I expected the Blast to have a short bench based on their roster on
the website and their record but they had a full bench. What was amazing is
they had two guys that were giants. Their reach was outstanding. On a face off I
lined up next to one of them, and I just felt like I didn't belong on the same
rink as them based on size. It reminds me of being 12 years old playing
basketball against guys who already hit puberty.
I had a hard time getting anything going. The Blast are in a
higher division, but that shouldn't be an excuse. I just had no jump in my
step. They were also a lot faster, so
when I was skating as fast as I could, I had a hard time even staying within a
reasonable distance of their skaters on the back check.
Early on, I had a low quality shot from the wall. It is
something I'm trying to do more because I feel I'm just giving up possession. I
also had a good shot in the slot. The net was half open, but I didn't take my
time and I shot a foot wide. Very frustrating.
There were a ton of penalties this game. Hooking, roughing,
and so on. I had two penalties myself. My first penalty was iffy. I was back
checking and I got my stick around his hands. It was a bad idea to do this, but
where I caught the penalty was that I stopped skating. If I kept moving my feet, it wouldn't have been a
penalty. The second was during a penalty kill. One defense man went in, and I
was racing back to cover the puck carrier. I hooked him fairly well, and got
called for it. I wasn't too happy.
What I did do well is change. I didn't have one shift where
my shift length was too long, or too short. Multiple times, I would pass off to
the center, and then just go for the change - especially in the second period.
It was important because when I was out there I was skating hard.
Sometime in the third, I got some time in the power play. I
picked the puck up somewhere on the half wall, and got it down deep to the
other winger who was in the corner. He had plenty of time, and I turned and
went to the net hard. As he was about to get pressure though, he fed me the
puck, I skated right across and just tapped it in.
Despite having a power play goal I felt my performance was
average. I've been playing extremely well for the Piranhas, so I was due for an
off game, but it is frustrating to me. I want to continue to play well. What is
a big problem for me is I want to move into the Blast's division as an
individual. Tonight, I had a tough time. I'm going to need to get a little
better to get into that division and be an effective player.
The Fish would lose this one 4-9.
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