In which we play the Suicide Kings. Well, they just so happen to be in first place. Plus they played last year's league champs and won last week, so you can guess how well we fared. When new Mike got our one goal...I felt like we had won the game. They out skated us, out passed us, out positioned us. The only time they ever looked bad is when they collided with each other. Happened a couple of times and we took joy from it. Hey, got to look for the bright spots.
On Sunday I was feeling miserable! I was dizzy and had quite the headache. Migraine I suppose. I didn't think I would be able to play, but after a nap and dinner, all was pretty well. I didn't help anyone out with my playing however. I think I was just intimidated as hell. They are definitely playing at a much higher level than us. That we only allowed 12 points was amazing. We had only 3 shots on goal, so you can tell we had no offense going at all. I felt for our goalie and our defense. They were constantly under attack.
I was at L wing again and hating life. Plus if I ever even got my stick on the puck, it was stolen mere seconds later. They were just that good. The night was topped by my crashing into the glass going for the puck and jamming my left hand ring finger. It is still stiff and sore today. Not much bending going on.
We are now 2-5 with the Blue Thunder, the other Learn to play team, holding at 2-5 as well. So here it is, neither team sucks because there are 2 teams below us. What sucks is that the Bronze league has such a wide range of skill level. Suicide Kings and Mutiny should be playing Silver B, there is no question. Each week we beat ourselves up for nothing, I think, because we are playing against teams who have greater skills.
I couldn't stay for beer, little man to put to bed and all that. I heard that the there was some grumbling.
I would like to say kudos to Ben, our goalie, for really stepping up. He had some magnificent saves and he is the only one who should be pointing a finger and it should go right to the offense...where were you?
Monday, October 24, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Week 5, game 7
In which we play the Foothill Flyers. The team had great excitement leading up to this game as the Flyers did not have a great record and were seen to be a weaker team. I had petitioned Capitan at sticktime with my whining about L wing and found myself switched to R wing :) Bob in accounting had given me some great advice for practicing at home and old Mike and I had taken Stanley to the park and knocked the practice puck around. I was ready. I was nervous, but I was ready.
We ended up scoring first. We were feeling great. Ben looked good. We were keeping the puck in the offense more, all looked good. Then things tied up. It was that way for so long that I worried aloud about going into OT. That was all it took. Suddenly the Flyers were up 2-1. Yikes! It only got worse in the third period when they scored 2 more goals and we ended things 4-1.
All in all, the guys were feeling positive. Ben looked better. We didn't get blown out. I felt like I did a big fat nothing on R wing, so I was kind of disappointed. I'm noticing that I'm not getting close enough to an opponent when I go for the puck. I think part of this has to do with the fact that during a game, I forget how to stop. Really. I have to think about it and then I worry about spacing and that leads me to not come in close enough to really be a threat. Also, my skates were in dire need of a sharpening. I blame them for the fiasco entirely. Now it is up to me to practice before the next game, so I can get used to the new feel of things.
Last night I was shooting the puck against the wall, practicing my wrist shot. My son pointed out that I had made dents in the front door...I thought the sock was good enough protection. Guess not. So I switched to the wall. I was having marginal success, when he said, "Can I try?" I hate boys. One his first swipe, it went halfway up the wall. Mine averages about 12 inches. About good enough to hit the goalie in his leg pads. I sent him directly to bed. No, just kidding! I watched to see if I could do it like him or if it was just beginner luck. Then I sent him to bed.
I texted Capitan to see if I did good enough to stay on R wing. He said, "If you wanted to stay, you should have made the shot". So I guess I'm back to L wing or maybe D. But I think he was just kidding about that. We already have shrunken head on D. No need to have two girls...right? Guess I better practice my backwards skating just in case. Go Hawks!
We ended up scoring first. We were feeling great. Ben looked good. We were keeping the puck in the offense more, all looked good. Then things tied up. It was that way for so long that I worried aloud about going into OT. That was all it took. Suddenly the Flyers were up 2-1. Yikes! It only got worse in the third period when they scored 2 more goals and we ended things 4-1.
