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Monday 29 December 2014

The quest of the Spengler Cup, and a nice surprise!

Unsurprisingly, ice hockey goes into a xmas recess.  The higher the standard being played, the shorter the break, but it seems that even the NHL enjoys a few days off.  Which is a bugger for those of us who finally get a bit of free time over the xmas holiday from the daily grind - no ice arena to skate on, no team to train with, no games to get psyched up over, and now no televised games from the Northern Hemisphere.

Hence the importance of the Spengler Cup - a short form tournament from the Swiss town of Davos that takes place over the break.  Last year we discovered it by accident on Foxtel.  I'd been looking forward to a few days of late nights watching the teams from Switzerland, Russia, Serbia and the Czech Republic fight it out.  Unfortunately, this year Foxtel isn't showing it.

Not to be deterred I went online to see what I could find in terms of results, gossip or even match replays or highlights.  I found something better...

Online TV!  In particular, this site, with its streaming content of all types of sports from all over the world.  Go to the Sports Tab, click on Ice Hockey, see what your next viewing opportunity will be.  Only, read the warnings first, because there's some nasty little bugs in some of the software needed to open some of the content!  So far, I have watched parts of games from Switzerland, Russia, England, Canada and Finland.

Afterthought - when I told Wayne about this treasure trove of tv he rightly asked the question, isn't this 'piracy' and isn't it 'wrong' to watch it?  I've thought about it a fair bit since then, and decided that my conscience is clean.  My logic is simple, if the games were on regular or pay TV (ala AIHL), I'd watch them there (like I do for AIHL).  If the games were available on a pay site for streaming (ala NHL) I'd pay and watch them there (like I do for NHL).  But they're not, so I can't.

So sue me.

Bauer 160s on a Sunday Afternoon

As predicted, Santa brought me a pair of Bauer Supreme 160 skates.  Pretty exciting, and lots of ooh's and aaah's at the bright tiger yellow waxed laces that one of his elfs had put on them.  Saddest thing was, Xmas being on a Thursday and the Ice Arena being closed then and boxing day and we being out for a late xmas lunch on Saturday and commitments on Saturday night, it was only on Sunday that we'd be able to begin the painful process of breaking them in.

So I picked up B shortly after lunch and we met up with Jess and Craig at the Arena.  It was pretty quiet for a Sunday in terms of numbers.  Which was nice because it let us adults concentrate on the new(ish) skates we each had, and let B get on with doing the ten year old thing with school and hockey friends he bumped into.

Craig and Jess have also put wax laces onto their skates.  Jess seems to have slotted into her new Bauers with little or no pain, and is quite proud of her neon pink laces.  Craig is a bit dubious of his deep red laces and their length, having to retie them every ten or twenty minutes.  He's also suffering a bit from foot pain in his new skates.  I'm not sure if that's a sign that the fit isn't right, or is akin to the pain I felt when wearing my new skates on ice for the first time.  He has a oddly shaped foot but his Vapour skates are relatively rigid compared to a true beginner skate so the jury is still out about the source of discomfort.  As for me and my new Bauers, I'd forgotten how much it hurts to break in a new pair of skates!  And how debilitating it is to one's apparent skills.  At least I know there's a good reason for it and have the incentive to skate my way through the pain for a few hours.

Me and B stayed until stumps for the session, although there were several moments when I was tempted to get off early and relieve my feet from the all round constricting pain that my tightly bound bauers were causing.  However, there were also moments when I could feel the support of the boot while doing simple maneuvers and the 'solidity' of the blade's contact with the ice, so I hung onto these portents of a happy future and kept on going.  It was really nice at the end when I took off the boots and the immediate relief flooded over my feet - with no lasting pains of any description once the boots were off (in this way they're even better than my Vapor inlines, where I have a couple minutes of 'outstep' pain once I remove them).

Only about four more hours of this breaking in process to go.  Hopefully will have it done before season training recommences after new year.

Sunday 21 December 2014

Saturday Skate - early xmas...

I had hoped to go to work on Saturday to do a few things that need doing (unlike many others, xmas season in my trade is a busy one for those of us unfortunate enough to not be on holidays), but was having too nice a day so put it off till Sunday.  Which meant I could accept Jess and Craig's invitation to go skating with them.  So I did.

Probably the quietest Saturday session I've been to in a long time, a couple dozen skaters on the big ice and maybe that on the small.  Good to see Jana and Greg there, had a bit of a yarn with them about the current season while we did laps (they're in the Sharks), also Ben (Rangers) and Mick (Redwings) as I was leaving.  Jess and Craig think I'm part of the 'scene' there, I'm sure, except that all the above are 'outsiders' like me.  I guess we form our own clique in a way, but not in the classic 'rinkie' fashion.

I skated easy, didn't have the knee strapped and didn't wish to take any risks.  Limited myself to a few crossovers each way, a few stops and a lot of transitions both ways.  No pain and only a slight tiredness afterwards.

Craig tried on and picked up his new set of skates, Vapour XR 40s (Bauer).  I think he is only now taking seriously the warnings I gave him regarding the prospective pain that he'll experience as he breaks them in.  Both he and Jess scored some waxed laces for their own skates.

I also spent a bit of time in the Prosports store, trying on a couple sets of skates.  Being happy with my Bauer Supreme One.4s I was keen to try a higher grade in the Supreme line of skates.  Got fitted at the exact midpoint of 8D and 8EE, went for the EE sizing.  My old Bauers are 8R, so the sizing is not entirely consistent between the different models.  Also tried a top line Nexus skate as a control/comparison to the Supreme.

Ended up purchasing a pair of Supreme 160 skates.  A bit pricier than I had originally expected but that's because I'm a model up from the one I'd been thinking about.  No drama, this set has a couple nice features (eg removeable blades, tougher quarter panels to protect the ankles, stiched felt tounge to allow a tighter wrap around the lower shins) that I will appreciate over time.  They took my foot better than the Nexus equivalent (too much loose space in that one), and didn't have the pressure points that I've come to expect from my Vapor inlines.

I only picked them up after they'd had their initial sharpening after the public session had finished, so didn't get a chance to try them out.  Am unlikely to until after xmas, so I'll be wrapping them and putting them under the tree.

Which gives me one or two sessions to enjoy my old veteran skates, complete with their stitching that is coming out and the inner liner that is deteriorating away, and that extreme sense of trusting comfort a person develops with their ice skates over time.

I wonder where they'll end up once I retire them?

Saturday 20 December 2014

Wednesday Skate

Amidst the craziness of my work at this time of year it becomes all the more important to get a bit of ice time in.  I failed to get to training on Tuesday (ended up walking home from town along the Torrens river, a few kilometres of pleasant stroll, didn't leave enough energy considering I am still getting over the viral bug) so made sure I got there on Wednesday.

Went with B, now that he's on school holidays I can keep him out a bit later.  He enjoyed the fact that it was night time, good music, generally better skaters around him.

I just took it pretty easy (as seems to be my wont these days), chatting with other skaters more than anything.  Quite a few hockey players from different teams with whom I was able to swap observations and experiences.  Perhaps most significant was a goalie from our division who'd watched our game on Monday.  Unprompted, she complimented me on playing a good game in D on the night.  She'd noticed quite a bit of the push and shove, and that I'd kept their A Skater to one garbage goal for which there wasn't anything much I could have done. 

Always nice when someone notices.

Tuesday 16 December 2014

Game Day - Knights (3) d Rangers (2) in Shootout

It was a late Monday Night game tonight, our only one for the season and the last before the xmas break.  We won in a shootout, with them getting no shots in and us not having to therefore even take our third shot to secure the two points.  This will keep the Rangers at the bottom of the table, and leave us well in the running for a playoff spot.  We now have a five week break, returning against the Kings on January 18.

We had ten skaters and Tommy in goal.  This was good as it allowed us to run two complete lines and four defencemen (handy, as we have two recovering from strained abductors and I am only now coming out of the direct consequences of a hyperextended knee).

I think Tommy was one of our stars again.  It was pretty hardcore in front of our net at times and he took quite a beating as a consequence.  At the other end of the ice, our forwards functioned pretty well.  Andy scored both regular time goals, Lachy got his first point (an assist), Tom got the only minor penalty in the game.  Jo made a welcome return to our bench, managing the defence side of things.

We scored first, they equalised, second period was tough going for all, and then we went one up again in the early third with them equalising with only a few minutes to go.  They held us out despite our press in the offensive zone for the final couple minutes to force the game to a shootout.

I was on the ice for both of their goals and neither of ours.  I can't recall the first of their goals though I do remember that it was 'abstract' (in that I didn't feel that I had done the wrong thing in the play that led to it).  Their second goal is much more vivid, as it eventuated on the last of a sequence of very tough physical plays in all three zones and in which we had iced the puck twice in succession before we could change lines.  The play itself was one where at least three of their players were around the front of the net at one point.  While Tom and I cleared one each, their sharp skater came in and jammed the puck under our goalie's legs to trickle over the line.  In retrospect, probably nothing we could have done better in front of the goal - EXCEPT maybe have identified the real threat and neutralise him first.  Anyway, it was exhausting, disappointing, and strangely satisfying at the same time.

