to get these, and he says he wants me to have them for when I move up to the new league. He said these are bday and Christmas combined, and that's it for a while. Fine with me- everything else I have is new and in good shape. It'll take a while for them to come in, but I'll be patient.
Yeah right. Who am I kidding?!
I do feel a pang of guilt though, because we have a bunch of medical bills to pay off. But Goalie Husband told me a few months ago that he wanted me to get these, and he says he wants me to have them for when I move up to the new league. He said these are bday and Christmas combined, and that's it for a while. Fine with me- everything else I have is new and in good shape. It'll take a while for them to come in, but I'll be patient.
Yeah right. Who am I kidding?!
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