Saturday, March 03, 2012

SHUT OUT BITCHES!

Well, got me a shutty tonight! We won 4-0, and brought our record to 10-3.
Didn't see that many shots, but did see enough to break a sweat. For some reason, our best dman had something going on with his neck, and consequently had no power in his lower (left) hand on his stick which caused him to give the puck to one of their forwards no more then 10 feet in front of my net. That was a shocker. Usually he launches it or makes a great pass or just ices it, but when he turned it over, i think i sprained my eyes in shock. But i made the save and we continued on.
Two saves really sticking in my mind right now. First one, i made the save with my right pad, since a different dman decided to turn it over right in front of the net, and since i kicked it out with the pad, the forward was crashing the net, as he should have, and got a weak wrister on it, lifting it. Lucky for me, it was going slow, so i reached up with my blocker hand, and knocked it down, and we cleared it. Pretty neat i thought.
Second one, i made a save, dumped it in the corner, and their guy grabbed it and was trying to lift it since for whatever reason, i was on my ass, legs spread (hoping he didn't crush it into the cup) and lucky for me being 6'4, i was able to kick it away with the blade of my skate and take it off his stick.
Overall, its such a fun group to play with and i ain't gonna lie and say i wasn't watching the clock wind down so i could celebrate. I know, its beer league, but i will tell you that i did the Lundqvist celebration and pump my fist once or twice.
On a Hank note, i got my Winter Classic Jersey today, with Lundqvist name and number on it. Its the cream color and all. What a steal for $32 huh? Maybe tomorrow or so I'll post a pic of it.
Gonna be a little while for me to calm down and sleep. LOL
Man, a shut out feels good.

Friday, February 10, 2012

7-1 so far

Pretty happy tonight, sitting here all stinky with unwashed sweat on me, bag still needing unpacked, and its midnight.

Played with my good team, and they lived up to it. They dug me out of a 2-0 hole, and we held on to win 4-3. First goal, was a deflection off of one of their forwards about 10 feet out and not much i could do for it. Second one, yeah, i needed to stop. I KNEW he was going to back hand it, and he did. Right between the pads. The d-man that is our best skater, and probably player, actually yelled at me, and he was right. So i decided that false confidence is better then none and played like it actually mattered. Third one, i lost sight of it behind the net and they got an easy tap in, but the D took the blame on it, but i was flustered. However, shook it off and made some clutch stops to finish it out.

Did take about 4 shots off the cage, and during one frantic scrum, i think i got hit in the cage about 5 times, but i believe only one was the puck, i just couldn't get my damn glove or anything over the puck. I didn't blame the players for slapping at it, just next time i think I'll use my stick more then my damn mask.

So yeah, now we are 7-1, and i hope it continues. Its actually a lot of fun.

Friday, February 03, 2012

Double header

So played with my bad team tonight, and they lived up to that name. One ejected, one with a 5 minute major, and several other penalties. (All on us) I figured if they threw down, and started a brawl, i would skate off the ice and be done with it. It gets so frustrating. However, i did make a sexy glove save on the other teams better skater. He had me beat, got me leaning to my right, and tried to go high glove side. Felt a little like Rinne when i snatched it out of the air. I had a pretty decent game, didn't feel completely abandoned as much as usual, but i also know that we aren't going to win a game this year and I'm ok with that.

As we were getting undressed in the locker room and killing some more beers, i had a feeling i was going to get asked to play for the next game and sure enough, i had just taken off my leg pads and someone came in and asked me if i would fill in. I said sure, killed my beer and put it all back on, got called a "slut" by my own team (since i was willing to play for anyone) and drug my bag over to their locker room. I hate games being cancelled due to no goalie, and since it was in my own league, figured why not. Whats the worst that can happen? I lose? Plus, my buddy was in net in the other end and they are a really fun team. I was a mad man in the net this time, since i knew the team would actually clear rebounds, not do a complete line change all at once as the puck comes at me, etc... We went up 5-2, and then i gave up 3 crappy ones that pissed me off. Ya know, the ones where you're battling and then you see the puck so you TRY to seal the post, but you re laying down, and they bank it in off your shoulder? yeah, 3 of those. ARGH!! But, i think i lost 10 pounds, and had a great time. Even stopped another damn penalty shot. Well, he missed the net wide to the right but i like to think he couldn't see anything worth shooting at and decided to just shoot. :) So that makes me 3 for 3 on penalty shots this year.

