Goaldiggers - 2011-05-22

I went into the game tonight with a big boost of confidence from yesterday's tournament. I knew it'd be faster paced, and be more wide open, but I was prepared. I left everything the same way as yesterday. I started out playing well. I helped generate a big scoring chance, had a great shot on net from right in the slot, and it felt like I wasn't being moved from inside the slot. Their goalie was big though. He covered up a lot of the lower part of the net, and that is where goals go in at my level.

As always, the Goaldiggers have defensemen who like to jump up in the play, and it was happening more frequently tonight than normal. I'd stay at the blue line when I recognized it and tried to cover for them. With it being 0-0 in the second, they caught me on the blue line and got past me. I back checked as hard as I could and dove to at least make his shot somewhat more difficult. Unfortunately he went down, and it hurt our goalie. The shooter missed on his penalty shot but the damage was done. They scored 3 quick goals, and that just turned the game around. We ended up losing by two goals.

I skated and moved well, but I didn't get as many scoring chances as I would have liked. I made a bonehead play where I just through the puck out of my own zone that is still giving me nightmares. I need to recognize to still just slow down and take my time.

I'm starting to get a cold or something, and I believe it is from not enough rest, or allergies. I'm honestly not sure which. I've skated 3 days in a row, and that usually spells trouble for your health in general. I played 5 times in 5 nights last weekend, so I assume it is just rest. I've got a few days off and will be using them to relax and start to get over whatever it is I have.

Open Hockey 2010-09-09

I’ve been really out of it the past month or so. I haven't skated, I haven't moved, I have only really slept and gone to work. Even my dog gets pissed at me that I'm just laying around. I don't know what it has been, but it isn't a good thing. Despite this, I have been feeling better the last two weeks. Lat night, I went and played rat hockey at cheap rink, nice and close to home.

I had only been on skates once in the last four weeks or so. I was somewhat nervous because the guys were really good, and my last outing wasn't very flattering. I felt well rested and such. My back was slightly sore, but that is normal for me. On warm ups, my shot had nothing. Considering I lost 8 pounds in the last little bit, I sort of expected this.

The ice was good and my skates were almost too sharp. I wasn't sliding as much as I normally would like but I have to live with it. Fore checking was almost useless for me because these guys could make such decent passes. I played D most of the night as well, and that was a wasted cause, simply because the skaters were so fast that I couldn't do much. The sad thing was, I wasn't the worst one there.

Overall, it felt nice to have skates on and play a little with better players. I need to do it more, but first I have to get all of my energy and strength back.