Tuesday, February 16, 2010

HNA Practice - 2010-02-16

A few weeks ago I joined the HNA beginner's class. Based on what I had been told about it from friends and people who ran the league, it sounded like a solid step for me. I made the first two weeks, but I then missed two weeks (one for a Goaldiggers game, and then another for my lung).

When I look at the other 40 something players out there, I know they're all at about the same level as me and that really makes me feel better. I am more likely to talk to someone, or just be more outgoing.

Anyway, this week was a practice. It was probably what I should have done before I went into a full game like last night. It was very light paced to my tastes, but enough to really improve. It is clear that I need to improve on my skating. Crossovers are just not coming easy to me. Stopping is still a problem. I'd like to be a faster skater too. We also ran some drills passing to each other and taking shots on the goalie. My favorites were the 2 on 1s where I played defense. But I noticed I knew what to do, but I didn't do it. I think that's a common problem for me, doing what I know I should be doing.

We made three teams, and I volunteered to captain one of them, but someone else had already taken some of the responsibilities. Instead, I became an alternate. I'm looking forward to it. I think forcing myself to be a leader will not only help me be more vocal in games, but to build some confidence and social skills away from the ice which I admit aren't that strong.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Goaldiggers Game - 2010-02-15

It has been almost three weeks since I was on skates because of my lung. It is a real bummer when something like that happens because not only are you not playing, you're getting worse. Your conditioning goes away quickly, your timing is off, and you become really nervous because of it.

I go hard of every shift of every game I play. It is something I like to take pride in. Sometimes I think that I'm going a little bit too hard and I need to let the play come to me and develop. But part of the reason I do do it is conditioning. I know that if I do it multiple times a week, at the end I'll still be strong while others are winded. Today, I was the one who was winded and I didn't like it.

I definitely lost my timing out there. At one point I was wide open in the slot and I was fed a great pass that I completely missed. I think I played below average for me. I was a factor in most shifts though, so that is something to be positive about. There was one shift where I was so winded that I could not get off the ice. The puck came to me and I tried to just ice it but I dropped the puck and gave up another scoring chance. We still won 4-5, and it was the Goaldiggers first ever winning streak. I wasn't there for the first one.

Overall, it was a positive game just because I was back. Three weeks sitting around and doing nothing is bad for you. For me, a few things have gone wrong in my personal life and not being able to focus on hockey for an hour or two a week had really become a problem. Those issues away from the ice can eat away at you when you really cannot do anything about them. However, when you're on the ice, you're not worried about your job, or how you're going to make your next house payment, the health of a family member, or whatever may be on your mind. You're out there only having fun and keeping your head up. What a solid distraction and fun time away from reality.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Injury time

Saturday morning I was painting and BAM It happened. I could feel it but was in denial. My lung had collapsed. I'm not sure what this means in terms of me playing any time soon. I haven't had a chance to fully talk to my doctor.

How do I know what it was? Pneumothorax - it is a condition I've had many times before. Bottom line is that there is a hole in my lung, and it leaks into your chest. Then the air builds up in your chest cavity, build up pressure and it puts it on your lung. I've had it happen several times in the past, and I'll talk more about it some other time. For now, maybe I'll just build up some other posts about me playing, equipment and such.