Makin' Dad proud...

What else can I say about this, other than... what a dick.

Mad as hell

I'm so mad I'm breaking my self-imposed 24 hour rule. Actually, it doesn't really apply here anyway. That rule is for when I think I had a bad game, to keep me from coming here and moping about how much I suck. On the contrary, I think I had a very good game tonight. I also got to participate in my very first shootout. Unfortunately, I lost it for us.... but that's not why I'm so mad.

There was an incident in the 3rd period that apparently no one else saw, including the ref (allegedly). The incident itself pissed me off, but the way the ref spoke to me about it is what's got me sitting here stewing at 11:38 instead of being in bed taking advantage of the early game-time and actually getting some sleep on a hockey night. Here's what happened:

The puck was off to my right, just behind the goal line, and one of our guys was on the man with the puck. There was an open man just at the top left of my crease, coming in closer. So I put my glove out and touched his chest to keep him from coming in. I may have been a little rougher than necessary. That still doesn't excuse what he did next: picked up his stick and gave me a two-handed whack right to the face. Play continued, I made a save and smothered the puck, and jumped right up and asked the ref if he'd seen it. Yes, I was using foul language. But I wasn't swearing at the ref, I want to make that clear. I was just dropping f-bombs all over the place. First he answered saying "he lost his balance". I was so livid... I said "not unless you lose your balance like this" and picked up my stick in the manner that he had. Then the ref claimed he didn't see it. Fine. I can't argue with that. But then he said "What do you care anyway, you have all that gear on?" I was so astounded I didn't even know what to say, and besides, it was obvious that I should just shut the f up at that point. I zipped my lip and got ready for the face-off.

But I'm sorry, that is just completely uncalled for. I don't care how much gear I'm wearing, you don't take a 2-handed chop at my face!!! Most of the skaters wear cages. So if someone takes a 2-hander to their face it's ok? Why do we have high-sticking penalties then? I'm just absolutely livid over this. Fortunately I was able to put it aside and concentrate on the rest of the game. There was a goal not long after that but I'd made the first save. I guess I should have had the rebound too but my point is, this didn't throw me off my game.

Afterwards, I talked to the guy who runs the league, since he happened to be there. I explained what happened, and he asked me to email him, so he could forward it to the head of the refs. Part of me wants to not bother. So what, I got pissed off by something a ref said. But part of me thinks its just preposterous for a ref to think its "ok" to do that to someone just because they're wearing alot of equipment. Maybe I should have chopped him in the nuts, and then shrugged and said "what do you care, you're wearing a cup".

Ok, maybe not. But a girl can dream while she's sitting here stewing.

No retribution. At least, not really.

I didn't honestly think my coach would take my husband seriously and kick my butt from here to Toronto because he thought I didn't get enough work last week. He obviously did remember the conversation though, because he had a bit of fun with me. While working on recovering quickly and taking a second shot to the left side, which is my problem side, he told me he hoped I didn't have any plans tonight because he was going to wear me out. "Nothing but drinking some Guinness," I said. "Not Blue Moon?" he retorted. Touche. Blue Moon was what we were drinking the night he joined us outside the rink. I informed him that to properly celebrate St. Patrick's Day, one must consume Guinness, at which point he said he'd rather have Blue Moon anyway.

I didn't have him and the hired gun to myself today though. There was another goalie there, a kid who came after me last week, whose father I took an instant dislike to after hearing him offer "constructive" comments during the kid's session. He was at it again today, shouting out things like "are you squaring up to the puck or the man?" as the kid went through the same drills I did. (He was right- the kid wasn't squaring up to the puck, but I found it rude and counterproductive to the kid's learning. But who am I to say anything.) I did feel I should apologize to the kid though, because the last drill we both went through was a doozy, and apparently brought on by me.

While working through the second-to-last drill, Coach told me "ok three more", only to say after the third and supposedly last shot, "One more. That's your punishment for going out drinking tonight." Then he changed his mind and said "no... the next drill is the punishment. We're doing a three puck drill next!" Oh dear. I had no idea what was in store but it sounded difficult. In reality, I'm sure it had nothing to do with my plans for this evening, because it turned out to be a more intense drill working on the same type of thing the others did: speed of recovery and setting up for the next shot. I'll describe it here because it was neat and if there's actually any other goalies reading this (which I doubt), maybe it will help them.