All in all, the guys were feeling positive. Ben looked better. We didn't get blown out. I felt like I did a big fat nothing on R wing, so I was kind of disappointed. I'm noticing that I'm not getting close enough to an opponent when I go for the puck. I think part of this has to do with the fact that during a game, I forget how to stop. Really. I have to think about it and then I worry about spacing and that leads me to not come in close enough to really be a threat. Also, my skates were in dire need of a sharpening. I blame them for the fiasco entirely. Now it is up to me to practice before the next game, so I can get used to the new feel of things.
Last night I was shooting the puck against the wall, practicing my wrist shot. My son pointed out that I had made dents in the front door...I thought the sock was good enough protection. Guess not. So I switched to the wall. I was having marginal success, when he said, "Can I try?" I hate boys. One his first swipe, it went halfway up the wall. Mine averages about 12 inches. About good enough to hit the goalie in his leg pads. I sent him directly to bed. No, just kidding! I watched to see if I could do it like him or if it was just beginner luck. Then I sent him to bed.
I texted Capitan to see if I did good enough to stay on R wing. He said, "If you wanted to stay, you should have made the shot". So I guess I'm back to L wing or maybe D. But I think he was just kidding about that. We already have shrunken head on D. No need to have two girls...right? Guess I better practice my backwards skating just in case. Go Hawks!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Week 4, game 6
Late starting game...9:45. We played against the Mustangs. Spirits were good in the locker room. The Mustangs were sitting in the bottom part of the standings, so we thought that we had a fair chance. Capitan took my advice and put Ricky Bobby at center. Sasha was gone, but we had new Mike for D. I'd like to say that it went well, but things unraveled fast. The offense seemed off. The goalie let past some soft goals. We were a mess. Jim had no patience for Ricky Bobby at center, so he got moved to R wing during the 2nd period. At the end, the score was 12-2. Not good. I had to leave right afterwards to put my little man to bed, so I missed the beer and after talk.
I tried to rally the troops on Tuesday with a call for sticktime. No one replied until Ben, our goalie, suggested Wednesday. The usual characters showed up...me, Capitan, new Mike, and old Mike. I tried to practice passing on my left side, but ended up complaining for part of the time. Now, I hate to whine, because the other girl on the team...hence to be known as shrunken head, because her helmet doesn't fit, complains all the time. She doesn't get enough ice time, other people are out of position, she doesn't like what position she is playing. On and on it goes the entire length of the game. Yeah, it is annoying. The other L wing and I try to ignore it, but after awhile it is like fingernails on the chalkboard. So with that said, I wasn't feeling too hot that I complained about left side. It just feels like I'm trying to throw a football with my left hand the entire time.
I also noticed at sticktime that my wrist shot was looking like hell. Worse than before when it was just bad. I mentioned it to my Bob in accounting and he advised to start with a sock and practice at home. So I did tonight. Then I put a golf ball in the sock. Then a puck in the sock. The sock alone...perfect. Golf ball in sock...pretty damn good. Puck in the sock...needs work. Now I'm feeling really dumb. I could have been doing this since learn to play class. If any hockey player out there are reading and has a great hint about what to do, I would greatly appreciate it. I watch youtube videos. I take advice from team members. Nothing seems to be clicking yet. I don't think that they will let us play the game with a golf ball inside a sock :)
I also have a hard time getting right into the game when it starts. It seems to take me 2 periods to get in the swing of things and the next day, I'm really ready. I think that I've come up with a solution to this problem. At sticktime, sometimes, Capitan will just come up and try to get the puck away from me. I think if I ask him to do this before the game starts, it will help get me in an aggressive mode a little quicker than usual.
