Goaldiggers vs. Draggons - 2011-07-26

I missed a Goaldiggers game simply by disorganization on my part. I forgot to write it down on my calendar. I hit the ice and I just didn't feel too much energy. I don't know why. I was sure to get plenty of sleep, I had a great lunch and a light dinner, but still I felt no jump in my game. As a result, I feel I wasn't that noticeable out there. That isn't necessarily a bad thing though.

I had done a decent job of getting the puck out of our own zone and into the neutral zone. What I did do well was work along the boards. I was able to work hard against the boards, and not give up any pucks easy. I didn't win every battle, but I'm not going to.

At the end of the first, I was just tired as hell. It was not acceptable in my book. It shows that I was unprepared for the game. As a result, the next shift I was able to take, I tried to fore check as hard as I could. When I do that, I force bad passes, generate scoring chances, and just generate a little bit of momentum. I was able to not only make the defensemen make a bad pass, but able to intercept it, and control it for a moment. While we didn't generate a scoring chance off it, it helped not only me to get going, but it helped the team as well. A couple of good shifts by our line and we started to play just a little bit better.

As the game went on, I realized that I wasn't covering the point very well. I kept coming down too low to help which is a habit I've been picking up. One of their stronger skaters tried to skate around their zone and just go around me like I was a pylon. It honestly surprised me off that he wouldn't respect me enough to protect the puck better. As a result, I worked extra hard to make his shift more difficult. As he tried to dangle around me, I knocked the puck out of the zone. He didn't like that and became frustrated with himself, as evident by him banging his stick against the glass. This put a big smile on my face. He still got to the puck in the neutral zone before me, but I didn't let up. He continued to skate around, and I stayed on him hard. It ended up getting clogged up by the boards on the opposite side, my work was done.

Overall, I played a solid defensive game. I had maybe one or two opportunities on offense. If anything needed to change, it is my mentality and preparation going into the game. Games during the week are tough because of work, but that is no excuse. I need to get into a pattern to come out flying with energy.

No one on the ice had a whole lot of energy. The Goaldiggers' bench was a little short, and the ice was very slow. We still played a solid team game, despite not getting a whole lot of shots. We won the game 1-0, and that is our first shut out that I know of.

Scrimmage 3 on 3 - 2011-07-24

Sunday afternoon 3 on 3. Good fun. I knew a few of the guys playing, but there were 3 that were being evaluated for HNA. As a result, there were times where I'd play very hard against them, and other times where I'd let them show their skills. What amazed me was because of that, I wasn't playing hard the whole time, and I still felt tired.

I tried to stay back and let the guys on my team play offense for the most part. Even sitting back, I could contribute offensively because we were on studio ice. The puck would get thrown out, I'd chase it down, couldn't see any good passes, but I could see the goalie, so I practiced my slap shot a few times. It has improved greatly just from a little practice in the past few weeks.

The goalies said that I was taking the puck in front of my own net a lot, which is uncharacteristic of me when I do play defense. I'm almost always throwing it off the boards and out. But on a small rink, that option may not always be there. Three feet to the left may be fine on a standard rink, but with studio ice, you've got no room. Maybe I was trying to work on my stick handling in traffic? I know there were a couple of times that I made uncharacteristic moves to practice.

I was tired when done, and I think I helped the evaluation of a few players. There was times I'd go at them really hard, and others where I let them go to show skill. I worked on my shot, and I just had some fun.

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.

Goaldiggers Game - 2011-07-17

I got into the locker room and noticed right away that everyone was fired up. I wasn't surprised. I cannot think of anyone who didn't know someone who was sitting watching the game. Summer time, early Sunday game, no rain, and a barbeque after the game will do that. I even had my sister and brother in law watching.

Right from the get go, everyone was skating hard. We scored 30 seconds into the game. My own first shift was a very good one for me. I had gotten a few good chances in the crease, and was able to outwork a couple of opponents along the boards. The entire night, everyone on our team was determined to help the team get the win. A couple of dumb mistakes would cause us to give up a few chances, but we kept playing. I was pleased with how I was playing. I was not panicking with the puck, I was making good choices.

I could have stayed on my point a little better, but not doing so did help us draw a penalty. As I was going below the dot, trying to tie up the skater's stick he would lift my stick and eventually grab it. Once he no longer had the puck, and I tried to get back up high but he grabbed my stick. Luckily the ref saw it and called the penalty.

The worst feeling though was when our d-man was bringing the puck up through the neutral zone and I just couldn't get out of his way. That was really frustrating to me. What's worse was that it directly caused a goal against. The team though kept playing extremely well. We'd go back and forth for a little bit.

I was able to read into the play a little bit and got myself set up for a nice breakaway. Unfortunately, their quickest skater was able to disrupt the shot before I could get it off. The fact that I was able to recognize that I had the opportunity to create that chance though made me very pleased. We'd then score a goal in close that would tie the game. I would try and keep up some speed through the neutral zone. I was able to catch the pass and have an odd man rush. I'd take my shot as hard as I could and it snuck past to give us another quick goal and the lead. I know I didn't get all of it, but I thought it had been a decent shot for me at least. Even if it wasn't, I'll take it. Sometimes the ones that should go in don't, and the ones that should go in do. Hopefully it evens out in the end.

