Piranhas (2-1) vs. Blast

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.

Piranhas vs. Sharks 2011-07-21

The day was hot, the air stunk, I had a bad day at work, and I had to pee the entire game. It wasn't a good mix. The team wasn't really ready for the game either it felt like. No one had any jump or was excited to play it felt like, but I'm wondering if that is just how the Piranhas are even when things go well.

The ice was awful. We played the entire game, and there were spots that were still wet at the end. Everyone had a difficult time skating, and it was just slow out there. At one point, we were lining up for the faceoff, and the guy I was lining up next to came skating over and fell on his own because he hit a hole. The referee looked at me like I tripped him.

For the past month, I've been playing right wing. I've been playing well there, and tonight I wanted to try my luck on the left again, as that's where I usually play. The first few shifts felt like a disaster to me. I wasn't moving my feet, no backchecking, and when I did get a chance to shoot, right into a skater's pads.

The Piranhas did an excellent job of keeping the puck inside their zone, but our forwards just could not get the puck off the boards. When we would, the Sharks would just throw it out. They had two solid skaters who would pick it up and figure in on all of their goals. I was getting frustrated because not only was I not playing well, the team just seemed disinterested. I knew that for me to make an impact, I'd have to work hard and earn a scoring chance. I picked up a rebound on the goal line, with no chance to put it back into the crease or slot. I took my time, and went behind the net. While I was, a defensemen followed me back there. I was faster than him, and I got in front, and used him to lean on, and turn back in front. His stick came up, and I would lean even harder so that the ref could see he was hooking me. I kept moving my feet and pushing into him. The referee saw the hook, his arm went up, and I turned the other way to get away from him and get a little bit more time.

Later on in the game, I'd draw another penalty. The puck came out into the neutral zone to a player going for the change. I knew his style well, knowing he was going to pass to me. I skated hard into the zone, but I felt I had to slow down as there was no pass, and the blue line was coming quick. I thought I had crossed it when I look and there is the puck to my left. I pick it up one handed and before I know it, there is another dman chasing me down. I attempt to lean on him as I drive as hard as I can to the net, using my body to protect the puck. I saw the goalie go down with an opening inbetween his legs. I one handed it in the direction of the gap, and in the process, I got tripped up, and hit the ice. I hear cheering from the bench area, so I wasn't sure if it went in, or the goalie made the save while I crashed into him. I knew it couldn't be goaltender interference as I was tripped, and the arm went up before I made contact with the keeper. But that pass that was made that generated that opportunity was outstanding. I couldn't believe I wasn't offside.

But the game wasn't all great moments. It had a lot of stinkers too. I had multiple opportunities where I shot it right into the defensmen's skates on a scoring chance instead of going around him. I had a shot right in the slot, didn't get enough stick on it, and put it dead into the goalies chest. I had multiple scrambles where I could have put the puck in, but was just out of energy, outworked, or flat out missed the puck. There were a few times where I tried to use my body to stop the puck from leaving their zone, and it just went right through me.

However, the best shift was me on the penalty kill for a little over a minute. I had a significant part on 3 clearing attempts. One, I was just skating in the neutral zone with no pressure. Instinct usually kicks in and tells me to dump it, but when I didn't feel pressured, I held on for a few more seconds to kill time. The best was when I was able to eat up about 10 seconds in our own zone. The puck went into the corner, and the defensmen down. I hustled in, and kept it along the wall for quite a bit working against two other players, while slowly moving it up the boards. I saw the other forward near the blue line, so I would try and lift the stick, and kick it past him. It worked, and it was cleared. After that, I was tired and came off.

We lost 6-2, and although after the game I wasn't happy with my performance, it really wasn't that bad. I'm not going to blame the ice. I'm not going to blame the weather. I did make solid plays, and work hard. I noticed an improvement in that I was able to protect the puck with my body. Just need to work on my focus.

Immortals Game 2010-09-20

I went into this game unfocused to tell you the truth. I showed up later than normal, had to rush to get ready, tape my stick at the rink, and so on. This is something I hate doing. The Immortals have a new goalie. He’s a bit more experienced, and comes out and plays the puck more. It really helped our team use our speed a lot more, and added a lot more flow to the game.

I came out flying. I was breaking up loose plays left and right. It was the second of a back-to-back night, so it didn’t take much to get my legs under me. I only had one sub who isn’t in the best of shape, so I didn’t get too many breaks. However, when we added someone else and it resulted in more sitting for me, that’s when I got tired. At one point I was sitting for a good six minutes (with whistles and stoppages). At that point my heart slowed down, and so did I. It made me play a lot worse.

I felt that night I was better than most anyone else on the ice until I had that long stoppage. At one point I came low, picked up a puck in my own zone. I had one guy pressuring me and I panicked and iced the puck. I was furious at that point. I had no idea what I was doing. Why did I ice it? I could have gone around, passed to the center, banked it off the boards – done so much more than ice it.

At one point we were on the power play. I still have to get better at what to do out there. I was set up along the half boards. I didn’t have a good shot, but I could see the other winger’s stick right there in the crease. With no pressure on me, and no shot, I decided I was going to put it on his stick. I fired it right at his stick and it went past the two d-men, right on his stick but it wasn’t square and popped up on him.

I had one assist off a rebound from my shot, but other than that I didn’t show up on the score sheet.

Immortals Game 2010-09-15

I went into the game in a relaxed mood. I was looking to take it easy, and not be overly aggressive like my last handful of games. It was probably the best ice I’ve been on in a few months, but that could be because it is starting to get less humid out.

Early on I was winded, which is somewhat strange as I had plenty of people rotating on my position. I attribute it to not very many games lately. So I slowed down, played my game. My stick handling and shooting were bad all night I think. I had plenty of chances to just hammer someone down, but with my last handful of performances, it was probably good that I didn’t.

I feel offensively, I played an above average game. I had two assist and a goal. The assist came first. While standing in front of the net, the shooter shot, it deflected off my skate and the other winger was able to pick up the rebound and put it home. The goal was similar. The goalie left a big fat rebound to my left. He sprawled out to cover but I picked it up, took it as far as I could to my right and put it in.

I should have had three goals though. I missed empty nets quite a few times because the goalie came way out and mishandled the puck. I think I made one bad pass. I was patient in the corner, and I saw the center in the slot. I wasn’t pressured at all but I put it through a few defenders sticks, right to my center. Unfortunately, he missed the pass and it went right to the d-man.

We lost 9-4, and I was even for the night. Me on the power play was really bad. I need to learn that two minutes is a very long time and to calm down and relax.

This was a good warm up game for the Goaldiggers game on Sunday, followed by another Immortals game the next Monday. It should make the back to back easier.