All-Star (sort of) weekend

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My Desk is Boring

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

Most Awkward Game Ever

Well, that was just about as weird as I thought it would be. It was strange enough being on the other end of the ice from my teammates, but when play started and I had to yell "man on", etc., to the team I was playing for, I felt like a traitor. This team, however, was made up of all 20-something girls fresh out of college, with absolutely boundless energy and amazing skill. As a result, I didn't have to do too much. I think I had 5 or 6 shots. Which was absolutely fine with me, except for the fact that it meant that Bacardi was getting absolutely hammered (haha no pun intended) at the other end. The final score was 11-0, and it could have been much, much worse if the Wunderkinds hadn't backed off and focused on passing instead of making it a shooting gallery.

The strangest thing for me was seeing our team from a perspective I never see them; that of the other goalie. I am very glad I don't have to face #66, our very strong power forward, with a foaming-at-the-mouth tenacity for puck possession and a wicked shot. Seeing her come flying in on the forecheck was pretty intimidating! And our diminutive but speedy center known as "Pirate" was just as annoying around the net as she is in practice. No one ever seems to notice her buzzing around on the back door. So, in that regard it was pretty cool, seeing our forwards in action from a perspective other than hustling down on a backcheck or executing a breakout. Still, that is something I will never do again. Ever. It was just too weird. I had to stop thinking of them as the individual people they are and think of them as just some team in white. I have to say I am glad I got the shutout, if only because a goal on 5 shots would have made for a terrible save percentage going on the books.

We have another game today. By "we" I mean QC Red. (This multi-team thing is so confusing). It's a home game, early on a Sunday evening, so we'll have a bench full beyond bursting. I think all 17 of our players will be there, and so we'll probably doing some kind of team picture- I just hope it's before the game and not after. I'm going to be a very busy goalie today, this team we're facing is quite good. Two players who usually play on our tournament team are on this team, and it's always a fun challenge to face them.

Speaking of challenges, I have my work cut out for me. I've long known that I'm horribly un-flexible, in goalie terms, and today I had it unilaterally confirmed. Super awesome goalie fitness and training guru Maria Mountain posted a 9-point goalie assessment on her site a few days ago. Today I finally got around to taking it. I wasn't surprised by the results. In the area of mobility, I flunked big time. The only test I passed in that area was the one that was part of the butterfly flare widening program of hers that I did a while back. Hmmm... coincidence? Doubtful. Lesson learned: stretching DOES make a difference. Fortunately in stability and strength I passed with flying colors. But as she points out, what good are those if you don't have a strong  foundation of mobility? Time to get to work on some serious stretching. I'd started planning out a fitness program that works with my schedule, and interestingly enough, I made stretching a big part of it, with injury prevention in mind. Hey, I'm 38, and I have had a few small reminders in the past week or so that my body is not as young as it used to be.  But now I know exactly which areas to focus on.  So I guess I'll spend a little less time on the stationary bike and a little more time stretching. My plan is to do the assessment again in 3 months and see if there is any improvement.

Oh yeah, and the lockout is over. Almost forgot about that. I'm of two minds about it. There's the "meh, whatever, I'm totally disgusted" part of me, but then there's the "ZOMG HOCKEY'S BACK!!!!!!!! THERE WILL BE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS! YEEEAHHHHHH!!!!" part. The latter part is winning out, but you can be sure I won't be buying any tickets or merchandise for quite a while. Will it matter much in the long run? Probably not. And if we all did that, the owners would cry even more poverty and there we go again... but at least it makes me feel like I'm not TOTALLY drinking the Kool-Aid. I just want to watch some hockey, dammit. The WJC was awesome and now that it's over I want more. Oh I get to watch Tuukka again? Yeah, I'm not that mad/disgusted. Give me the remote.

Swindled?

I've been accused of being a goalie whore, and it's really not that far from the mark. I instinctively side with the goalie in a given situation, and I'll sub for pretty much anyone who needs a keeper. (Pretty much- there are certain teams I will never ever play for). But I never expected to be playing against my own team- or rather, one of my own teams. This came about as a result of a miscommunication at best - at worst, I was tricked into it. But let's leave the jury out on that one.

I received an email last weekend from another team in the league the White and Blue QCats both play in. (Remember, White is the "middle" team, the team I've been splitting games with Bacardi for. Blue is the highest level.) The email went like this: "Hi, I'm Jane Doe from X-Team Blue, and we need a sub for our game against QCats Blue next weekend. Since it's your home rink, would you be willing to play?" I actually kind of laughed to myself. Why not, I thought, I've played against the Blue team twice already this season. It's not like they're "my" team per se. So I told them I would do it. And then I posted on FB about how hahaha isn't it weird that I'm playing against Blue again this weekend. Major confusion ensued.