I tried to rally the troops on Tuesday with a call for sticktime. No one replied until Ben, our goalie, suggested Wednesday. The usual characters showed up...me, Capitan, new Mike, and old Mike. I tried to practice passing on my left side, but ended up complaining for part of the time. Now, I hate to whine, because the other girl on the team...hence to be known as shrunken head, because her helmet doesn't fit, complains all the time. She doesn't get enough ice time, other people are out of position, she doesn't like what position she is playing. On and on it goes the entire length of the game. Yeah, it is annoying. The other L wing and I try to ignore it, but after awhile it is like fingernails on the chalkboard. So with that said, I wasn't feeling too hot that I complained about left side. It just feels like I'm trying to throw a football with my left hand the entire time.
I also noticed at sticktime that my wrist shot was looking like hell. Worse than before when it was just bad. I mentioned it to my Bob in accounting and he advised to start with a sock and practice at home. So I did tonight. Then I put a golf ball in the sock. Then a puck in the sock. The sock alone...perfect. Golf ball in sock...pretty damn good. Puck in the sock...needs work. Now I'm feeling really dumb. I could have been doing this since learn to play class. If any hockey player out there are reading and has a great hint about what to do, I would greatly appreciate it. I watch youtube videos. I take advice from team members. Nothing seems to be clicking yet. I don't think that they will let us play the game with a golf ball inside a sock :)
I also have a hard time getting right into the game when it starts. It seems to take me 2 periods to get in the swing of things and the next day, I'm really ready. I think that I've come up with a solution to this problem. At sticktime, sometimes, Capitan will just come up and try to get the puck away from me. I think if I ask him to do this before the game starts, it will help get me in an aggressive mode a little quicker than usual.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Gearing up for the next game...
We have had a long week to think about our 2 losses. Different line strategies have been running through my head. How about Ricky Bobby at center and Sasha at wing? Who pairs well with Capitan? and how in the hell do I get over to right wing? Or, how do I learn to compensate and play well at left wing?
I feel like playing left wing is in part my nemesis. I feel like I'm always backwards. If I'm skating forward to attack the goal, and have to pass...backhand. Someone passing to me and I'm catching it...you guessed it...backhand. Yikes! My backhand sucks.
I went to sticktime on Friday am. New Mike and old Mike were there. I worked on...you guessed it, backhand. Throwing the puck to the boards and then recovering the bounce. I also worked on my wrist shot which no matter what I try or how many youtube videos I watch, still looks exactly the same. It gets a height of about 6 inches. Great. All the better to run into the goalie's leg pads with. I tried skating with the puck without looking at it. Practiced recovering a pass along the boards. Left feeling very fair about sticktime. Not great, just fair.
That night Capitan had the great idea for us to go to public skate. He came with his son, I brought mine and old Mike also showed up. It was actually really fun. When I get in a game situation. I forget how to skate. Probably because I still have to think about it. Like when you are learning a language and still translating in your head back and forth. That is my skating. I can go forward fabulously. However, when playing a game, I consistently forget how to stop or that I know how to skate backwards. Forget about switching front and back...not gonna happen.
Right now when I play in a game, I feel like I'm playing chess and only know how to defend. It seems like the other players instinctively know where to go and I'm constantly reacting...slowly I might add...to their positioning. I've been watching a bunch of hockey. NHL is no good, because who plays like that? I mean really? My eyes just glaze over and all I notice is skating back and forth until the horn goes off. But at the rink there are plenty of leagues to watch. I've been watching Silver A & B this week. Between sticktime, public skate and the research, I'm hoping to put it all together into a more confident game tomorrow.
I feel like playing left wing is in part my nemesis. I feel like I'm always backwards. If I'm skating forward to attack the goal, and have to pass...backhand. Someone passing to me and I'm catching it...you guessed it...backhand. Yikes! My backhand sucks.
I went to sticktime on Friday am. New Mike and old Mike were there. I worked on...you guessed it, backhand. Throwing the puck to the boards and then recovering the bounce. I also worked on my wrist shot which no matter what I try or how many youtube videos I watch, still looks exactly the same. It gets a height of about 6 inches. Great. All the better to run into the goalie's leg pads with. I tried skating with the puck without looking at it. Practiced recovering a pass along the boards. Left feeling very fair about sticktime. Not great, just fair.
