Last night the Mavericks defeated the Snipers in the late inline hockey game at Gawler. Both teams had four skaters. We play three on three hockey (due the rink size) so each team had only one interchange available. Josh was between our pipes, Jess was behind theirs. We were playing to keep top spot on the ladder, they were trying to climb off the bottom.
We knew this was going to be a very tough, and potentially rough, game - despite the scoreline of our previous meeting this season. It turned out to be exactly those things, and more! The score was tied with only only one and a half minutes on the clock, it could have gone either way. It was a great game to be a part of and probably wasn't bad to watch. This is why we play hockey!
The Game
I don't remember much about our first goal except that it was a pass from Brenton to me for a shot. Nor do I recall much about their reply a minute later, mainly that the puck just dribbled across the line.
It soon became evident that the Snipers were playing quite roughly, resulting in our players being knocked over on several occasions. I expect the rough play was more 'reckless' than 'intentional', they played a body on body game but without taking responsibility for the consequences. Several times I saw our players look to the ref for a call with none forthcoming. I couldn't make out the detail on most of the plays, but on those I did the non-call seemed fair enough.
This continued until Natasha had to come off favouring her shoulder after being caught beneath two snipers against the boards. I don't think that the play was deliberate even if it should have been avoided, as Tash was adamant it could have been, and again no penalty was called. She came straight to the bench and wasn't able to go out again for the next ten minutes. This was all pretty concerning, both the injury itself and the fact that we now had perhaps a whole game to skate out between the three of us who remained.
To our credit we steeled our resolve and hung in there, blocking and interdicting and clearing and occasionally even going on the rush. In between each play and the next whistle we bent over, sucking in as much oxygen as we could before it all kicked off again. I really don't remember much about it all except taking opportunity to get air at every opportunity, hitting the right post off a rushing snapshot, and trying to walk around the goalie knowing there were less a handful of seconds to go before half time, eventually opening a gap and snapping the puck through it only to hear the siren start just before the puck crossed the line. No goal, 1-2 at half time.
Three good things happened at half time. Firstly, we got a two minute period of rest. Secondly, Natasha declared that although she was sore she was able to play again. Thirdly, Brenton reminded us that we tend to do better in the second half than in the first, that we needed to play more our game than theirs and not cough up possession as easily as we had been. Basically, communicate, pass, shots on net. We could do it. He must have worn himself out while giving his little speech because he stayed on the bench for the start of the next period!
Five minutes after the break I was on the long end of a tape to tape pass from Merrilyn and was able to put the puck into the goal from my spot near the side of the net. The pass was beautiful and she held it held it held it until the passing lane opened up between their clustered skaters. Lovely. They, unfortunately, reasserted their lead a couple minutes later. We then put ourselves one goal up for the first time since the opening goal with an unassisted goal by myself (Natasha deserved the assist, having passed it to me around the centre line before I romped in past their last defender and put it in the side of the net) and one from Brenton. Less than ten minutes to go, we were up 4-3.
To give the Snipers credit at this point, they stepped it up. There were some tough battles going on in the middle of the rink. I got in a tangle near the boards, picked up a high stick in my face cage that went uncalled. Dodging the force of the blow meant I gave up space, my opponent had the puck. I waited a second for a whistle, none forthcoming. So I gave my opponent a massive two handed shove with my stick across his chest and he got floored. As I turned to retreive the puck I heard the whistle. I didn't even look, just skated for the penalty box. Interference. Half a minute later they scored on the power play. I didn't feel bad as I skated out of the box, just resolved that after this incident I couldn't let them win.
The game see-sawed for the next four minutes, both teams putting on shots but none going in until I connected with a full flight full powered backhand pass from the right boards to Brenton steaming down the middle. He saw it coming and, with his blade on the floor, was able to time his one timer with enough force to drive it into the back of the net. I could have hugged him at that moment! We were up a goal with a minute to go!
Their goalie called a time out immediately. Smart play on her part, time to get a bit of sense into her team with one and a half minutes left on the clock. As I squared up for the faceoff I sensed that the Snipers were pulling themselves together for a final push. 'There's only one way to put an end to this,' I thought. I won the faceoff by tipping the puck forward and then skating around their centre to take possession and go for a run. I dodged and deked all of their skaters, skating at the edge of my ability and having to recovering the puck several times on the fly as I did so, drove hard around to my backhand side, took a still moment as I approached the board and flicked the puck with intent towards the net. It flew true and straight and found the gap between shoulder and post to put us two goals up just as the siren went.