The shooter stands off to one side (let's say the left) of the goalie, with three pucks lined up on the ice. The first is about two feet to the left of center, the second about 2 feet from the first, and the third about 2 feet from the second. They're not all in a straight line, but in an angle going downward. The goalie starts square to the center, and on a whistle squares up to each puck and takes the shot, going back to center in between each one. That makes that third one a real killer to get to in time. It's also pretty brutal on the legs, because the point is to do it as quickly as possible.

As I was leaving, Coach asked if I was tired. When I said yes he said "tired is good". I agree. But so is Guinness. Mmmmmm....

Kipper rocks

The King notwithstanding, Miikka Kiprusoff is one of my favorite goalies ever. In fact he might be on the same level as the ol' Bulin Wall. One of the things I love about him, besides his gumby-like flexibility and his otherworldly glove hand, is how calm he is. Normally. I guess Rucinsky got under his skin though. Maybe I should try this next time someone pisses me off*.

*Disclaimer: I'm not condoning this kind of behavior. But come on, it's funny.

This is why I keep my mouth shut

At open hockey today (with a group of people I don't know very well), I stuck my foot in my mouth, skate blade and all. You'd think it would be difficult to get it through the mask, but somehow I managed. Normally when I play, I'm pretty quiet back there in Goalie Land. I'll shout "one on" or "on you" or "got time", but normally that's the extent of it. I haven't yet developed enough confidence in my ability to read plays to direct traffic and stay focused at the same time. And I definitely don't chirp at opposing players. (After the whistle is another story. You hack at my glove, I'm going to give you a piece of my mind).

Hockey is full of things that sound dirty but aren't.... with words like slot, crease, stick, wood, or phrases like "banging bodies" or "five-hole" all in common usage, most of the time people don't bat an eyelash at something that sounds distinctly obscene. I'm sure there was fair amount of snickering on the bench though, when I tried to warn my defenseman that someone was coming in on him with great speed and yelled "hard on!". Twice. I always seem to yell everything twice, I'm not sure why.

I try not to think too much when I play. It usually gets me into trouble. This time I probably could have used a little forethought. I thought maybe no one noticed... but come on, they're guys. Hearing a chick yell "hard on!" is probably pretty funny, no matter what the situation. Oh well. Hopefully they all forgot within about 5 minutes.

Things that make you go.. "goalies"

I bring you two amusing (to me, anyway) tidbits from the weekend.

When I told this first story to a friend, she informed me that it was "total goalie logic". I thought it made perfect sense. Go figure...

My husband and I played in a pickup game this weekend, and apparently my husband was chatting with the other goalie in the locker room as they were getting ready. When we all hit the ice, the goalie came over to my husband and I to introduce himself to me. His attire made more of an impression on me than his name however (which I already have forgotten). I said hello and introduced myself, and couldn't help but point at the logo on his Flyers jersey and say "Sorry, but I don't like that". He said simply "That's ok, either do I". I felt like the challenging goalie in the ad with Ryan Miller, trading "yo momma" insults and not having a clue what to say in response to a sudden outburst of Mandarin. I thought maybe he was referring to my jersey, saying he didn't like mine either... but since its the one from the Russian Superleague that hardly made sense. My husband jumped in and helped out "He's a Ranger fan too," he explained. So naturally, I asked the other goalie why in the world if he's a Ranger fan, would he be wearing a Flyers jersey. The answer was quite simple.

"Nobody likes the Flyers," he said, shrugging. "So I figure they'll all just shoot at my chest."

Hard to argue with that logic.

And Story #2...