My game had increased in its physicality.  Several clashes on the board in races to the pucks (won more than I lost), being boarded and hipchecking in return at the next board clash, a game of cat and mouse with their skating forward, keeping him from playing his favourite north-south game with inside position, stick checking and physicality in our races for puck possession.

My immediate post game impression was that I should pass less to a position, and more to the player.  This implies keeping my head up even more than I now am when doing so.  I might feel all self righteous when I pass it to where I should be able to pass it and there's no one there, but that won't stop it going for an icing or otherwise into the opposition's possession as a result.  And in ice hockey, results count far more than intentions.

My skating was pretty good, only going down when knocked down, knee held up the entire game, even my recent viral suffering of the lungs didn't seem to restrict me too much.  My new stick acquainted well for itself.

An enjoyable Monday evening.

GP 9 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 -2 5/3/1

Saturday 13 December 2014

Skating with the Kids from Albury

Wednesday night at the Ice Arena was pretty busy.  It was the annual visit of the three busloads of teenagers from Albury High (from New South Wales).  Lots of these youngsters had never skated before, but they're country kids and keen to try and they had that lust for life that massed teenagers have so they had a hoot.

It was a buzz for me also because I used to work in Albury, and spent my own teen years in a smaller town not far from Albury, so I can relate to them in a direct way.  Indeed, some of them come from towns that I used to play footy against, or compete against in inter-school competitions such as athletics and running.  Sweet memories.

So, me and Jess and Craig joined the other regulars of the arena and spent a couple hours dodging around between the teens and just enjoying their energy.  And when the buses collected their charges and they all left, it was good to give the thumbs up to the late leavers and get down to about a final half hour with the old hands of the rink, in a more playful mood than we usually are at that point.  It's fair to say that everyone who was left was at least a competent skater.

I did a bit of edge work and stopping, quite a lot of time backwards, and concentrated mainly on deepening my knee bend (for the stability more than for the power).

Friday 12 December 2014

Knights Training

On Tuesday night we had the final in-season training for the year.  Again, a pretty decent turn out.  Tommy, Lachy, Mike, Christian, Henry, Andy, Foxy, Baden, Cam and me.  And almost as many from the Bombers, together with two or three senior grade players to act as coach assistants with Justine calling the shots.  A good solid hour.

Started with the traditional horseshoe, but with the additional factor of both corners departing their stations simultaneously, so there were often four skaters going in different directions on the ice at the same time.

Next, a point to point to point drill, with five players in formation passing to each other, skating to the point one had passed it to, skating in for for a goal.

Next, all D's in the centre, forwards in opposing corners, a goalie at each end.  D would pass to the F in front of them who then skated out down their wing and in for a goal.  Meanwhile, another D would be similarly passing to the F in the opposing corner.  While the F's skated down their wings, the D's would swing around behind the centre and try and defend against the opposite F as they skated in.  Hard to do if that was a quick skater.

Then we concentrated on a breakout drill.  This was the core of the session and went for quite a long time.  This was fine because it incorporated a number of aspects of our game into it and gave a lot of battle situations to keep everyone happy.  Essentially, one 'side' had a full lineup of five skaters, the other had two Defenders.  The goal was for the fiver skater team to start with their D passing to a wing on the boards, to centre, to the other wing, into the offensive zone and get a goal.  Their forwards would play low, their D's holding the blue line and looking for a point shot.  As a D, I got a lot of ice time as we had only one extra skater on the rotation and even then they didn't always come out for their shift.  By the end of the drill I was certainly pushing myself.

We concluded the hour with a shootout drill.

I used my new stick for the first time.  Got a couple nice goals with it, including on my first shot (!).  It's lightness certainly an advantage, and it seemed to be a bit more 'zippy'.  The continuous D rehersal in the breakout drill was good for me, put into play many of the skills and tactics have been trying to learn.  Am finding it easier to decide when to chase the puck and when to clear the slot.


Wednesday 10 December 2014

My New Hockey Stick - Easton Stealth RS

After the game on Sunday I popped into the skate shop to get myself a new hockey stick.  I'd actually called in before the game, but there was no one there so I had left it till later and headed off to the change rooms. 

This had all followed a visit to the shop earlier that day with A, and together the two of us checking out the sticks and various other equipments within the store.  I had been looking for a stick with a lighter flex, and not as long as my Vapor had been.  I couldn't find anything that was 'just right' at a reasonable price.  I had been about to leave the racks of sticks and go away and think about it a bit more when A, bless him, seemed to randomly pick one stick that I imagine to him looked just like the dozen or more sticks stacked on either side of it, and say 'what about this one, grandpa?'  So I had a look at it.  It was an Easton Stealth RS with a flex rating of 65.  It was relatively short already, meaning I wouldn't need to cut much off and that therefore the flex wouldn't be pushed too high (a consequence of shortening a stick is that it becomes more rigid).  And it was on special.  It's like the kid knew!

So I went and bought the stick after my game.  It weighs a lot less than my Bauer Vapor, and has a lot more give in it.  Hopefully this will help me a bit in my game, I got the feeling that my Vapor stick is designed for a much bigger and heavier person than me.  And I had had to take inches off of it.

I'll use the RS on the ice, the Vapor for inline, my wooden Easton for street hockey.  The general sturdiness of the Vapor is quite handy in inline, it's taken (and probably given) quite a lot of damage over this year.  The ice is for slickness, and its almost frictionless surface is best suited to the supposedly slightly fragile RS.

Pretty cool.

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Game Day - Predators (2) d Knights (0)

We got shut out in our game against the Predators, the same score as in our first game against them a few weeks ago.  We had nine skaters, they had eleven.  We ran three D and two lines.  Our first line had Foxy and Andy on the wings with Baden in Centre.  Our second line was Dan and Lachy winging for Christian.  Me, Michael and Tom were in D, Tom carrying a bit of an injury and a little more restrained than usual.  Tommy put in a solid game in goals.

Their two goals both happened in the second period.  I was on the ice for both of them, and not too far from the goal.  I think I was stranded in the corner as their sharp skater cut through and around about three of us.  I was struggling to get to her when the shot was unleashed on an undefended goalie and it was 0-1.  For the second goal, I feel as though I was there on my own with three of their players way too close to our goal.  I snarled one up, the shot drifted under our goalie, I was paralysed with indecision about what to do, and one of them reached in and tapped the puck over the line.  I don't hold myself responsible for either goal, but I could have done better both times.

Another bad luck aspect of my game was three times in the final period when I was trying to defend the offensive blue line, keeping my stick on the ice to stop the puck ripping along or near the boards, and three times it bouncing over my attempt to stop it and giving them a chance for a breakout.  That's a bit of bad luck, and not putting my arse on the boards.

Positives were evident also.  I was more active in harassing and shifting them out from the goal front, and even from the central slot zone.  Banked clearances that didn't quite get iced (twice).  Stick checking in the neutral zone.  Pinching once into offence to gain the puck ahead of their breaking centre and launch it into the scrum before goal.  Passes in congested zones that cleared the offensive zone and found either clear ice or a team mate.  And my favourite, defending one of their star skaters as she burst down the wing, chipping and sticking and interfering just enough to force her behind the goals instead of into the slot.  She actually came to me after the game and thanked me for a good game.

Ya gotta love hockey.

GP 8 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 +/-0 4/3/1

Sunday Skate - a growing clan

On Sunday I was again invited to join the growing skating clan down at the Ice Arena.  A, B, J, Jess, Craig, me.  That's half a C grade team in the making!  A was great, at his young age he just needs to see things and it seems he can do them, or at least try.  Amazing.  He grinned for about two hours, and apparently that continued after he went home.

I couldn't skate too hard nor stay too long as I had to get home and get ready for my Knight's game at 5pm.  I did stay for a little while after Jess picked up and put on her new Bauer skates.  Very cool.  Her, me B and A all in our own skates.  Craig is still waiting for his to arrive, apparently something to do with his narrow foot.  Be that as it may, we're a clan with style!

Sunday 7 December 2014

Game Day - Wheelers (5) d Bumpers (0)

The Wheelers had a good win against the Shufflers in the early Div II game last night at North Vikings, Gawler,  We had five skaters, the Bumpers had four.  We had Allun in goal (usually plays Div I),  The bumpers had Nat, their regular goalie.  Half way through the season, we are equal on points with the Rockers but below them on goals-for, therefore sitting sitting in third spot.  We now have the midsummer break, coming back after the Vikings Cup on the Australia Day weekend (Jan 26).  I get my Saturday nights back!

The day started full of good intentions.  Despite my recent muscle tiredness I resolved to go for a shooting session at the primary school.  All kitted up, I set off.  Only to find the oval and netball court spaces being used for some boys' activity and barbeque.  So I kept skating, thinking that if I felt like it still when I got there I could go and get a bit of puck handling in at the O-bahn car park.  Meanwhile, noticing that for once it seemed that every third stride my wheels were snarling up with detrius on the footpath or road surface, I said to myself that I'd better be extra careful with my skating today because it seemed that nothing was easy.  I'd only just had an image of what if I stumbled if a mad dog starts chasing me when I passed a big house with big fence, and big dog with big teeth charging towards me wanting to kill.  Lucky for the fence.  Not being one to ignore fateful warnings continually, I cut my trip short and took an abbreviated loop through the suburb to get home safe.