What a wild game!
Thoughts
The game very much featured the physical elements of the sport, whether by this we mean understrength teams having to skate beyond their comfort zone, a high level of physical contact resulting in pain and injury, basic fitness and conditioning being challenged by the intensity as both teams dug deep in the final minutes, the effects of exhaustion or high levels of aggression. I feel both teams played well on all these indices, with the Mavericks probably displaying superiority in managing half a period with only three players and still not allowing a score, and in the final minutes when we were able to stay focused on the details while their decision making slowed down.
Not that I was immune to the effects of exhaustion, making a perfect tape to tape pass to an opponent late in the second and only realising what I'd done a moment later (at least I had the energy to haul ass and backcheck him effectively, could have been bad). This contrasted with my more general experience of, for the first time ever, 'seeing' passing lanes opening up (and closing) before my eyes in real time when I had the puck. Partly a result of keeping my head up more, but I think I might be reaching a new level of perception within the game. This is good as it allows for offensive 'reads' to complement my generally competent defensive understanding.
I found myself being pretty consistently poke checked deep in their zone. I will have to stop treating other players like pylons all because their feet aren't moving! Also, perhaps using some stickwork to avoid their having an easy play - I tend to carry the puck on the end of my stick by cupping rather than by moving it around which makes me fairly easy to line up. I will have to become a bit more versatile in this respect.
Speaking of sticks, I did remember to try using a more active stick myself, using both hands and rapid movement to dissuade an opponent from whatever they might have been thinking of doing (passing 'through' me, skating past me, etc). I could sense the confusion this technique brought on at least one occasion, will have to add this as a regular part of the defensive repertoire!
I had the unusual experience for me of an opponent who could outsprint me in the short moves that feature in hockey. I had to rely on positioning (cutting his options) and reading the play (getting the first step to counter his overall quickness), closing his options if not shutting him down. Good experience. Perhaps the fact that I have to regularly deal with fast and agile forwards on the ice helped here.
Finally, a few words about deliberate aggression. It is definitely a part of the game, not to be shyed away from out of a misplaced sense of chivalry or 'fair play'. In the competitive arena of the hockey rink, to display such civilised notions too much will only result in lost games and the other teams taking liberties. The end result of that could be seen in this game, upset and injured players. And that can lead to grudges if the sore is not lanced.
An example of what I mean was how our team was beginning to lose focus at certain moments, concentrating more on their reckless play and the refereeing than on our own game. This is the sort of stuff that can lose you games! I think that we had gotten over the worst of it, had settled down to play our own game and grumble about our 'victimisation' later, and was reasonably happy with that when (as described above) one of their main culprits sticked me in the cage. My retailiation was deliberate, proportionate, satisfying and effective. They backed away from such careless play as had led to my actions, I felt good (despite the subsequent power play goal) and it settled our team down.
GP 3 G 9 A 6 Pts 15 +11 PIMS 4 3/0/0
Inline 59
Fridge
Friday 13 November 2015
Saturday 7 November 2015
Game Day - Mavericks (8) d Bumpers (6)
We played an excellent game of inline hockey against the Bumpers in Gawler on Saturday night. We had five skaters, they had four. They had Matt the Goalie, we had Josh in his first ever time in goalie gear. Considering that the Bumpers have the strongest shot in the Division and we had a totally newb goalie I would consider it a fairly even match, despite the difference in number of skaters. Although the closeness of the match up is reflected in the final scoreline it didn't seem so for much of the game. But, indeed, that's one of the things that made it 'excellent'. Sport is a funny thing!
We scored the first goal about 10 seconds (!) in, with me skating out of the circle with the puck and Matt getting to the corner post in time for my quick pass before putting it into the empty net. I think we caught them on the hop! Not to be outdone, Craig answered back a minute later. Within two minutes, Natasha and I almost repeated the first play of the game, this time with me slotting the puck from a neat pass by Tash. Still hanging in there, the Mel skated the Bumper's second goal in two minutes after that. This was the last time they weren't behind us after Merrilyn and I combined for her to put in our third goal.
Craig was getting a bit feisty, none of his shots were getting through, and subsequently took a roughing penalty. First play off the faceoff resulted in a power play goal. Craig hadn't been back on for a whole shift after that when he took another penalty for tripping Natasha (the 'victim' of the earlier roughing call). They saw their way through that penalty and the half time siren went shortly afterwards. We were 4-2 up.