Bad note, i broke a clip on the left leg pad. Well, someone did. My pads have the plastic clips on the top two straps that hold the top portion of the pad, and now i will have to take it in and get it fixed. Good thing i am done for a week.

My beer is gone, i need a shower, and its almost 230 in the morning, but the adrenalin rush is so nice.

OH! before i forget, if you read USA Hockey magazine, the volunteer of the month, Sue from Alaska, she was the ref for both my games, so that was cool, and shes a hottie...LOL

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

A loss, finally

Well, it happened. We lost tonight. 4-2. I missed playing the team that beat us last week as my other team (the very first team that asked me to stay on full time in net, so loyalty ya know...) played at the exact same time.
We were missing half our bench, which of course included the best couple players we have, but overall we did ok. Other then the 2 d-men who like to try and clear our zone by throwing the puck right up the middle and damn near smack onto the tape of ANY other team player who is just lounging there. After one guy did it 5 times in a row which resulted in a goal and some MAF style saves, i told him if he did it again, he was playing goalie next game. He got the point.
But overall, it was a fun game, evidently last time was rather chippy and a penalty fest. This one was much more calm. I did recognize half the other team from a tourney i played in with them, so maybe that helped? Who knows. However, it is a nice feeling being 6-1 overall.

Compared to being 0-2-2 in my other league and last session we went 0-10....i like to think i am not the overall weak spot....

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Holy Cow

Ok, so been about a month. Lots of things to get caught up on. One of the major reasons i haven't posted in so long is currently rolling around on the couch, fussing and making noises like hes gonna wake up.

So, i am currently on "transition leave" which means i am on vacation from work, and on the last day of February, i am out of work. Well, retired from playing army. So i have been looking for work, and wow, things are rough out on the economy. Something i never had to consider really before. So ya know, if ya have any ideas/recommendations/opportunities... :)

been playing for my two teams the last couple weeks. Such complete opposites. With one team (ANCRD) we are undefeated, my GAA is right around 1.25, and we are having a blast. I go into the game with a light mind, full confidence in my team, and knowledge that we should/will win the game.
The other team (Static-X) we lost all 10 games last session, my GAA was like 7, and i look at it as an opportunity as a learning experience.

I have been thinking about the difference in the teams, and i think i may have found out some of it. ANCRD is made up of guys who think about hockey, watch games, try and learn etc. Static-X is a bunch of guys who get together and drink beer, play some hockey and drink more beer. At one point in the last game i noticed 4 of my players were all inside the center face off circle, chasing the puck and covering no one. So yeah, when their d-man slapped it into our zone, it was a 3 on 1, and they scored. Again. Sigh. But, at least i get a helluva workout, have fun, get to think over what i need to work on, improve and such. So there's that. I just have to remember to not take it personal and get too worked up when we get beat 9-1. Yes, that's an average, but what can i expect when we only take 8 shots on goal the whole game?

We may get a win this friday, since i talked to my buddy tony who plays in net for the team we are playing. Evidently his team and their opponent decided to have a bench clearing brawl last week, so his team will be short quite a few players for the next couple weeks. 50 year old men in a beer league brawl. Dammit, why couldn't i have been there to see that? LOL

ok, so ya'll can see (if you haven't seen them on facebook), here are the twins (they are working on their smiles....LOL)

Oh, and its -15 today. Ready for summer and Harley riding....