I got to Gawler on time in the evening.  We had five skaters; the three Pfeiffers, Krystal and myself.  Craig has apparently been shuffled to the Rockers so us five was a full roster.  It was cool to be with them, they are my team.  Was feeling pretty good as we warmed up, knowing that none of us is a slacker.  I started on the opening line.

Within two minutes I'd opened the scoring with an unassisted goal off my one person rush.  I fired it in from thirty feet, hoping to put a bit of pressure on and chase for the rebound if there was one.  Instead, puck found back of net about half way up.  1-0.Our second goal came about four minutes later.  Again, I was near the top of the slot, picked up my own rebound.  Krystal was heading out of the right corner area.  I passed it to her.  She was able to take it in and fire it home.  2-0.

It must have been frustrating to them because they were getting off more shots than us on goal, but we were up.  The next five or so minutes saw them receive two minor penalties.  We didn't score on the power play in either instance.  I was off the rink when we scored our third goal.  It was nice to be able to call out with absolutely no condecension, "Go Girls!" as they celebrated.

I closed off the scoring for the period about three minutes from the end. The play was mainly Merrilyn's as she battled the puck out of the corner and eventually behind the goal, fighting for it all the way before finding a moment of space and passing it to me up in the central slot.  Her pass was tape to tape, giving me the opportunity despite all the bodies in between the goal and me to notice that the goalie had left a gap of a few inches between her pad and the right post.  So that's where I shot the puck and that's where it went in and we were up 4-0 going into the break.

The second half was much more even, if a bit good naturedly brutal at times.  Lots of push and shove with Donna, strong clashes over the puck at face off, lots of stick checking from both sides.  Me and Mal both charged from opposite sides towards a puck on the central boards, neither of us willing to give way, both crashing to the floor in a tangle of limbs and sticks.  I'm leaving due a sore left thigh (corked it) when hear whistle.  Circle back to have the referee say 'sorry but two minutes'.  So I got my second ever penalty for tripping and a nice bruise with which to mark the occasion.  I think the reason I was penalised is that I was leading with my blade on the rink surface, thus contacting his skates in the moment that we collided.  Luck of the draw.  No complaints.  They didn't score on the power play and I needed the rest.

Six minutes after returning to the rink Merrilyn and me combined for another goal, our motions more or less mirroring what they had been before but this time with me passing it from the slot to her near the goal.  5-0.  And thus it remainded till the final siren.

They'd outshot us 33-26.  Allun kept them out of our goal which was good because we let them through a number of times (by being sucked forward and forgetting their lurking player in front of our goal).  In my defence, I think that I generally made sure the D was covered when I was on the floor, but could notice it from the bench when I was off.  Krystal found the pain of being blatantly boarded in the last minute of the first half very painful, and even more so as the foul wasn't called (though it seems everyone in the building except the ref's saw it).

I ended up with a corded thigh (which at least took my mind off of my tightly taped right knee), and sore spots on left knee and bicep and right forearm.  Also, won only maybe 2 of 5 face offs.  Used my speed to stay ahead of them most of the time in races to the puck.  Really enjoy playing with this team now as we have no super stars or ego trippers (although I lead in goals, assists and points I am not apparently playing in a different league to the rest of my team).

And now, a xmas break and the return of my Saturday nights for about six weeks.

Yay!

GP 6 G 7 A 5 Pts 12 +8 2/2/2

Saturday 6 December 2014

Wednesday Skate

Jess and Craig were going to the Ice Arena on Wednesday night and asked me along.  Or, rather, they assumed I'd be going and invited themselves.  Whatever, I ended up going with them.  I probably wouldn't have gone if they hadn't as I felt rather tired in the legs.  Presumably skating nine of the previous eleven days, after several weeks of once or twice a week, had worn them out.

We were there a bit over an hour.  I didn't put myself into any form of overdrive, instead spending a fair amount of time just doing laps and chatting to a couple other hockey players about the season so far.  I probably spent more time skating backwards than forwards, and putting into play several of the navigational aids I'd learned from a video posted by Christian, but beyond that I wasn't at all driving myself hard.

Craig, on the other hand, was working on his hockey stops.  And Jess, skating backwards.  Those two will get there.

When I got home I was a bit buggered.  Nothing however compared to yesterday and today with almost no energy in my legs.  Hopefully it will come back by Saturday night's game at Gawler.

Thursday 4 December 2014

Knights' Training

On Tuesday night was Knights' Training.  Ten of us turned up this time, along with almost that many higher grade players (of whom a couple assisted Justine with coach/mentor duties).  It was a good hour and worth the effort it took to be there (it takes quite a bit for me to be there at that hour on a Tuesday every week).  Last week I wore my 'Koivu' sweater.  This week it was Kovalchuk.

The pacing of these sessions is more deliberate than in the Academy sessions.  In the later there might be as many as twenty individual exercises.  In team training, more like half a dozen.  They are different experiences.  A lot more stress on 'gamelike' situations with the team.

This week, started with a protracted two way horseshoe.  Most of my passes didn't connect, and those that did required some quick thinking skating on the recipient's part.  In retrospect, I was passing too slow.  My shooting was almost all to the right of the net or at the goalie's pads.  Need to look for the corners.

Followed by faceoff drills. This was achieved by having a face off near the goal.  This was repeated again and again, each player rotating through the roles of D in defence and offence, W in both, and C.  Faceoff technique, positioning, movement, and shooting.  There were two assistant coaches with us as we did this, tutoring as required in all these aspects of the game, although Christian had provided initial leadership while the coaches worked with the Div I group.

Next up, a couple shootout shots (where I cheated my way in with the back hand on my second attempt).

Then, a ten or fifteen minute four on four shinny, with that many on each bench.  My lesson came on the final play when Cap'n Tom was bursting around the outside for our goal and I was trying to shield him out.  Our relative size and strength didn't really come into it, it was about positioning and direction.  I managed to hold him out there and keep my stick up to prevent his shot until it seemed we were skating out of the danger zone.  I was starting to feel I had succeeded.  At this point he took an extra step, got around for long enough to whip a shot that the goalie didn't expect, finding the back of the net.  I'd pushed him, but not sufficient.

Reminds me of our game against the sharks when, in the final period, the gun skater is prevented from a useful shot by my presence.  But whereas I slowed up at his lack of success on the shot, he took the extra steps to move beneath me and loop up in front of the net for any rebounds that might come off the goalie should his own errant shot have found its way to another shooter.

In both instances, the lesson for me is to keep shutting my player down regardless of any tactical victories along the way.

The session ended with the God exercise, whereby we did lateral cross steps, drops to the ice and getting up again, at a fair pace for three minutes.  For me the crunch moment came about two minutes into it when I felt like giving up (but didn't).  Several had stopped before the end.  Not me.  Though I feel it today!

Wednesday 3 December 2014

Game Day - Redwings (5) d Knights (1)

On Sunday we were beaten comprehensively by the Redwings.  We had nine skaters, they had twelve.  They scored the first goal 2 minutes into the game.  By the first break they led 4-0.  We were all over the place, not talking, not keeping position properly, not having the crispness in our skating that we can have.  Needless to say our coach was not impressed.

Second period was much better, with Knights finally getting a goal.  For a brief period I felt that we might pull it back together as the sides seemed evenly matched, perhaps even a slight edge to the Knights.  At the second break, Redwings led 4-1.

Final period got very gritty.  I felt that I was being regularly interfered with, little chips at my skates by an oppo stick for example.  I heard later from up in the stands that there was quite a bit of this going on against our team.  They scored a goal somewhere in the period, but that didn't stop my subjective feeling that they were trying to hack us out of the game as well as outscore us. 

It all exploded in the last second of the final period (!) when their jostling of our goalie got under the skin of our captain, who went for their prime offender.  He of course hit back and his mates piled in.  Various other players started pulling the goal line combatants apart, not soon enough however to prevent one of them crashing our captain to the ground.  He of course struck back, unfortunately the malefactor was down on the ice also so this resulted in a major fighting penalty against Jonesey. 

To make it worse, the heckling from their bench took a very nasty turn, resulting in a our coach giving it back in unfortunate terms resulting in a major against her.  My memory, ensuring the gate to our bench was shut so that some of my more fiesty team mates didn't go and get themselves a tribunal appearance by skating out to join the fracas, and my blood almost boiling at the sight of a nazi salute from their bench as I went out for the handshake.  End result of the play, we got 59 minutes of penalties and they got about 8.  Our (temporary) captain and coach are both suspended for next week due their major penalties occurring within the final ten minutes of the game.

Quite exciting.  In the washup, also a good team bonding experience.

On a more mundane level, my best plays of the night involved winning a puck battle from my knees up near the boards, several clearances, and generally keeping their champ skater on the outside on their breakouts.  My failures were perhaps not always looking before passing, not getting my feet moving quick enough when the breakouts threatened, finding myself out of position and too late too often.  All remediable.

I was on the ice for two of their goals and for ours.