In the first five minutes of the second half we put on two more goals, 6-2. Craig kept their hopes up a minute later, but Merrilyn shortly afterwards put through what turned out to be the game winning goal when she slotted one on a joint assist from Brenton and myself, 7-3. We were feeling pretty confident at this point, further enforced by another tripping penalty being called on them a minute later.
We didn't score and the powerplay and the game then took a rapid turn as they turned up the intensity and started finding the net. Craig scored at the six minute mark and then again with only two minutes on the clock. We still had a two goal buffer. They called a time out and were able to keep their strongest line out for another shift. This strategy was rewarded with another goal with one minute left on the clock. One goal difference. One minute to go.
I grabbed the puck with aggressive wing play off the centre face off and swooped straight past them all for a one man rush. I could see a gap between the goalie and the left post and snapped a shot off at full speed. It went straight to the back of the net and I looped back to the centre dot with I'd imagine a lot of confident pride in my stance. I'd known that puck was going in from the moment I'd picked it up on my stick. Weird.
So. It was a fun and close game. We outshot them 32-16. Each side hit the pipes square on at least once. We blocked a lot of their shots before they got through to Josh, who was finding the goalie role quite a challenge. As I said to him though, he saved enough shots to win us the game. Which is all that really matters when it comes down to it.
I had another five point night against decent opposition. Alltogether, we have collected 35 individual points in the two games we've played while scoring 18 goals. That's quite amazing. We are quite a force when firing on all cylinders!
I think this procession will come to a crashing halt at some point soon, so I might as well enjoy it while I can! Which is at least until tonight when we take on the Snipers. We'll be short Matt and thus have only four skaters. The last time we met the Snipers they had six skaters. That would be pretty difficult.
GP 2 G 5 A 5 Pts 10 +8 PIMS 2 2/0/0
Inline 58
We scored the first goal about 10 seconds (!) in, with me skating out of the circle with the puck and Matt getting to the corner post in time for my quick pass before putting it into the empty net. I think we caught them on the hop! Not to be outdone, Craig answered back a minute later. Within two minutes, Natasha and I almost repeated the first play of the game, this time with me slotting the puck from a neat pass by Tash. Still hanging in there, the Mel skated the Bumper's second goal in two minutes after that. This was the last time they weren't behind us after Merrilyn and I combined for her to put in our third goal.
Craig was getting a bit feisty, none of his shots were getting through, and subsequently took a roughing penalty. First play off the faceoff resulted in a power play goal. Craig hadn't been back on for a whole shift after that when he took another penalty for tripping Natasha (the 'victim' of the earlier roughing call). They saw their way through that penalty and the half time siren went shortly afterwards. We were 4-2 up.
In the first five minutes of the second half we put on two more goals, 6-2. Craig kept their hopes up a minute later, but Merrilyn shortly afterwards put through what turned out to be the game winning goal when she slotted one on a joint assist from Brenton and myself, 7-3. We were feeling pretty confident at this point, further enforced by another tripping penalty being called on them a minute later.
We didn't score and the powerplay and the game then took a rapid turn as they turned up the intensity and started finding the net. Craig scored at the six minute mark and then again with only two minutes on the clock. We still had a two goal buffer. They called a time out and were able to keep their strongest line out for another shift. This strategy was rewarded with another goal with one minute left on the clock. One goal difference. One minute to go.
I grabbed the puck with aggressive wing play off the centre face off and swooped straight past them all for a one man rush. I could see a gap between the goalie and the left post and snapped a shot off at full speed. It went straight to the back of the net and I looped back to the centre dot with I'd imagine a lot of confident pride in my stance. I'd known that puck was going in from the moment I'd picked it up on my stick. Weird.
So. It was a fun and close game. We outshot them 32-16. Each side hit the pipes square on at least once. We blocked a lot of their shots before they got through to Josh, who was finding the goalie role quite a challenge. As I said to him though, he saved enough shots to win us the game. Which is all that really matters when it comes down to it.
I had another five point night against decent opposition. Alltogether, we have collected 35 individual points in the two games we've played while scoring 18 goals. That's quite amazing. We are quite a force when firing on all cylinders!