Through the entire game we said just get shots. I try and do that every game. When I don't, I lose opportunities, and just get frustrated. I always try and put the puck into key areas. Being able to skate with the puck a few seconds more is making a huge difference for me.

The two quick goals our team scored brought a big boost to us, and really deflated the other team. While on the forecheck, I was able to break up a pass and my center was able to come down, pick up the puck and get a solid shot on goal.

We'd end up getting the winning goal with about 90 seconds left. It was an exciting finish. From my angle, the guy who would end up scoring the goal from about 7 feet from the net, took his time and was able to just put it past the goalie in an incredible display of patience. To see our bench get excited, as well as hear our family and friends cheer just added to the victory.

I Will Enjoy It

I've got a ton of things I want to write about right now. I've got a game write up, training plan, plans for the blog itself, comments about my teams and I'm sure other things but I want to talk quickly about how this game has impacted my life - both good and bad.

I have no doubt in my mind that if I didn't play hockey, I'd be further along in my career. The time I spend playing, practicing, doing research and anything else could easily be spent becoming a better programmer. The stress of driving through snow, out of state, in rain storms, after midnight all adds up. It just drains you quickly. I've been injured here and there because of the game, and I carry the scars wherever I go.

But like anything, when things are going well, it is easy to do. I have been on more losing teams than winning since I started playing inline less than five years ago. Losses add up and it weighs on you. Mistakes eat away you and will drive you insane.

But when things go right, it is outstanding. You're healthy, the team is playing well, everyone gets along on and away from the ice and you're winning games. That's where I am right now. I've always said you don't appreciate things until you realize how much worse they can be, and I know about problems in the locker room, losing teams, not playing well as an individual and so on. So when things click, you can appreciate the friends you've made, the experiences you've created, the victories and the celebrations. I will enjoy it.

Piranhas vs. Maroons 2011-07-14

It has been a long time since I've had a smile this big on my face. The Piranhas won tonight, breaking their +20 game winless streak but that isn't why I'm smiling. I'm not smiling because I played well. I'm not smiling because of the events after the game. I'm smiling simply because I'm having fun.

The Piranhas were playing a new team, the Maroons. No one knew much about them, their talent level, where they came from and so on. The league put them against us as a measuring stick from what they saw. The league believed that they should be in our division. During warm ups, a few of us just studied them and didn't see anything alarming. No standout players, no players glaringly weaker than the others.

We scored 28 seconds into the game, and continued generating chances in the first. It really felt like I should skate all over these guys. I was faster, I was stronger on my skates. Their defense had weaker skaters which I'm not a fan of. But because of this I was able to help the defensemen out a little bit and come lower. I'm not sure if that was a good idea. I was playing the right side tonight, so as the puck is going along the runner, I have to turn and try and stop it with my backhand. More than once did I stop it pick it up, and drop it. But that's what I need to work on. I had many opportunities along the boards to work for pucks, and skate with it.

At one point when I was working along the boards, I got checked fairly well. The hit felt like an eternity, as did the fall. The guy was playing the puck, it was accidental and he just wasn't a strong skater. I think we got tangled up, so I tried my best to push off from the boards to get away from the guy and get back to the other end. This makes the hit look worse than it really is, but there is no question that it left a mark.

I am pleased with my offensive performance. I had three great passes. The problem is when I make these great passes, no one is ready for them, so are they really that great? The first period, I had a great pass to a guy standing in the slot. I had two opponents skating right at me and I was able to put it right on his stick. The puck hit his stick and knocked his stick around, meaning he wasn't really looking for the pass which is a shame because he was five feet in front of the net. In the second period. I had a pass from below the goal line to right to the center. He caught it, but couldn't put it past the goalie. In the third, I had a backhander off the faceoff to the center as he was cutting right to the net. As he was cutting from the dot to the crease, he picked it up and put it right into his glove. But a common theme is that I carry the puck as fast as I can, and don't cut to the middle, putting me behind the goal line frequently. I need to start pulling up to get the pressure off, cut to the middle, or do something other than go into the corner. We'll figure it out.

Defensively, I did a fair job at getting the puck out, but there were times where I didn't. I would do a poor job. I think this happened for a few reasons. A big one was I was at the end of a long shift, and tired. I didn't feel the need to just blindly move the puck like I usually do. Another time I waited too long for the center to come out and pass to him which caused a turnover.

After the game, needless to say the Piranhas were happy with their 3-1 victory. But the Immortals, my last team, had the game after us. I hadn't seen them in a while, so I sat and talked to a few of them as they were hitting the ice, and then watched a period of their game. Afterward, I stayed in the parking lot and stayed there for a while. After their game, the Immortals came out and I talked to them for a while.

It made me realize how much life has changed since I last played with them. I'm healthy as ever and that is a huge part of it. When you aren't feeling well, depressed and so on, it just weighs on you. I finished school, and I've improved my play so much. I've put on weight, I eat better, and I've got a better job. Life is just a higher quality now. I am on two great teams to top it off. I enjoy being around both the Goaldiggers and Piranhas.