GP 7 G 0 A 0 +2 4/2/1

Game Day - Shufflers (6) d Wheelers (3)

On Saturday night we went down to the Shufflers 6-3 in an exhausting game.  We only had four skaters plus our goalie, the Shufflers had five skaters for most of the game plus Nat in the goals.  I won't complain about Nat being their goalie (it's often a case of make do with the goalie situation) but it was a bit of a bitch that of their five skaters, three were 'reserves'.  So, we were outnumbered with fill-ins.  Still, it was a good game and I was proud of my team at the end.

Wayne and Nancy came along to watch and between them caught much of my game on video.


One of the first things I noticed when watching the video was how long some of our shifts were.  For example, my first shift is over five minutes long!  That's the price paid on a short roster.  The other thing to notice is how, even in the first half, the game was quite gritty.  I'm busy trying to take position, poke checking, harassing their star forward in the shot, clearing the oppo from the goal crease - all things I'd been drilled in at Knights training on Wednesday.  The best thing about the first half from our team's perspective was probably Tasha's two goals, of which you see the first on the video.  This was her first goal in competitive inline and a special moment for us all.  Pity we didn't back it up with more than we did.  Score line was 3-2 at half time, their way.


The second half was more of the same, only more so.  We scored first, with a resultant sense of 'we can do this' the consequence.  Within a couple minutes, however, they had reinstated their one goal lead and never looked back from there.  Even when Donna was given a minor penalty for slashing, they still managed to score a shorthanded goal.  I remember coming out on the next shift change, thinking that we really need to step it up, 6 goals against is no worse than 5 when it comes down to it, but we need to be more aggressive to have any chance.  It didn't work, even though the game perversely became more fluid as the players grew more exhausted.  Merrilyn gave her all, and the rest of us weren't far behind in the exhaustion stakes by game's end.  Result, Shufflers 6 Wheelers 3.

About nine minutes into the video of the second half is a sequence of play which was fairly typical, starting with me putting a breaking shot towards the goal, battling for but losing the puck on the backboards before regaining possession and a play culminating with Merrilyn putting one on net.  We might have only had 16 shots ON net in the game (compared to their official tally of 25), but we put a lot of shots AT the net, many of them pretty high quality in every way except accuracy.  I guess some nights are like that!

The scariest moment was in my second shift in the first half when I went down and the knee went sore on me.  You can see how I hobbled off on the video.

The thing I'll most remember about the game, though, was its intensely competitive nature.  Harassing their players in the slot or crease, stick checking, board play (where I need to lead with my leg/body instead of just my stick), sweeping north south play, utter exhaustion from the long shifts, and for me - the power and confidence behind my newly worked on strong shot.  Now I need to work on the accuracy...

As you'll have seen, I buggered most if not all the faceoffs that I took, did fairly well in my defensive role, didn't protect the puck overly well once I had it though.  The shots were good and strong but generally wide.  I was on the rink for two of our goals and three of theirs.  No points for me on the evening.

GP 5 G 5 A 3 Pts 8 +5 1/2/2

Sunday 30 November 2014

Saturday midday family skate

Young A (5 y.o.) has got his own ice skates now and was very keen to try them out, Saturday was the first chance to do so.  So a bunch of us went there to share the excitement.  A's cousin, B (10 y.o), was there by popular demand, being the other one of A's generation who has got the ice bug bad.  Then there was me, Jess and Craig on the ice.  And Nan came along for the ride and to watch from the barrier.

We had a ball.  We were there a bit over an hour and a half and it was really good to spend time with A on his new skates.  He started taking tiny unassisted steps on the ice, by the end of the session he'd gone through using a sled and was back to unassisted steps.  Except that now they looked a lot more confident and one could see the beginnings of a stride happening.  He looked very pleased with himself afterwards, if a bit tired, which is what it's all about.

Craig and Jess and B had a fair bit of fun with A, and amongst themselves.  Most fun was watching B and Craig racing each other, and B showing Craig how to do hockey stops (and in doing so, demonstrating that my patient example-setting of back and forth stops on alternating feet has had its impact because that was exactly what he did with Craig to show him what to do).  B even raced me for a lap, and held it together quite well for the first half before losing it on the crossovers and apparently having a good stack (which I didn't see).

As for me, I didn't push anything too hard as I had a hockey game that evening and another the next day and knew I'd need to conserve my energy for that.  It was great fun though, playing the patriarch of this growing skating clan!

At the end of it all I learned that both Jess and Craig have now ordered themselves their own skates (Bauer Supremes) and they should be there in a week.  I can see Craig moving into Ice Academy in first term next year.  Jess denies she will, but would be pretty good if she did and I'd put money on her joining the family pursuit at around the same time.

Finally, Jess located a bargain deal for Ice Arena tickets recently, which gets us on the ice for about half price.  Yay Jess!



Friday Shoot

I'm dropping behind in trying to keep up with events in this skating life so will probably keep things short until back in 'real time'.

Following my revelation on Thursday evening that I'll have to step up a bit on the D (because the Knights were going to be down two of our best D's on Sunday) I decided to concentrate entirely on shooting with some power.  So I did.

One hundred shots from the 30' line, 5 hit the pole.
One hundred shots from between 60' and 90', 4 hit the pole.
25 forehand shots from 15', 5 hit the pole.

My hard hits from distance weren't real slapshots, where the stick hits the floor surface an inch or two behind the puck to generate additional whipping 'flex' energy in the shot, but full blooded strikes on the puck from a backswing.  I was reasonably happy with the accuracy, was starting to get the weight transfer happening by the last half of the session.

All in all, worth the effort and will repeat.

Friday 28 November 2014

(Late) Game Day - Knights (4) d Flyers (0)

On Sunday we played the Flyers for the second time of three this season.  For the second time we shut them out.  These have been their only defeats.  We're now second on the ladder, (ironically behind the Flyers), ahead of the Redwings on goal differential.  We play the Redwings this Sunday.

Again, I was fortunate enough to have a friend in the stands with a phone/camera and have put the three periods worth of highlights up on Youtube.  Thanks Lizardking!


Both teams started with eleven skaters and their regular goalies.  We lost Cam part way through the first period due strained abductor muscle, which meant we then were rotating through 3 D for the rest of the game.  However, Cam was involved in our first goal with an assist, so at least he got on the board.  The video shows our goalie having trouble with his straps.  It doesn't show one of our players being called for not having a chin strap on his helmet.  He was able to play out the game, but will have to have things fixed by the next game.  We went into first intermission with a 1-0 lead.


The second period was gritty.  Neither team scored in this period, still 1-0 after the second.


Final period saw a bit of blitz, with three goals going into their net.  We managed to keep them out of ours.  Tommy was shining in goal.  With about a minute to go I was back in our zone and followed one of their wingers into the slot, thinking there's no way that I'm going to let them steal Tommy's shutout.  So I gave her an opportune shove to clear the net.  Had done so also in the second at one point, realised I'll have to work on this aspect of my game a bit (which we subsequently did in training).  It was great to celebrate the win as a team and to have given Tommy his first shutout.

*

I was reasonably satisfied with my game, although lots of room for improvement.  I think I had two hopeless shots towards goal, one being a backhand snap.  Both got snarled up in front of the net.  New aspects were my aforementioned clearing of the netfront, a couple times battling on the boards to hold the puck there, and a slightly more forward defence when trying to contain their breakouts.  Several times I successfully used an active stick to disrupt a speeding forward's shot entirely, or at least hasten it before they were properly set.

My weakest points was being a bit late on the turn around to cover their breaking forwards, and several failures to block a contested puck.  Also, not taking that extra second to look before making a clearing pass (or, indeed, after capturing the puck before it could leave their zone and passing it back in).

Overall, our team rocked, with continual searching for the shot and plenty of communication.  I heard from the stands that we looked like a hockey team more than ever before, rather than a bunch of players.  From their goalie, that we were the most aggressive team he's yet faced this season (and he's now faced them all).  And, to me personally by a stranger spectator, that I seemed to have the opposition's playbook because I seemed to be always in the way.  Which was a great compliment for this budding defender!  Of the goals caught on video, I was on for two of them, and had literally just stepped on the ice when another went in.  Which is +3 for the game!

This coming Sunday, schedule has changed so we will be playing the Redwings at 5pm.

GP 6 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 +4 4/1/1

Short Shoot

I was going to have a day off of skating yesterday until I reviewed the fact that as a Defenceman in games where we will be playing with one D less than the usual four (due injury to Cam) it is my duty to my team to step up the (blue) line in terms of both conditioning and technique.  Particularly, putting the puck onto the net from the blue line.  So I ended up going for a short shoot down at the primary school (and will do so again tonight and tomorrow morning, and hopefully Sunday morning as well).

Because of time constraints I only had a half hour from the time I left home, which meant that I only had time to get off a few shots before returning.  Still, it was fun while it lasted.  Scored 5/25 skating in from centre to shoot from 30' or more, with the majority of the remainder passing within a couple of inches from my two inch target.

Tonight I'll take a little more time and see if can't increase the power a bit.

