Another weekend, another season

I started a new season with the West team this past Saturday night, and so far I'm amazed how much better I've gotten since September. I've been playing in a C2 level league (I'm more a D-level player, I-level when I started) and this is a new I-minor team. We did pretty well, and I was definitely much better than I thought, but perhaps that's not fair to say since this is the beginner level league and I've been playing for eight months, four and a half in C2 league.



We didn't have assigned numbers yet, but I managed to get the number 37. Kevin Smith fans will recognize the reference as one thing, and Monty Python will recognize it as something else. I'm not old, and I'll try not to suck any dick on the way to the ice. There, now the references are out of the way.


It was my first time in anything but I-league scrimmage at the other facility playing as a center, and it wasn't too bad. Even at the other league I'd only been in for one or two shifts as a center. We had one goaltender, four defensemen, and two forward lines. They assembled the first line, and we got our line together. It turned out that I was assigned a girl who had never put on pads before, and a guy who hadn't skated in four years. This left the obvious decision of me playing in the middle and my two cohorts as wings. I asked which side they'd prefer, and neither had a preference. After asking whether my female teammate was left or right handed, I assigned her to right wing to match her handedness, but we changed our mind at the last minute and made her left wing upon determining that it was closer to the bench.


Anyhow, I made a good show of it, despite missing my many shots. Even on four breakaways, countless shots, and an instance of running in circles. I learned that impressive play is not always a mark of skill. On one approach, I lacked a shot, so I looked for a pass but lacked one, so I took it around the net, going through a few guys in the process with fancy-looking puckhandling that really consisted of me losing and regaining the puck rapidly, and upon still lacking a shot or pass, I did it again. Then I just tossed it in the corner to let my winger get some practice. I probably should have shot, but their goal was pretty much clogged with defensemen and out-of-position forwards from both teams. In the end, we did win 4-1.


The officiating was much better than my old facility, as was the ice. The Zamboni was actually in proper repair, which is astounding after my old rink. I was very appreciated by my teammates, and I've now volunteered as a substitute for two other teams at different rinks. Looking forward to more hockey with these guys. This season is going to be a blast.

Two-game streak!

Well, got back from tonight's hockey game, and it was a fun time. Our last late game, started at 2200. We had a surprisingly good turnout, with three lines, four defensemen, and two centers. Contrast this with our previous 2200 start times, where we had six or seven total players and ran it like rat hockey, and it becomes apparent how awesome having twelve guys was. The ice was way better than usual, with the rink having been cut down significantly to the point where we could actually see the lines on the ice. Previously, it was questionable whether there were lines under all that ice in the first place. They're still going to be repainting the ice before long here. This weekend I'm told. It appears that they shaved it down, which is amazing considering how terrible the Zambonis at our rink are. It was cut down to where I remember it being back in August when I bought my skates, though the paint under the ice was definitely worse for wear.

Enter the first period. Us in our grey jerseys, them in their St. Louis Blues bases with their bulldog logo on the front plus one guy in a Flyers jersey and another in a green jersey with some unknown logo. Went out for my first shift playing third line left winger, and immediately got rammed by the guy in the Flyers jersey. No big deal, even though we're a no-checking league, so I get back up and we continue. I get back to the bench and someone asks if it was a little rough out there, and I tell him that the guy in the Flyers jersey seems to want to be Eric Lindros, including the concussions. So we continue for a while longer, and our captain has a rebound bounce off his skate into the goal. Paste the other time being a bunch of whiny little girls here, insisting that he "kicked" the puck into the goal. Anyone who knows the rules of hockey knows that's a crock, and the zebras counted the goal. 1-0 us. A couple minutes later, they tie it up with a junk shot past our usually awesome goalie. No penalties in the first.

Second period gets us up 2-1, and each team gets their only two penalties of the game. Hooking for them, roughing for us. Our gameplay turns into a cluster, and nobody really accomplishes anything in the second. One of our player departs, having taken some personal time off work to come play but not enough time to stay the whole game. The dull blades on one of our centers' skates are obvious, but he's doing a surprisingly good job of making do. He knew they were bad when he got there, but had no time or means to get them sharpened beforehand.

Start the third period. They tie it up with a junk shot 8 seconds into the period, and then less than five minutes later they're leading 4-2 with two goals in 19 seconds during the fourth minute. Our team gets fired up, and a few minutes later we make it 4-3, and another 45 seconds later we're tied 4-4. Enter my line a few minutes later, and after a couple very short plays ending in more faceoffs, we get the puck in the zone. I remember what I've been meaning to try out, and I start screening the goalie. Boy did that make their goalie and one of their defensemen mad. After less than a minute of screening him, we're leading 6-4. We change lines, and after a bit, it's 6-on-5 with the opponents having pulled their goalie for a faceoff on our side of the ice. Ten seconds later, it's 6-5, and eighteen seconds after that, we've won!

Two game streak in a league we've only just entered this season after having previously been in the champions in the league below the one we're in now. It was a rocky start to the season, but we've really grown into this level of play. Now that I've discovered how effective this "screening" stuff is, I really need to do it more.