Tonight I finally made it back to the Ice Hockey Academy at the Ice Arena, after a hiatus of almost six months. It was great to return to a crowded change room and be welcomed by a bunch of familiar faces, whether from my social skating episodes of recent months or from academy or league play from summer time. It sure does one's soul a load of good to have a bunch of welcoming faces!
Cory was in his usual fine form, somehow managing to keep everyone involved at a level they'd get something out of it with. From almost rank beginners to my cohort (borderline intermediate level), he kept everyone in their place if required, and pushed us all just that bit further than we felt comfortable with. As it should be.
The format is pretty standard in its make-up, with a mix of skating and stickhandling drills, passing and shooting, puck possession and defence work, short battles, ending up with a round of penalty shots. We had one goalie only for about twenty skaters, so Anthony the goalie got a good work out. He's come a long way since term 4 last year. I felt quite proud to have got the majority of my shots in on him, including being one of only three that got a penalty goal at the end. Of interest with this last, two of us were Knights, and the third was a genius ten year old who just shines even in the adult sessions. Good company.
It took me about half the session to get used to the fact that the puck slides over the ice a lot faster than in inline. Once I'd made the adjustment I was able to start relying on the skill bank I've been working on. I heard someone calling me an 'ice dancer' so that must mean I have kept my ice legs!
And sweetness of sweetness, mine wasn't the only Oilers sweater for a change!
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