Goaldiggers Game - 2011-09-27

I kind of forgot about this game. I've had some other things going on that has prevented me from focusing a lot of energy on hockey, and that includes my blog. I have played more than a few times since the last post, so let me give you a quick overview of those. I had a good game with the Piranhas that we lost by one to be eliminated from the playoff race. It was also our final game of the season. I had a fair game for the Goaldiggers, but had some difficulties adjusting to the speed since I haven't played with them in two months. I had a good practice with the Coyotes.I had my skates sharpened at 3/8" this time and love it so far. I also took one of my chipped up sticks and painted the bottom black for a variety of reasons.

So as I stated, I didn't think about the game too much until about an hour before I left. I saw their line up, and they had a full bench of guys in my age range, meaning it was going to be a long night. To make it worse we had 8 skaters.

I tried to keep my shifts short, just because I didn't want to get caught if I could prevent it. I think the team did a good job of doing this as well considering we only had 8 skaters. We gave up two bad goals early, but for the most part, we dominated the game. Rarely did the play come into our zone.

One key part for me this game was I didn't panic with the puck. I would pick up the puck, and I took my time. I would look, and if I didn't see anything, I'd carry the puck. This is something I rarely do that I'm quite proud of. The only time I did panic was off of a face off in our own zone. We won the draw, the puck came to me and I just fired it down the ice to get it out of our zone for icing. The exact same thing happened a few seconds later, but instead I carried it.

I tried to keep pressure on the opponents the whole time. During a back check when going to lift the stick of the puck carrier, I missed, and got his skates. He went down, and the penalty was called. No arguments against it. It was a good call.

At one point I found my self playing defense while the d-man pinched. The opposing winger was coming up the middle with the puck, and judging by how he handled himself, I pinched on him. It worked out well. I was able to keep the puck in at the blue line after a good battle. Once I gained control of the puck, I was off balance, and knew pressure was on me. After a quick glance for options, I threw it right at the net through my center's legs as a screen. The goalie stopped it, but it generated a good scoring chance from just inside the blue line.

I also made a great soft pass to my team mate who was rushing up the side boards when entering the zone. I had three guys between me and the slot, saw him coming up with some speed and just softly threw it in front of him, for him to pick up and drive to the net. It generated a scoring chance, so I was happy.

My game was very good tonight, and I cannot think of one real negative part of my game. The Goaldiggers would win 6-2, proving that I cannot judge talent.