Wednesday Skate

I went down the Ice Arena on Wednesday night with Jess and Craig.  It kind of fell together at the last moment so they weren't properly prepared and had to borrow some long sleeved tops of mine so they didn't freeze.  It ended up with the three of us in similar but different hockey sweaters.  Jess made my St Louis Blues jersey look great, Craig was happy to wear a Canucks top, and I wore my CKA St Petersburg one.  So we were all in royal blue.  Looked like quite the trio!

It was busier than the week before, probably at least seven or eight hockey players that I know of doing laps.  I took it fairly easy, not at any stage pushing the envelope in terms of speed.  I did drive myself fairly hard doing lateral moves with reverse crossovers, particularly to the left (ie against the usual anticlockwise flow of social skating sessions).  I was beginning to feel like I was nailing it in the last few minutes, noticed a few of my opposition friends watching me out of the corner of their eyes as I did so.  That gave me more of a sense of affirmation than my own judgement.

Jess and Craig and I are likely to be there again on Saturday in the early afternoon, along with a couple of young ones.  'A' has his first pair of skates and is soooo keen to use them.  How could I say 'no' to the invite?!  This despite having to get up to Gawler for the early inline game in the evening.

Looking forward to it.

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Knights Training

Last night we had Knights training on the small ice.  Initially it looked like only three of us were there, but it filled out to be 4 D and about 6 Forwards from combined Knights and Bombers teams (the Bombers are our related Div I team).

Again, it was a great session, leaving me exhausted but more knowledgeable about my role within the team and a few more specific skills that I hope to put into play this week in our Sunday game against the Kings.  The drills were limited in number, allowing us to develop the insights gained.  I noticed that performance and aptitude increased during each one as a result..

The emphasis shifted more towards game-like situations than it was last week.  We started with the breakout horseshoe from opposing corners (we had two goalies this week).  Then a two-part drill.  In its first iteration, one forward skated backwards from a corner next to the goal, up the board towards centre ice, passing back and forth with the next forward in the corner line a couple of times.  The skating forward then transitioned in a long loop behind the centre line to steam in towards the goal down the other side and receive a third pass before taking a shot.  Meanwhile, the 'passing forward' had moved towards the goal and was trying to screen the goalie while a defender tried to clear them from the crease. D and goalie changed over every five or six plays.

In its second iteration, the screening forward and clearing D remained in front of goal.  This time, however, there were two D's at point.  The F in the corner passed fairly quickly to one, then the other, of the D's who had a shot.  After each play, the D's rotated through the three roles available, and the passing forward moved into the screening forward role.

We then completed a 'God exercise' (where coach indicates with her stick to all the players in a line in front of her which direction (left or right) they are to do crossover steps, or whether they are to get down on the ice or get up to their feet) which is about conditioning and maintaining bent knees.  The session wound up with a few penalty shots (my backhand was the most effective I noticed, but only if I held it till what seemed like the absolute last moment before whipping it in).

The valuable lessons learned for me were when I briefly played a screening forward role, and used my light feet to roll around much stronger defence players (two of the three shots I screened went in) and, most practically considering my present role as a D, how I generally managed to clear the opposition forwards by shoving them at opportune moments with my stick grasped in both hands, driving from my blades rather than from my upper body.  By the end of the clearance drills I was generally leaving my goalie with an unobstructed view of the shot (whereas when I started I was adding to the screening effect as I struggled to mover bigger and stronger players with strength alone).

I dare say we'll be a more aggressive team when we play the Kings than we were on the last occasion.  I suspect we'll need to be.

Sunday 23 November 2014

Midday Skate (and Knights shutout Flyers)

Today, I went for a short river skate at midday to stretch the legs after a rainy day off yesterday.  I did it in the reverse of usual anti-clockwise direction for the express intent of giving me my hardcore hill climb at the end.  I gave myself short five pace sprints along the smooth river path, transitions along the smoothest stretch of quiet side street that I covered, and powered up the hill in less strides than I have in quite a while.  This was followed by a good stretch and a hearty lunch, as game preparation for Knights v Flyers later in the afternoon.

I'll post a 'game day' report later this week, once the videos have been uploaded (thanks Lizardking!) and I have seen the official match card.  For the present, suffice to say that we shutout the Division leader Flyers 4-0.  This was their second loss to us (both shutouts), their only losses this season.  Tommy was on song in the goals, we were playing more like a team than previously, I was on the ice for three of our goals (albeit one when I had literally taken one step onto the ice during a line change when it went in).

Friday 21 November 2014

Game Day - Sharks (4) d Knights (3)

 


The 'high'lights in respect of my game are fairly obvious in the first period.  In my first shift I collide at fairly slow speed with a giant of a Shark, which causes my knee to freak out so I struggle off and sit out the next shift or two while my team mates cover for my knee's recovery.  I return to the ice for the faceoff after our opponents score, only to be present (indeed, in the goal mouth) for their second goal.  I watch our first from the bench, but am in the precedent defensive play to Christian's single handed assault into the O zone and score.  Although it's not caught on the video (which is why I know that not all my shifts are captured) I was banged to the ice a second time in this period, although this time it was by a team mate who'd drifted down into the corner and into what I thought was clear ice as I backed out of a battle in preparation for a rush.  That one hurt my knee far more than the hit with the opponent and I admit I was cursing my team mate as I limped back to the bench.

 

My highlight of the second period was my shot at goal from the point, which resulted in a bit of a scramble over the rebound and our team's third goal.  Again, no points went my way but I certainly (helped) create the situation that ended in our goal, very pleased.  To bring me back to earth, the next play was a goal to them, with me on the ice again. 


The third period was a bit brutal, with them scoring what turned out to be the game winning goal about half way through.  We were able to maintain our sustained assault on their goal for much of the period, with no result.  My best play was to take the pass from one of several final minute face offs and get a nice pass through to Tom in the high slot.  He didn't get a clean one timer, so it came to nothing, but I executed really nicely to capitalise on Christian's win in the draw.  No complaints.

*

If you've watched the above videos you'll know that the game was pretty harsh at times, with quite a bit of roughing going on.  It was also highly enjoyable at the time, though would have been nice to see us capitalise a bit more on our 26 official shots on goal (they only had 13).  As a team, we put it down to a bit of the 'hero' attitude (which caused players to play out of position) and lack of communication.  In other words, we weren't playing as much as a team as we had the week previously.

For me, I did some things well and some things not so.  The positives include my one shot on goal, a few nice passes under pressure, a couple successful races for the puck or to at least disrupt an attack.  My main failing was not successfully committing when pinching forward into the O zone to grab a loose puck (allowing them to get behind me), not being strong enough on the block when trying to stop them raiding up the board a couple times (allowing them to get behind me), and playing too far back to be effective at cutting their options.  All these things can be improved upon.

GP 5 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 +1 3/2/0

Evening Shoot

I skated down to the local school again this evening, gone for just over an hour.  Very peaceful down there, only a couple dog walkers on the oval.  Took the time to put in 25 shots while skating in from 30 feet (I hit my target with six of them).  Then a little bit of tight turning transitions, with and without puck, then my usual 100 shots (8/4/8/3).  I finished up the night with a few short dash sprints before skating home up the hill over the purple carpet of fallen jacaranda petals.

Thursday 20 November 2014

Schoolyard puck

As a means of avoiding doing a core/upper body circuits this evening, I went for an inline skate to the schoolyard with puck'n'stick in hand.  I didn't bog myself down too much with any concentrated drills, instead taking dynamic shots from beyond the thirty foot line at my netball goalpost target.  Most memorably, getting four 'dings' in a row after coming in with transitions on an angle, deking at speed.  I probably only hit it three more times in another twenty shots, but no matter!  Also spent some time on a four cornered tight turn circuit, initially without and then with stick'n'puck.  Only did 25 forehand snaps (7 hits), spent more time just skating.

Trip home worked the quads and glutes quite well up the hill, though judging by the number of strides I still aren't generating full power.  That's six nights in a row with some form of skating!

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Wednesday night social skate

For the fifth day in a row I did some skating.  Tonight, went to the Ice Arena with Craig for a bit over an hour.  Was a smallish crowd there, not too many whom I know personally, maybe it's got something to do with combination of relative heat today, and the fact that all the hockey players are already fitting in games and trainings to their schedule.  I must admit that I probably wouldn't have gone myself, except that Craig was pretty keen.

I stayed on the ice the whole time, with edgework, a helluva lot of backwards crossovers each way, C Cuts, and both tight turns and transitions.  Maybe a dozen drilled hockey stops and a couple hundred metres spent on my toe tips.  I even tried a few three-turns in the centre circle, so my knee is definitely on the improve.

My logic was that ice time is for development of skating techniques, Knights training is for team and positional tactics, schoolyard shooting galleries are for development of hockey specific skills (ie stick and puck), games are for fun and for the compete.

Five days of skating though, takes it out of one, I think I'll go to bed rather than work on my promised Knights v Sharks game day post.

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Knights' Training

 Tonight was a combined training with our coach's two C Grade teams, the Knights from Div II and the Bombers from Div I.  Justine was assisted by Justin (!), a self confessed one time 'enforcer' in A Grade but a good honest hockey player at that, and who has a lot of hockey experience to share.  There wasn't a huge amount of talk talk, it was mainly go go.  Nine Knights showed up.  Skills and role based, beginning with the basics, I found it a very good session.

