Biohazard vs 96ers

I had been playing well for Biohazard for a few weeks. Because of conflicting schedules though, I hadn't been seen the last couple of games. I was excited to get back out there. I started on a line with pretty much the best line mates I could ask for on the team.

In the first period, I seemed to be doing alright, winning a puck battle here and there, but I wasn't involved in the play much. Our defense was a bit more active, so I ended up covering on the blue line quite a bit. I also was the first man back quite a bit, which helped rush the opponents' passes.

All night I struggled on the break out. I tried changing where I should be, coming back a bit, going forward, but the puck would regularly go into a different direction. The times I did gain the puck, I didn't enter the zone the way I would have liked. I had an opportunity for a pass to my winger, but didn't have a strong enough hold on the puck to move it to him. I put a weak shot on net instead.

Most of the interesting things happened later in the game. I had made a great netural zone pass to a player who would carry the puck into the corner and lose possession. I had poke checked it back to my guy, and went to the net. He would fire a shot over my shoulder, and the goalie never saw it because of the screen and his defenseman standing in front of him.

As the game would go on, we were down and making a bit of a come back. I went in on a forecheck, but then tripped - on myself. I fell, the pass was still rushed. Before I could get up, the play was coming back into the offensive zone, and I was offside! I couldn't get back fast enough, which caused the puck carrier to skate across and didn't get a good scoring chance. Bad times.

In the third, I caught a pass in the defensive zone and felt my stick bend a little bit. I looked and it looked ok, So I kept playing. As I was bringing the puck up, I could feel it being unstable. I got to the blue line, dumped the puck into the opposite corner (was supposed to be a pass but ended up being a dump) and just went to the bench. Sure enough, broken stick.

We were down a man, and down by one goal at the end. Again, a defensemen pinched. I saw this, and went a little higher to help cover up high. But we needed the goal! The puck would squirt out, and up to me. At this point, I was exhausted, and needed a change. I took one stride in to see if anything would open but had nothing. I see the other defensmen wide open, knowing he'd have a better angle. I gave him a great pass, saw it slide right onto the tape of his stick. I turned and went for a change. I threw my skate over the board and heard, "Bad change! I looked, and there was a break away going against us." They would score, but I felt responsible for that.

We'd give up one more, but it was a whole lot of bad that night.

Broken Sticks, Holes in pants and more

I like my equipment. The problem is I bought it 8 years ago, when I was 6 inches shorter, and I didn't buy the greatest stuff. I wasn't sure if I would get into hockey, and I wasn't sure what I'd like. Consider this, I bought it, and it took me 5 years to actually start using it. My shin gaurds and elbow pads have been used for inline, but my pants, and shoulder pads were not. My helmet has been replaced, and I've gone through a few pairs of gloves.

I look over some of my equipment and soon I'll be dropping a few bucks to replace it. Last game, I broke a stick, but that is ok as I have a few more left in my closet that I still can use. My pants are starting to fall apart and get holes in them.

Other pieces are showing wear as well, but nothing needs to be replaced immediately. I just hope it all doesn't break down in the same month so it all has to be replaced at once. The nice thing is, I now know what I like, and will spend a few bucks to get better equipment than I did a while back.

Get a similar pattern on your new stick

To me the pattern on your stick is what you're buying. If you don't like it, you're not going to like your stick. So when I got very used to a specific pattern, I didn't want to sway from it. It was the Lemieux pattern by Nike, PM66.

Eventually they phased that pattern out and ended up on the Easton Sakic, which I now enjoy. It's really nice for wrist shots, round on the toe for some good stick handling and resembled the old Lemieux pattern.

I came across a site that will help you find similar blades on different sticks. For example, if I liked the Sakic pattern, but wanted to use a Bauer stick, I could switch to the Naslund pattern which is somewhat similar.

Very cool stuff.

Rbk 6K shaft w/ Easton SE Pro Hybrid Blade

During my injury time, I did some cleaning and I realized that I break a lot of sticks since I started playing more frequently, and I switched to the S7. I also noticed an older shaft I had purchased sometime back that I wanted to try. It is an old RBK 6K shaft with the sharkskin grip. Basically, it is a normal shaft, but with a very textured grip - like sand grains right in the paint. I've never seen anything like it, and that is why I wanted to try it. I've always had an issue with my hand sliding on the stick in ice hockey. In inline, I never had a problem though. I attribute it to the moisture that comes with playing on ice.


I ordered an Easton SE Pro Hybrid Blade, and put it in over the weekend. It is very bottom heavy, as expected with the two piece stick, and putting a hunk of wood in it. I'm ok with that though. I used to play inline with a similar setup, and I really enjoyed it. I'll enjoy the money I'll save too.
I haven't played with it yet, but I plan on trying it out soon. A lot stiffer than the S7, and significantly heavier too.

We'll see how it goes.