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was quite early to my lesson at the fake ice place. While I sat and waited I had fun observing the banter back and forth between the goalies, the hired guns, and the coach. At one point, Coach picked up the spare stick of the goalie currently taking shots in the net (I guess he'd brought two), and held it in his hand to feel the weight of it, since it was a composite stick. (Composite goal sticks aren't all that common, I don't think). Immediately, I heard a barked command issued from behind the mask of the kid in the net. "Hey! Don't touch that, put it down!" Now, it was a pretty laid-back atmosphere in there, but I was still pretty surprised to hear this kid yell at the coach like that. I looked over at him, to see what his reaction was, and he just laughed and said to me "He's pretty superstitious about his sticks". Naturally, he smirked and held onto the stick for a bit longer, because there was nothing the kid could do about it, as he was busy being peppered with shots.

Actually now that I think about it, this does not bode well for me. It just so happened that I ran into my coach when at the rink for the aforementioned pickup game. (He was there coaching his team on the other ice surface). After the game, my husband and I and a few other guys sat around outside enjoying a beverage and comraderie, which included some good natured ribbing of "Johnson", which didn't last long because he wasn't there to defend himself. My coach's game ended not long after ours, and he joined us for a bit. My husband, never having met my coach before that night, decided to inform him that I had come home from my lesson and complained that he hadn't worked me hard enough. I was mortified throughout the lively banter that followed, during which my coach observed that he'd have to have college guys come shoot on me, instead of the high school kids he'd had there that day. While I'm sure my coach was aware that my husband was just causing trouble, I also don't think I've heard the last of this. It's a good thing I don't have any hockey planned for the day or so after my next lesson. In fact, my plans are going to involve not much more than sitting around on a friend's couch drinking Guinness in honor of the venerable St. Patrick. Sounds like a good recovery plan to me.

Fake ice ???

After giving it a lot of thought, I decided that my brutal schedule might not be helping my immune system all that much. I figured having lessons before dawn on a Monday morning, then rushing off to work, then coming home and trying to rest, and then being back at the rink 15 hours later for a game was probably a bit much. So, I decided to see what other times my coach had available, and it turned out none of them that were at the rink would work for me. However, he does also give lessons at a synthetic ice training facility, and had an open slot for today (and hopefully future Saturdays). I've known about this place, but had been wary about the whole synthetic ice concept.

I decided to give it a shot (so to speak ha ha), and went over there today. It was very interesting. When I got there, he was in the front office, and brought me around back and gave me the 'grand tour'. "Here's the bathroom for getting changed, here you put your gear on" (he indicated a row of chairs against the wall) "and here-" (waved his hand at a goalie taking shots in a net) "is where goalies do goalie stuff." I was there pretty early because I hadn't been sure how to get there, so I got halfway geared up and sat and watched the goalies going through drills. (There were two goalies; they switched on and off.) It was somewhat like the indoor roller surface I used to play on, but smoother and denser. He'd warned me ahead of time that it was slower, and you need to push a lot harder to move, but still when I set foot on it I almost fell right on my butt. Since I was there early, I was able to skate around a bit to try to familiarize myself with the surface while he was off talking with the last goalie's mom.

It was a little different than the ice lessons (surface aside), because he had a few kids working for him, firing shots and jumping on rebounds while he watched and adjusted things and gave suggestions, etc. This also made for a more tiring workout, because the shots came pretty quickly. Because I was the only goalie there at that time slot, there was no one for me to switch off with, so I had a few 5-minute breaks. It was during one of those breaks that we talked a little bit about the surface, and I told him about my last game, when I had wasted a fraction of a second thinking "Oh! I'm supposed to do this here to make this save!" and by then I didn't have time to do anything and the puck was behind me. He was encouraged that I was able to analyze what I should have done, and said it was just a matter of repetition to get it to become muscle memory, rather than an actual thought process. I felt good about that.

The lesson itself was pretty good, and though the surface takes some getting used to, I'll definitely go back if I can get a regular spot. There are things you can't do on it, like the brutal skating exercises I love so much ( *sarcasm* ), and a few things I need work on (pushing across laterally while already down, going behind the net to play the puck against the boards), but everything else is pretty much the same. It's not like there isn't a whole bunch of other stuff I can work on, on that surface. I think I might request an ice session now and then to work on those other things, but for now, this will probably work out really well.