Big horsehoe, rushing pairs (with and without a defender), a shooting tutorial, backwards blind passing (ie communication!), breakouts of five v 2D.  A good use of an hour.

I particularly enjoyed the times I got to play in the defence role.  Having found myself playing the position this season I have been on a fairly steep learning curve in a positional/skills sense but have had little opportunity except games during which to put it into practice.  A half hour of repeated drills where I got to practice maintaining the gap, active stick, clearing or holding the blue line, covering the pass, watching the chest, clearing the crease and holding the corners, passing up the ice, working with my partner, was excellent!

I'll aim at putting into practice when we play the Flyers on Sunday.

I am still to post a Game Day report about the Knights 3-4 loss to the Sharks on Sunday.  I'm just too busy.  At least I have some video of the game so it's not just a fading blurring memory that I will be relying upon when I come to write it.

Monday 17 November 2014

Hello, Neighborhood!

I went for a short inline skate this evening, just before sunset.  This is the first real street skating I've done in over a month.  It was great to do.  I did it without taping up my knee, despite the slight swellling resulting from last night's battle at the Ice Arena (we lost 4-3 to the Sharks, Gameday report to follow...).

I went for a short river skate.  It was no real surprise to find that my conditioning is way down on what it was a few months ago, although my confidence and crispness have both markedly improved.   It was lovely to skate down streets surrounded by the purple blooming of the jacaranda trees and other assorted spring time scents, the birdsong, magical light of the sinking sun, regular river walkers and runners.

I'd worked up a sweat by the time I skated up the hill to home.  No adverse consequences for the leg, felt my skating muscles finding themselves by the time I got up the drive.  It's good to be back!

Knight's training tomorrow.

Saturday 15 November 2014

Game Day - Rockers (5) d Wheelers (2)

It seemed that the puck gods were against us tonight, though is obviously not the only reason we lost so comprehensively to the Rockers.  We might have had 26 shots on goal to their 13, but we didn't have the cannon who scored all five of their goals.  Weak excuses?  Perhaps, considering we defeated them in the first round of the season, but it seemed we didn't do anything very wrong in our game tonight and it seemed to make no difference.  I guess some nights are like that!

We kept the same lines as we had last week, and everybody had shots on goal.  We all covered defence fairly well.  One of their goals was gotten on the break, one was an unchecked forward in the goal mouth, the rest were slapshots from thirty feet.

Despite the scoreline, I was fairly happy with my defensive game.  I blocked or deflected several shots and more passes, did a couple of stick checks (including one from behind a breaking Rocker, much to his disgust), delayed and forced onto the outside their star attackers on several occasions.  My passing was pretty good, although one was intercepted.  I had four faceoffs and won three.  Crashed into the boards several times, slightly straining my left tricep in an offensive jam in the corner.  I had six shots on goal, all trapped by their young goalie, and went off to the side on three.  None went in.  I set up our first goal, directing Krystal into the net and passing off to Craig who then moved it to her and then in.  I wasn't credited with any points.  I was on for both of our goals and two of theirs.

If anything, we could do a bit more talking amongst ourselves.  Apart from that, one can't complain about having 26 shots as a team.  Will just have to learn to shoot harder!

Tomorrow night, Knights v Sharks at the Ice Arena at 6:15pm.

GP 4 G 5 A 3 Pts 8 +6 1/1/2

Thursday 13 November 2014

Wednesday Skate - full movement!

I went on my own to the Arena for about eighty minutes' skating last night.  It was a good session, not a huge amount a people so there was lots of room to be able to push myself through various large scale maneuvers at speed.  I didn't once push myself into overspeed, but took things to my skill limited maximum velocity for several laps at a time while powerstriding, 'running', forwards and backwards crossover and gliding slaloms across half the ice with each loop, tight forwards and backwards slaloms and heel to heels along the goal lines, transitions both ways along the boards and on bends.  I ended the evening with tight figure eights using outside edges, heel to heels, forwards and backwards crossovers both with and without transitions.  Basically, my essential hockey skating routines without my stick.

No pain.  No limitations out of my right knee.  I intentionally put myself through routines featuring elements that had jammed my leg as recently as one week ago.  This took a bit of fortitude, but the idea was to test out my recovery to see if I am ready for the next phase.  It seems that I am.

Better get to it then...

Monday 10 November 2014

Game Day - Knights (7) d Kings (2)

We played the early game on Sunday afternoon against the Kings at the Ice Arena.  It was our biggest victory to date in terms of score.  We played with ten skaters and Tommy in goal.  The Kings had eight skaters plus goalie.  I found out after the game that the Kings had had their star centre promoted up to First Division (he'd been dominating the ice too much in the five previous games).

We scored our first goal after half a minute, the second was seven minutes later.  In the second period we scored within the first two minutes, and then again five minutes later.  The only penalties were simultaneous slashing and roughing minors given to Aaron for his striking back at their goalie for her constant chipping at our player's feet, and subsequently pushing their D into the boards when that unfortunate skated in to defend his goalie.  On the subsequent penalty kill we scored a short handed goal and they got onto the board with one of their own.  Five minutes later we put on our sixth goal.  In the final forty seconds of the game we scored our seventh, and they put in a final rushed goal with three seconds to go.

We had three players who scored three points on the day, with five others scoring at least a point.  We now sit second on the ladder, one game behind the Flyers (our season opener victory over them being their only defeat).  We lead the table in penalty minutes, and have the two most penalised players.  Next week we play the lowly placed Sharks.

I played around twenty four minutes on the ice.  I started on the wing for a couple of shifts, was just making the mental adjustment from having played defence so far this season when was given first option to go back to defence.  I had no problems with doing this and played out the rest of the game there, generally partnering Mike.  I was given the option to go back on offence if I wished, but I was more than happy learning my chops on D (one also gets more ice time on a the back end).  I didn't get any points but was on the ice for three of our goals.  I was also present when they scored their power play goal (though I didn't have any direct input around their scoring play).

My two shifts on the wing were played in the offensive zone, nothing particularly memorable in them except that I was beginning to get the feel of it again by the time I was given the option of moving back into defence.

For a change, I didn't ice the puck once, wasn't caught offside, didn't pass the puck offside, didn't have any of my passes intercepted.  I kept the puck in their zone a couple of times, and several times held it in the neutral zone before relaunching the attack.  Did a couple of nice D to D passes in these circumstances.  I was not involved in the play which resulted in their first goal, this despite being out there on the penalty kill.  The only advice I was given on my play through the game was after a couple shifts on D when Coach gave me some guidance on positioning (the concept of one up, one back) which I followed from then on.

I had a couple of shots towards goal from the point in the first period, neither with a chance of going in as I effectively put it into a melee of players before the crease.  These were my only shots all game, the rest of it was generally in a containment role (when we were in attack) or last line defence.

I lost my feet from under me on four occasions when skating.  Once in the first when back checking on a rushing forward with no one else between me and the goalie.  I managed to control my slide so that still kept the opposition on the outside, giving time for our centre to get involved.  I also fell down once on the break (transition) with no loss except a possible scoring opportunity (I would have been clear into the O zone if hadn't fallen) and once in the corner.

My most dramatic play was the fourth time I lost my feet.  It was in the third period and I'd come out from the right corner to protect the goal from two lurking forwards.  Two of us tangled and we both went down, me releasing my stick in the move so that I didn't get called for tripping.  The puck was on the ice in front of my loose stick as I could see the second forward coming in for the shot, our goalie was down and out of position behind me.  I didn't try and grab my stick, instead pushed it with both hands to block the shot (which I did, twice, the second time the forward came down).  Then there was a welter of sticks and blades and skates striking at the puck, with my stick the main line of containment until others piled in also.  Eventually there were four bodies on the ice, me and my stick on the bottom, when Tommy finally got his glove over the pile and onto the puck and brought on the whistle.

I was pretty happy with my role in this one.  It was nice to have a nice win.  After the game we thought that we'd been much better with our on ice communication.   To me, this was confirmed in separate conversations I had with three Kings players I know after the game.  All of them independently brought up the fact that our passing had been very good.  I saw this as a consequence of our increased chatter.  I also know that a couple of times when I either got drawn down on the offence or onto the left boards in defence (and thus out of position) I was able to direct either my wing or D partner to cover my zone, and they did.  Good stuff.

My knee gave no grief.  This is good as it is now five weeks since I got trampled, I was hoping to be returning to full capacity by now.  Although I continue to tape it when skating I am now at the point where I need to work on its flexibility, and get back to building strength in the legs and core more generally while I rebuild my match fitness.  I didn't suffer any lasting effect from playing inline hockey the night before so the back to back games every weekend might be having their own positive effect in this respect.

Next weekend, Wheelers v Rockers and Knights v Sharks.

GP 4 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 +2 3/1/0

Sunday 9 November 2014

Game Day - Wheelers (3) tie Bumpers (3)

Another close game last night at Gawler saw us open the scoring, eventually surrendering a 3-1 lead for a tight draw.  We had our full team of skaters for the first time (with a reserve goalie, however).  It was nice to be able to run two 'permanent' lines of three skaters, letting us keep the shifts to manageable length and put some effort into the team work.  I was on the rink a little over twenty two minutes, split into maybe five shifts per half.