That night Capitan had the great idea for us to go to public skate. He came with his son, I brought mine and old Mike also showed up. It was actually really fun. When I get in a game situation. I forget how to skate. Probably because I still have to think about it. Like when you are learning a language and still translating in your head back and forth. That is my skating. I can go forward fabulously. However, when playing a game, I consistently forget how to stop or that I know how to skate backwards. Forget about switching front and back...not gonna happen.
Right now when I play in a game, I feel like I'm playing chess and only know how to defend. It seems like the other players instinctively know where to go and I'm constantly reacting...slowly I might add...to their positioning. I've been watching a bunch of hockey. NHL is no good, because who plays like that? I mean really? My eyes just glaze over and all I notice is skating back and forth until the horn goes off. But at the rink there are plenty of leagues to watch. I've been watching Silver A & B this week. Between sticktime, public skate and the research, I'm hoping to put it all together into a more confident game tomorrow.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Week 3, game 5...we face the best
Where to start? When we were still in learn to play, our last 2 classes, Jeff brought in some extra players so that we could scrimmage as a team. Most of these players were from the league championship team the Chupracabras. Allan, from our team works with a handful of guys who are on this team and really wanted to play with them, but we convinced him to stay with us. We also had a young player who wasn't old enough to play with us and his dad is on that team as well. So, we kind of already had ties with these guys. After winning the championship, they staged a mutiny and took the best of their team and merged it with the best of the Alehouse team and became...the Mutiny. So you have a bunch of short and shrimpy guys/girls...hey, did I mention that they have 3 players that are at least 6'5"? I'm not one of the shortest on my team and I'm 5' 7" 1/2. So you have the short and shrimpy team, with the help of Silver league...Jim and Silent Bob against the best of the Bronze league. We also had new Mike's friend for one more game. He didn't let us down...scored 2 goals. We held them tight for 2 periods. In fact at the end of the first it was 1-0 Mutiny. End of the 2nd was 4-1. Then we fell apart in the third period. I'd like to say that I had a bright moment, but really I was just trying to do anything I could and not get killed.
Afterwards there was a lot of drinking and talking and an idea to scrimmage together down in Stockton. One thing we heard over and over again from their players was the respect that they had for us. They thought it would be much easier than it was. For 2 periods they had a worthy opponent and from a team that just came out of learn to play class, well, that was something. After a tough weekend, we left with our heads held high.
Afterwards there was a lot of drinking and talking and an idea to scrimmage together down in Stockton. One thing we heard over and over again from their players was the respect that they had for us. They thought it would be much easier than it was. For 2 periods they had a worthy opponent and from a team that just came out of learn to play class, well, that was something. After a tough weekend, we left with our heads held high.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Week 3, game 4...time to celebrate!!!
Sat at 5pm and we are all really excited, because this will be a good test for the team. We are all in high spirits going into the game. We are missing Jim, but new Mike has a friend, Berg, who plays Silver A and came in to help us out. Our goalie is back, having just flown back from Japan on Friday. Silent Bob is sick, but Capitan somehow convinced him to show up. We are playing the NorCal Crossover B- this team played in the league finals and lost to the Chupracabras 1-0, so they are not scrubs. Blue Thunder played them and won, 1-0 so we are feeling pretty confident about our chances. I was excited, because in the warm up, I shot a goal on our goalie, so I knew something good was going to happen. And it did, for me...not quite so much for the team.
Sometime during the first period, we noticed that things were awry. First, we were losing. Second, we hardly had any shots on goal. We were constantly defending. We ended the first period behind 4-0. They seemed very fast to me. When I noticed where the puck was, someone from their team was already there. They also seemed to know right where to be, position wise. We were struggling, to say the least.
After the first period, new Mike switched positions with Berg, putting him on offense. This leads to the exciting part. I got the puck up by the blue line, swung it right around and across the ice to Berg, who then shot a goal. Assist for Kristin!!! I screamed, because I'm a girl...this is what we do.