White teammates posted saying they were playing this weekend and I must be playing against them. I insisted that it was a Blue game, as that was what the woman who emailed me said it was. But I looked at the schedule and yes, it was one of those cross-division games, where X-Team Blue was playing QCats White. I went into full panic mode. How could I possibly play against my own team??? Yet how could I go back on my word of saying I would sub? I frantically emailed the QCat Blue goalie to see if she could fill in for me (she can't). Then I texted the coach and the Captain of White and explained what was going on. The response, in essence, was don't worry about it, it doesn't count for us because it's a Blue team, and they're the only team in the league that beat OUR Blue team, so we don't expect to get many shots on you anyway. It'll be fun. Uhhhh... ok. Well I'm not sure about "fun" but at least my loyalty issues were allayed. Gionta182 did offer the solution of her taking my place and playing in net and letting in a bunch of goals, but I couldn't go for that. I think of myself as a pretty honorable person. If X-Team was purposely trying to mislead me, that's on them. I'm not going to be a jerk back and replace myself with a skater, or play like crap on purpose in return. Besides, it could have been an innocent error. (Ha.)

Honestly I half expect to get there and find that they rostered a different goalie to sub, because although I had emailed explaining the situation, and saying I was trying to find someone else to play for them, but then emailed back saying, it's ok, put me on the roster, they responded to that email with "Just tell us what name to put down". Erm. I just said me. So I replied again telling them to put me down. I never got a response to that second email, so who knows. It's not a big deal because it's my home rink, and since it's a Saturday night I'd probably be going anyway to watch.

It should be interesting to see how this unfolds. Maybe @hkygrl12 will score on me (again). Maybe I'll be as bored as @gionta182 predicts. At least I'll be on the ice. Too bad I don't have a USA jersey to wear. Gotta change that....

Kids, brain freeze, and "Goals"

It's a good thing I don't have anything important to do today, because I've just wasted a fair amount of time reading through my own blog, looking for a post that I know is there somewhere, but I'll  be damned if I can find it. It's one in which I mention talking to a young girl in the "women's locker room", a kid who was maybe about 12, and was getting dressed in ref's gear. I admired her gumption and then realized her dad was one of our (at the time) drinking buddies, who is also a ref. I've searched on "daughter", I've searched on "dad", "kid", "open hockey", "referee", all to no avail. I've been looking for it because I ran into her again today when I came off the ice after open hockey. I barely recognized her- it's been quite a few years since that day, and I think she's about 17 now. In fact, I only had a vague "I think I know this girl" feeling until she started talking and said her name in a story about how she can't hide in her room away from the relatives for very long before someone calls for her. Hopefully she didn't notice that until that point I wasn't exactly sure who she was, but she is quite a talker so maybe she didn't pick up on it. She did say that she always liked asking "older adults" what made them start playing hockey. "So, what made you start playing?", she asked. Damn. Thanks, kid.

Feeling old was apparently the theme of the day though. I'd completely forgotten this morning when I was scraping my windshield in the dark, getting ready to head to the rink, that duh... it's Thanksgiving. Which means all the college kids are home from school. It's probably a good thing, too, or I would have psyched myself out. I played a mediocre game. I had some pretty good saves, but I had some craptastic goals as well. I think the problem was mostly timing. A couple of those guys had the puck on their stick for about a nanosecond before letting a shot loose. I was the only goalie though, so I guess it was better than no goalie at all. And as such, I switched ends every ten minutes.

You know I hate that. I hate to admit it, but I get all mixed up when I have to do that. If I have a shift on the bench in between it's not too bad. But going right from one end to the other gets all my wires crossed and sometimes I have to remind myself that the other guys are the bad guys now. In fact when we were warming up, I saw a guy in a burgundy Spartak jersey, and thought about this incident from several years ago. Wouldn't you know it, I did almost the same damn thing, and even worse, it was the same damn guy! (Has to be. I've only ever seen one guy in a Spartak jersey, but he seemed a little young so maybe he was borrowing it). I'd started out in net for dark, and then switched to the light side after 10 minutes. I saw Mr. Spartak coming down the boards towards me, and forgot he was my enemy. Fortunately, it probably looked to everyone else like I just didn't get to my post fast enough- he fired and it hit my calf as my brain went "OH! Shit!" and I moved, too slowly, over to the post. Hopefully no one heard me yelling "got time" to him just seconds before that.

Seriously. What the hell is wrong with me. I don't get it. It's really embarrassing to be confused that easily. At least this time it was nowhere near as blatant. But I think it might have also had something to do with the fact that it was the same guy. My brain was already in that "hey remember the time you gave the puck up to the wrong guy?" mode so maybe that made it more likely to happen. Who knows. I also haven't played open hockey in an eon, so was kind of out of that rhythm. There's another session tomorrow morning, and as of now I stupidly plan on going to that one as well. I'm only on one team this year, so am on the ice once, maybe twice a week, as opposed to 3 or 4 times. I need to keep up the momentum or I'll get really out of shape. As it was, I was pretty gassed today after only an hour.