I was on a line with Craig and Krystal.  Craig was solid on the backcheck, Krystal was most useful when closing on their net, I played my usual utility role.  I had about three decent shots at goal, and rushed for the rebound that many times also.  I took about five face offs, clearly winning three and tying up the other two.

My line faced their 'A' line most of the time during the first half, but only about half our starts in the second were against them.  It was their 'B' line which scored on us with five minutes to go and tying the game, which just goes to show.

I was on the rink for all three of our goals, and the last of theirs.  The first goal saw me carry the puck out of defence, holding it after a quick exchange of passes with Craig to allow him to put himself closer to the net.  A tape to tape pass and he popped it in.  I didn't get credited with anything for our second goal, because I was in the high slot and covering defence as Craig took the puck from the right corner behind their net while I urged Krystal to get in to the crease.  She did so, and was in a perfect position to receive a short pass from Craig and one time it in from about three feet before the goalie could scramble across to cover her.

Our third goal, in the second half, turned out to be a relatively simple affair.  I had a shot which rebounded into the left corner, where Krystal gathered it.  She held it long enough for me to maneuver in the slot to give her an outlet as the oppo closed in.  She moved it towards me through traffic.  It would have been awkward for me to do anything but gather and settle it down.  Thus I was very pleased to hear Craig's voice behind me as he pinched down from centre calling for me to leave it for him.  So I pulled my stick up at the last moment, allowing him a clean scoring shot.  Sweet.

As the above shows, all three of our goals relied on passing and communications.  The goal they got against my line showed the danger of not talking.  We were in attack, should have made something of it.  On three separate plays, though, there was confusion and hesitation on our part in close in play, each time allowing their players to move it closer to our goal.  It ended with the puck in the back of our net, tying the game.

My favourite play for the evening was crashing near the boards in our defence, with one of their players down with me and another coming in.  My stick was knocked out of my hands, but I still managed to push it to knock the puck with the shaft and prevent their loose skater taking it away.  I was onto my feet quickly, still stickless, used my feet to block their next attempt to retreive the puck.  The puck rebounded a few feet towards their goal, I chase it and kicked it a few feet more.  Used my body to shield it as it moved, then kicked it again just before they could get around me so that the puck cleared over half way.  That gave me time to turn back and get my stick.

Very satisfying. 

Tonight, the Knights take on the Kings in what should be an even grungier game.

GP 3 G 5 A 3 Pts 8 +6 1/0/2 

Wednesday 5 November 2014

Knights Training

On Tuesday night we had Knights training at the small ice at the Arena.  Coach couldn't make it for personal reasons, so Nick took the session.  He's a goalie, which was good for the two goalies we had turn up (one of whom was our new Knights goalie, Tommy).  There were about six other players, both Div I and II players, so it was a nice size grouping.

Commenced with basic tight turn skating drills, forwards and backwards doing full loops around all the circles.  I pulled off tighter loops with more accuracy going in reverse!  Then, side stepping practice across the ice up and back, basic breakout drills from the corners, centre based D drill, Big passing horseshoes, point to point passing, 3 on 3 small game, closing off the hour with a few runs at penalty shots.  Totally knackered by the end of the 3 on 3.

Knee held up on me beautifully.  Very encouraging considering that I didn't hold back on any of the drills.  Only the one minor moment of weakness when didn't bend the knees enough on the tight turns.  Conditioning will need work, but survived better this week than would have done last week.  Doubt that I'll make it next week due work commitment, but will if I can.

When I got home my knee felt the best it has in over a month, nice and loose and no dramas.  Was good to get the tape off of it (am only leaving the tape on for games and skating now, taking it off for general day to day stuff as much as possible).

Will try and start up with some quickness and conditioning exercise over the next few days leading into the Wheelers game on Saturday (when we play the Bumpers) and the big one on Sunday (playing the Kings for what will be a tough match in the early game).

Monday 3 November 2014

Sunday Skate

The Knights had the bye during the current round in Div II ice hockey so I had Sunday afternoon off.  Came through on my promise to B, that we'd get to the Arena on those weekends when I don't play on Sunday.  We were accompanied by Craig, who is definitely developing a taste for the sport of skating.

We were there just under ninety minutes.  I stayed on the rink the whole time.  I didn't go over once.  I took it very easy for the first fifteen minutes, then slowly worked my way through the various maneuvers, paying particularly careful attention to those that have previously given me discomfort or pain.  The only maneuvers that I drilled with any discipline were maybe thirty stops, tight gliding turns, 'running' crossovers.  I spent much of my time skating backwards, trying to replicate a few of the moves I do fairly comfortably forwards (eg C cut power strokes, slalom and outside edge turns, alternating crossunders).

By the end of the session I'd given my body a good workout, hitting about 90% effort at times.  The knee held up admirably, and didn't swell later.  Starting to regain my skating confidence.  It's now been four weeks since I was crashed and trampled.  On schedule, in other words.

I have Knights training on Tuesday, possibly a public skate on Wednesday, Wheelers game on Saturday.  I'll need to keep my priorities clear, DON'T injure myself again before the game on Sunday arvo, DO push my limits further with each session and start regaining game condition.

RIP Hugo

Eight years old, sitting next to his dad in the stands in a game at Dunkirk, France, on the weekend.  Three minutes from full time.  Puck deflected into stands.  Strikes Hugo behind the ear.  Cardiac arrest.  Revived.  Pass away in hospital.  R.I.P. Hugo.

Link
Link

Saturday 1 November 2014

Game Day - Wheelers (5) tie Shufflers (5)

We played a tough and tight final game of the night against the Shufflers after a pretty dramatic day on the rink.  My night began upon arrival, when I noticed that the game that was underway was paused, and a player was down on the rink and in a bad way.  All play stopped while an ambulance was summoned.  The player was my nemesis from last week, Greg of the Rockers, and it became pretty clear that he'd snapped his leg just above the ankle.  This was the result of a 'blue on blue' collision.  What could you say except that bad shit happens, that's hockey, and join the round of applause as they stretchered him off.

This had served to delay the evening by about fifty minutes, which had consequential effects upon the rosters in our game, the final one of the evening.  For example, we lost Merrilyn who had to get to work.  Paul, who'd played in the earlier game, played with us as a reserve.  Apart from him and me, Brenton and Natasha played, Jordyn was in net (she'd played in goal in the tied game before ours also), and Krystal came on board for her first game as a Wheeler (she'd also filled as a reserve in an earlier game).  The Shufflers had three reserves playing for them, Donna, Mal and Nat the Goalie staying on from earlier Div II game to join the three Shufflers present.

The late hour, the earlier injury, the plethora of reserves and the fact that they (together with Jordyn, Krystal, and Nikolette of the Shufflers) had all played in an earlier game meant that it would be an interesting gig.  We had three 'fresh' and two 'tired' skaters.  They had two 'fresh' and three 'tired' skaters.  Both teams had a 'tired' goalie.

In the first half we had fifteen shots on goal, they had fourteen.  We led 3-2 at half time.  In the second half, we had only two shots to their ten.  Luckily, both of ours went in, because the final score was a 5-5 tie.  I scored my first ever hat trick, matched with one by a Shuffler, from my five shots at goal.  This despite the fact that played the huge majority of the game in defensive mode where I stick checked, body blocked or kicked away at least six shots at goal.  My most arsey move was an almost casual backwards foot rise to kick aside a puck as it flew behind after being slapped at goal by the opposition point.  It was a pretty neat trick!

I came out hard in the first half, played a seven minute shift to open (!) with no goals being scored.  I spent much of my time physically checking the two gun Shuffler forwards, keeping them on the outside or out of the slot until my legs started to fade.  When I got off the rink, it was 0-0.  My aim was to prevent them getting into a dominant position early, psychologically perhaps moreso than with regard to the scoreboard, as they had in their game the previous week.  While I recovered, both teams got a goal.  For my next shift, I rushed the net in the first couple of plays, resulting in a one on one between me and the goalie with the puck beneath her body between her legs, me looking at it and pushing it through and over the line before the whistle went.  Very similar to last week's goal.  2-1.

My second goal came near the start of the following shift, a fast skate up the board to gather a loose puck from Brenton, gather, steady, shoot with a low strong wristshot through the goalie's legs. 3-1.  Scattered applause.  This shot from the centreline is my longest distance score to date.  Goes to show, accuracy is at least as important as power.  They pulled it back a couple minutes later and the score at half time was 3-2.

The second half wasn't two minutes old before the Shufflers tied the score with a snapshot from point.  3-3.  Then came twelve minutes of unrelenting hockey, mainly in our zone with us scrambling to cover both shot and pass.  It was somewhere in this passage of play that I deflected a number of shots on goal with my feet (including the aforementioned backwards kick) and also shut off the goal mouth in some pretty brutal stick checking on the swooping forwards.  Desperate stuff.  But it paid off at the 6 minute mark when I intercepted a wayward pass and swooped diagonally forwards before cutting back across the goal and firing another strong wrister from about 30'.  Goal!  4-3.  I was off the rink when they got the equaliser about a minute later.

