Tonight was Round 3 of the Vikings Div 2 regular winter season. We started our top of the ladder clash against the Shufflers at about 6.30pm. I think everyone was looking forward to the game, I know I was. All three of the games I played against this team last season were hard physical contests and all in very good spirits (we led the series 2-1). The best thing about tonight's game was that this rivalry without rancour remained the defining feature of the contest.
I'd forgotten my gloves (the first time I've forgotten a piece of equipment other than my skates (!)) and was glad to be able to borrow Matt the Goalie's spare set (!) of skater's gloves. A neat set of Bauers, a lot less bulky than my Mission Commanders. Though, the week I took a few strikes and pucks on the gloves and know that the only thing that saved my hands was my now scarred gloves proved the worth of the padding (even now, I can feel the impact site on the edge of my hand).
The other major difference in my kit tonight was that I brought my Bauer Ice Stick rather than my usual Easton wooden stick. The Bauer is a lot lighter and has a fibre flex to it (potentially allowing much more power, though I still don't press the stick hard enough in a shot to benefit from this). There were a couple moments during offensive plays plays tonight when I was specifically aware of the benefit of the lightness of my stick. I think I'll make my Bauer my 'match stick'.
The game itself was a tough contest. Alex boomed all four of our goals, all from relatively close and very deliberate. He's potentially a bit of a sharpshooter, though his score could have been more if he had a quick snapshot as well.
Half way through the first period, we were 2-0 up when their two guns combined to put them in reach. Alex answered back a couple minutes later to reinstate the two goal cushion, only to have Alan shoot one in with seconds to go from half way. This was the goal against that was scored while I was on the floor. I was tracking Alan and crossing his path about a couple metres from him on centre wing. He fired off a strong wristshot that got no higher than a foot from the floor the whole distance and was dropping as it crossed the goal mouth in a gap about four inches wide between keeper and post. Probably the best shot I've seen on goal yet. I was inches from blocking the shot, could have done so - but by the time I thought of it it was too late. Good training in hockey sense!
So we went into half time at 3-2, and anything but confident. They had had us under strong pressure at the end of the period, and Alan's goal had shown us that we only needed to drop our guard for a moment and they could capitalise.
The second half was a much more dour affair, with their Mark probably the best player, skating hard and dishing the puck around. We did rise to the occasion, but only just at times, and at others it came down to a couple great saves by Matt the Goalie. Our whole team contributed to the occasion, with Matt desperate in the midfield, Merrilyn and Brenton providing their own high standard of defensive coverage, Alex posing a constant threat and me enjoying playing pivot behind the play and skating up the puck before passing off. I managed a court length stretch pass at one point, and a half court bank pass (off the boards) at another, both were tape to tape in the end. In the last minute of the game Alex and I combined to put paid to their persistent attacks with a neat and deliberate goal, me passing from mid court to him uncovered in the lower left slot - resulting in control of the puck and a deliberate shot into the top corner.
So, the Wheelers now sit a game clear on top of the ladder. Despite this, any of the games could have gone the other way (or so it felt at the time), but I thought that this was our best effort yet. And, as I said earlier, it was a great fun game also, so the handshakes and 'good games' at the end were full of good vibes and smiles. There were no penalties and no criticisms of the umpiring of which I was aware.
I was pretty happy with my own play, being on the floor for three of our goals and one of theirs, scoring one assist, finding time with the puck, not getting totally blown, totaling probably slightly over 20 minutes floor time, controlling the puck and occasionally the play. I won 6 out of 7 face offs, for which we were much more aggressive in our set up than last week (ie. two or three forward, as opposed to playing two back as we did last week). I had about five shots on goal, including a couple jams at the crease, a backhand snap and two strong wrist shots, one coming in at speed from wing (could and should have crossed the goalmouth before shooting) and the other from within a pack in the bottom of the slot. I learned that you can find time even the middle of a pack if you maintain proper focus.
The biggest things I got from the experience in terms of my individual game were the experiences of taking puck possesion and then evaluating/deciding/executing in a time span appropriate to the situation (ie. seconds when in deep D taking a pass back for a reset, milliseconds in a pack in front of the crease before unleashing the unexpected backhand that so NEARLY crossed the line underneath and behind the sprawled goalie before the ref blew the whistle), leaving the puck (carrier) to the goalie and taking the man when they were on the rush, and the experience of being stick checked twice from behind by Alan as I wound up for a shot coming in at speed from mid rink (must remember to use the technique myself a bit more, as well as put more emphasis on protecting the puck prior to the shot when I can do so (as I could have in both of these instances)).
GP 3 G 3 A 3 TP 6 +5 3/0/0
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