I'd like to say that things went better for the rest of the game, but they didn't. The final score was 11-2. Berg got one more goal all by himself, so really, I held up the team as far as scoring went. I realize that I should be more upset about the loss, but I'm not. I have stats now. I feel like a real hockey player.
Sometime during the first period, we noticed that things were awry. First, we were losing. Second, we hardly had any shots on goal. We were constantly defending. We ended the first period behind 4-0. They seemed very fast to me. When I noticed where the puck was, someone from their team was already there. They also seemed to know right where to be, position wise. We were struggling, to say the least.
After the first period, new Mike switched positions with Berg, putting him on offense. This leads to the exciting part. I got the puck up by the blue line, swung it right around and across the ice to Berg, who then shot a goal. Assist for Kristin!!! I screamed, because I'm a girl...this is what we do.
I'd like to say that things went better for the rest of the game, but they didn't. The final score was 11-2. Berg got one more goal all by himself, so really, I held up the team as far as scoring went. I realize that I should be more upset about the loss, but I'm not. I have stats now. I feel like a real hockey player.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
the "grudge match" vs the Blue Thunder- week 1, regular season
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D7Todzvm10&feature=related
I kept the whole "grudge match" thing mostly to myself. Well, I did tell old Mike and we had quite a few laughs thinking about Jeff getting his minions all pumped up for the game. Telling them that they were sure to win this one. And there he was at the game, rooting on his Sunday best. That is until the score got too sad for him to hold his head up anymore. Yep, we won 5-2. It was AWESOME!!! I'd like to say that I did something impressive. I did tie someone's stick up at the face off and Silent Bob slid past us and took that opportunity to score a goal. Again a big thanks to the Blue Thunder for making a video and putting it on youtube.
This was our first game in our official jerseys. The first game we had our class jerseys with black stick tape numbers on the back. Very classy! We decided against frills for cost sake, so we have plain colors with no names or logos. Just numbers. I picked 7 because that is the day of my birthday. I know not much about the NHL or any hockey players or really much about hockey at all. This I do know, it is one hell of a workout. I write this blog in hopes that more women will get involved. Yes, we all picture ourselves as some type of Dorothy Hamill, Kristy Yamaguchi skater, gliding beautifully across the ice. And when I go to public skate, sure, I think about that as I glide past all of the figure skaters. But I have seen some equally beautiful skating from hockey players. There is a girl who plays Silver B...old Mike and I call her the D-girl. Ok, I call her that and Mike goes along with it. She is just fantastic to watch. Such a smooth skater. Afterwards I dreamed that I skated like her. Who knows? Maybe some day.
I kept the whole "grudge match" thing mostly to myself. Well, I did tell old Mike and we had quite a few laughs thinking about Jeff getting his minions all pumped up for the game. Telling them that they were sure to win this one. And there he was at the game, rooting on his Sunday best. That is until the score got too sad for him to hold his head up anymore. Yep, we won 5-2. It was AWESOME!!! I'd like to say that I did something impressive. I did tie someone's stick up at the face off and Silent Bob slid past us and took that opportunity to score a goal. Again a big thanks to the Blue Thunder for making a video and putting it on youtube.
This was our first game in our official jerseys. The first game we had our class jerseys with black stick tape numbers on the back. Very classy! We decided against frills for cost sake, so we have plain colors with no names or logos. Just numbers. I picked 7 because that is the day of my birthday. I know not much about the NHL or any hockey players or really much about hockey at all. This I do know, it is one hell of a workout. I write this blog in hopes that more women will get involved. Yes, we all picture ourselves as some type of Dorothy Hamill, Kristy Yamaguchi skater, gliding beautifully across the ice. And when I go to public skate, sure, I think about that as I glide past all of the figure skaters. But I have seen some equally beautiful skating from hockey players. There is a girl who plays Silver B...old Mike and I call her the D-girl. Ok, I call her that and Mike goes along with it. She is just fantastic to watch. Such a smooth skater. Afterwards I dreamed that I skated like her. Who knows? Maybe some day.
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