Five minutes to go, the game was tied at 4-4.  Then came a goal to them that I am still a bit cheesed off about.  I took a faceoff in our zone.  I got it to the boards and pushed it forward while battling one of their forwards.  Got the puck free and up the boards and 'slam' it stopped at the feet of a referee.  Chase it.  Win it.  Referee's foot still in the way.  Maneuver it past, referee moves and succeeds in blocking the puck again.  I tell him to watch what he's doing (he had been busy chatting to someone off the rink!) as the battle continues.  Me and opponent keep scrabbling around the puck, both eventually falling down.  Their other gun pounces, I delay him with my stick blocking the puck as I get to my feet.  Opponent takes off finally and I began pursuit, only to have to lose a pace or two as the referee moves across my path.  Opponent swoops and scores goal.  4-5.

With about a minute to go I see Paul neatly slot his second goal to tie it up again at 5-5.  I'm on the rink for the last half a minute.  There's two faceoffs in that time.  We end up clearing it and the siren goes.  The game is a tie.  It had been tough.  It had been close.  Archetypical moment - in the play that led to their final goal seeing Brenton throw himself onto the floor for a shot block in front of our goal.  Desperate good stuff.

My knee held up for the whole game.  Thus, it continues to improve.  My shots were accurate, the practice is paying off.  Perhaps most importantly, I had more practice at playing defence against skilled physical players.  Four face offs, two wins.  This was perhaps my best game.  And that's not just because of my scoring, or blocked shots, or minutes on rink, or defensive play.  But because it all happened together in the one game for a change.

In the last three games of the evening at Gawler tonight a total of 35 goals were scored.  Two games were ties, both decided in the final minute of play.  The other game was a one goal victory.  The league not only feels like the competition is closer, it actually looks like it is.  Well done to the organisers!

Finally, I finally picked up my gold medal and MVP trophy/plaque from last season.  I haven't won a trophy since my primary school soccer days.  Yipee!

GP 2 G 5 A 1 Pts 6 +4 1/0/1


Wednesday 29 October 2014

Wednesday Skate

I met up with Jess and Craig at the Ice Arena for about ninety minutes of skating tonight.  They are both doing quite well, Jess is smooth on her feet and Craig is gaining his confidence and beginning to look like he knows what he wants to do.  There was a moderate amount of people there, with over a half dozen hockey players that I know.  As always when the big ice is open on a Wednesday, Steve kept us dished up with good classic rock'n'pop to keep us in the groove.

I stayed on the ice the whole time, which is a big improvement from a fortnight ago when I could only manage about forty minutes, split by a twenty minute break.  I was able to do all lower and moderate speed maneuvers, with a bit of softness in the knee only in very specific position (countered by ensuring sufficient knee bend).  Still don't have full extension, though am improving daily.  Also noticed my conditioning has most definitely slipped from where it was a month ago.

Basically, as expected.

Monday 27 October 2014

Game Day - Knights (3) d Rangers (2)

The Knights won out 3-2 over the Rangers in a seven shot shootout after being tied at the end of regulation time.  I'm not sure where that leaves us on the ladder, but we get the bye next week and then two more games to have completed playing all other teams in our division.  At present we are in the middle of the table.  I dare say that's where we'll be after the bye.

We had the most players I've skated with for a game, twelve plus a goalie (Tommy), who it sounds like will be our regular net minder from here on in.  Thus we were able to run two lines, each consisting of a centre and three wings (a tyro skater being the third winger, ideally for the softer minutes, with the other two taking the tougher ice time until the tyro learns his role).  If our Beau had been able to beat his hangover we would have had thirteen skaters present, allowing three complete lines up front and two defence pairings (a full roster).  The most we had last summer was ten, I think.

I was assigned to defence, which I take as a kind of compliment.  Ironically, I suspect it is mainly because I had absorbed the very basic positioning that a winger needs to conform to at C grade ((almost) all beginners start on the wing).  Watching others, I'd say that some never get it.  Be that as it may, my growing game sense and ability to skate backwards as comfortably as forwards (in fact, more so while my knee remains suspect) probably have a bit to do with my progession to defence also.  From Beau's one game so far, I'd say he's potentially the quickest skater on our team, so I don't imagine things changing too much upon his return.

Unlike previously, each of our defensive pairings had a 'full time' D playing on it.  I was paired with Cap'n Tom (Mike and Cam formed the other pair).  Tom's one of our most valuable players with probably our best shot and certainly the ability to play the most physical game.  I wasn't keeping my eye on his location as closely as I should have while in our own zone which meant that I found myself out of position more than I did when the puck was in their zone or between the blue lines.  In the forward zones I found myself more naturally reading the play, was more easily able to be aware of Tom's actions and thus frame my own around it.
 
In this at least I have the basic mindset needed to be laid over the essential positional and functional requirements of Defence.  I now need to move it into our own zone.  The one time our lines got scrambled I found myself on the ice with Mike.  Even after only half a game, I felt the disjointedness.  Our defence 'bench manager' (Bacon, a Knight through and through despite being moved up a Division) got our original lines back together as quickly as he could after both of the scrambled pairs had had a shift.

My knee didn't give me any grief all game, which is great considering that I didn't consciously hold back at all.  It was, however, still lacking strength so I wasn't yet at full speed and really lacked on the acceleration ('quickness').  I made up for it with my skating facility, at least in term of (generally) holding my position relative to the play.  Apart from this general observation, my lack of strength only really showed once, when I was harrassing their biggest player as he drifted through the high slot and he eventually just shoved me aside before skating off.  Even thusly, I had achieved my main goal so all was not lost.  But it will be good to put a bit more power into my core-leg strength so I can push back and give some of these big guys a surprise!

I only iced the puck once this game, during my first or second shift.  This is a huge improvement.  Instead of my previous panicked striking of the puck, I generally tried to either pass the puck, chip it off the board, or knock it down the ice with a long diagonal clearing shot.  Learning to lift the puck would be handy.

My play in our zone was still very 'scrambly', a lot of forebrain decision making used up a lot of my neural energy, less fluid skating showed in the result.  Taking into account my occasional moments of totally confused 'stationariness' (dangerous in a fast game such as ice hockey) I generally kept the opposition winger out of the play on the face off, covered the point when I had to a couple times, had a couple corner battles and won several races to the puck with enough time to clear the corner (my preferred with of dealing with a cornered puck, especially with my knee), tied the puck up on the boards at least once, cleared it from beneath our centre's feet a couple times, kept a fast attacking winger on the outside as he neared the goal several times (a function of speed), and manned the front of our goal a number of times when we were exposed (though was never challenged for it, someone needed to be there).

The Rangers were more aggressive in the high slot than the low.  I'll need to work on stick and poke check technique and bodywork for when we meet a more efficient team (no body checks allowed in our Division, but that doesn't mean there's no bodywork, especially in front of the net).  Keep mentally rehersing the principles of close-in positioning in our own zone and tracking my D partner until it becomes automatic.

I held the blue line on the offence quite well I thought, protecting the rim shot along the boards as an easy out and shutting down my wing on attempted breakouts.  My puck disposal from the point wasn't that good most of the time, though I did have a couple moderate strength but long distance shots towards goal (in the vague hope of causing rebounds or at least some chaos) during the first period.  Most of my passes were wayward, or merely to get the puck to a more skilled and advancing forward.  In the forward face offs I several times collected a puck that came dribbling out from the circle, a couple of these occasions resulted in a short pass towards Tom for a shot, the others were basically wasted.  Twice that I remember they cleared it past me, but I was able to collect and reset our offence.  All in all, I was reasonably pleased with my play on the blue line.

I was on the ice for both of their goals, and involved with them in some way.  For their first, it was a shitty pass of mine that was intercepted in their zone and resulted in a three pass rush that caught me entirely out of position and powerless to stop them slamming it into a virtually empty net after they'd undressed our goalie.  I felt directly responsible.

Their second goal also resulted from a battle lost by me (albeit, I think I was outnumbered), followed by my player going unhindered into the low slot while I was confused by the melee around and an eventual goal from his stick amongst the chaos.  I don't know if this goal was as obviously 'mine' as their first, but I certainly felt that it was.

To counteract the negative of being on ice for both of their goals, I was also core to the play that resulted in our second goal (our first was Foxy's first for the season and great to watch from the bench, after the longest and largest goal mouth melee I've witnessed in 34 hockey games of one sort or another).  My role in the play was defending the blue line.  In the one short sequence I recall pinching in to get the play started, stretching to cut off the boards as the puck threatened to whistle past, catching it, dropping it off to the Centre as they came to my aid, stretching the other way to cut off the soft pass and hitting it back in, getting back to the boards and stopping it on the line, racing to the puck as it was about to cross the line being chased by their forward and deflecting it off her stick back into the zone and our marauding winger.  From this last, a couple passes and a sweet goal.  Excellent!

As the clock wound down and we went into a shootout, tension rose.  It was a great feeling to win such a hard fought game.

After the game I caught up with Jess and Craig before heading into the change room and a nice cold beer.  It was really cool that they came to watch.  I think I'll be catching up with them at the Ice Arena on Wednesday night (knee permitting, but I am feeling a lot better about it).

GP 3 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 +/- 0 2/1/0