Part of that is my own fault. I've gotten extremely inconsistent lately with my workouts. In fact I feel like I'm letting Maria down. I don't know why, I just don't have the motivation or follow-through that I used to have. So I've taken her advice and made a list of my goals. I'm going to do it each week, and I'm admittedly starting pretty small this week. (The theory is, if I start small I won't scare myself off). The only problem is, I wrote "GOALS" at the top of the page... and then thought hey wait a minute. "Goals" are kind of the opposite of what I'm trying to achieve here. So I crossed it out and wrote "TARGETS". This week my goals are to stretch every day, and either work out or play hockey every day from now until Sunday. So here it is. If I'm not on the ice tomorrow morning, my ass better be in the gym. Sunday  night I'll make a list for next week. This better work, because I'm pretty fed up with myself and my lack of motivation.

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!

Back in the 21st century

I was one of those people all excited about that new TV show "Revolution". You know, the one where all the lights go out and there's no more electricity? Being somewhat of an apocalyptic-fiction nut, I'm familiar with the "electro-magnetic pulse" precursor to the Endtimes, and was really looking forward to seeing the series. Nevermind that I completely forgot about it and haven't seen a single episode- I certainly didn't expect to be living it. But for the last 13 days, including a nor'easter and sub-freezing temperatures, I found myself wondering if I maybe should have made a better effort to watch that show. Or to at least prepare our household for an extended lack of power. We have no fireplace, and our range is electric, not gas, so when the power goes out, we have exactly zero options available to us for heat. (Ha. Ok, maybe not zero. Wink wink nudge nudge). We were however extremely lucky to have friends with either woodburning stoves or actual working electricity, who housed our sorry asses on and off for the last two weeks. We spent the first few days at home, but once the temperature inside hit 41* we grabbed the cats and headed for my parents' house. 

We are so, so, lucky. And during those few days when I really was losing it and having breakdowns over the slightest things, I was trying so very hard to remember that. We may not have had power, but we had a house that was still standing, and without any damage at all. Neither of our cars were crushed by trees either, as we witnessed just down the street, and played itself out all over our area. And while we were sorely inconvenienced for two weeks, here we are back in our house. Not like some folks, who won't be able to go back for 6-8 months. And now that I'm back into my more normal routine, I am going to find a way to help out others. But that really knocked me for quite a loop. I've never heard wind like that in my life. Ever. And that was only a category 1. But after last year's "Snowtober" storm (when we were out for a mere 6 days), and the myriad powerful storms we've seen since then, I think it's a fair bet to say this is going to be the new normal for a while. 

Lest this post descend into politics, let me get to the hockey. Ah, that's right, there really hasn't been any for the last two weeks. We had a game scheduled for Sunday the 28th (the day before the storm), but the wind was already picking up and a lot of rain was expected, so since the rink is right on the water, it was called off pre-emptively. (PS - that rink has since been destroyed). There was practice a few days later, but by then, getting gas was a 2-4 hour endeavor, and we didn't want to drive the 50 miles round trip, not knowing when we would next  be able to fill up. (We also both have quite a commute to our respective jobs). The one glimmer was the game down in Delaware. The white team had a game scheduled in New-ark the Saturday after the storm, and although I had misgivings about making the trip given the circumstances, I think it was what we all needed. Most of us were without power, one teammate had lost both the cars in her driveway, and people in general needed something "normal" after a week of insanity. Those of us without power booked rooms at a hotel and had a night of absolute luxury. (Truly, the ability to go to the bathroom with the light on should never be underestimated).  We played a very well matched game and ended in a 1-1 tie. My sister and her family came to watch, which was awesome, because they also brought me a "no power care package". Including a card drawn by my niece, featuring a bird on power lines, and rows of light bulbs. Yeah, it made me cry. You wanna make something of it? 

There was a practice scheduled for several days later but, oh hey, Nature wasn't done with us yet. Nor'easter time! It didn't drop as much snow on us as was predicted, but what did fall was very slippery, so practice was cancelled. (Yes, you can tell we don't live in Buffalo). And there were no games on the schedule for this weekend, so you can bet I'm raring to get back on the ice this week. To be honest, my mind wasn't anywhere near the rink these past two weeks, though the game in Delaware did turn out to be a welcome distraction. Now that life is getting back to normal, I'm looking forward to practice and games, and games, and clinics, and practice, etc. At least now I know I'll be able to wash all that stinky hockey laundry without a problem.