I think this procession will come to a crashing halt at some point soon, so I might as well enjoy it while I can! Which is at least until tonight when we take on the Snipers. We'll be short Matt and thus have only four skaters. The last time we met the Snipers they had six skaters. That would be pretty difficult.
GP 2 G 5 A 5 Pts 10 +8 PIMS 2 2/0/0
Inline 58
Sunday 1 November 2015
Game Day - Flyers (7) d Knights (2)
The Knights got trounced in our most recent Sunday night game against the Flyers. We had nine skaters, they had ten. We had Tommy in goal and they had Matt. Justine managed our bench. The Flyers seized second spot on the ladder from us as mid season approaches, we dropped down to fourth.
The first box score event in the game was an interference penalty against myself. This was the second game in a row I've been penalised. Hopefully I won't make a habit of it, as this one resulted in their first goal on the subsequent power play. I had taken Justine's edict to 'keep our house clean' quite literally had been quite savage in my netfront push and shove. Sadly, I also 'tended the garden' (was pushing a player out of the high slot away from the play) and my opponent ended up on his arse after losing his balance. Fair call. And this player didn't try and crowd our goalie for the rest of the night when I was on the ice, so who knows if it was worth the goal?
In any event, I think I stirred up the guy I'd been pushing around because he got pinged for tripping on the very next shift after their goal. My impression at the time was that he was trying to do to one of our guys what I'd been doing to him earlier (using body press to ease him out of the way) and somehow lost control of his stick. Gave me a nice warm feeling!
Be that as it may, they scored on the resultant power play and we were behind 1-0. We responded with a goal fairly shortly afterwards on a play after we had managed to keep it in the zone after a bit of a battle in centre ice. The Flyers closed out the period with a further goal and went into the break 2-1 up.
The second period was a bit of a disaster for us, with them scoring two goals in the first minute. The first came from a play that started at the centre face off and into our zone in my corner. I was too slow getting to it with a weak stick as one of their guns stormed in and proceeded to carry it around towards the back of our net. I was in pursuit, sorting trajectories in my mind and thus missed my opportunity to cut him off (which I probably could have done if I hadn't hesitated). Thus he emerged around the other end with my close behind. He spread a bit wider as I drew up covering the post. End result, he had a passing lane open up to open player in slot who in turn had an open goal as Tommy scrambled back from covering the wrap around attempt. Their fourth goal came less than a minute later, this time from a defensive zone faceoff in which their centre seized the puck and stormed the goal with a simple tap in to take them to 4-1.
Justine called a time out and told us to get into gear and inject a bit of passion into our play. As speeches go it was pretty good and you could see the difference on the next faceoff, with our guys now looking like we wanted to win the race and get the puck. Sadly, our renewed effort didn't prevent them scoring twice more in the period (albeit, we scored once on a coast to coast soire by Cam who somehow turned their whole team into pylons and their goalie into a straw man). There were also a couple of penalties.
I was on ice for both of their goals, though didn't then and don't now think I could or should have done anything different myself. On the first, I was covering my man as the puck crossed the blue line along the opposite boards. Their forward put in a long range softish shot onto net (hoping for rebounds etc) and I watched it fly into the net from a distance as I applied the brakes to my own player. It was a catch Tommy would ordinarily have made.
Their fourth goal of the quarter was one where again I was pressing back against my own player as I applied the brakes weakside, saw out of the corner of my eye the puck carrier on opposite side sidle around Mike and drop it in with a soft poke.
I was on for our power play, involved a sequence where I was on point and retreived the puck six times in one shift, once passing it deep to the corner, once to the boards behind the net, and four times into the scrum on the catcher's mit. I pinched only the once, but did have to scramble once to keep it on the line as I got to my feet after a struggle on the board's, found time and space for the shot though!
We got called for a penalty just before the siren, went into the break shorthanded and 6-2 down. In the few seconds of power play that they had, I managed to get on the back of a breakaway and just clip the shooters stick as he swung. He was cursing under his breath at the shot went high and the siren went. I don't think he realised I was his undoing.
The third period was a little less dramatic in terms of the scoreboard (they scored once more with five minutes to go) but I worked my arse off. Highlights for myself included being on the penalty kill and mangling their powerplay effectively, getting involved in a scrap on the boards which resulted in me and my opponent on the ice but the puck leaving the zone, a couple of blocked shots and a nice play beginning with winning the race to seize the puck off the backboards, skating through a light stick, deking around the defender on the point and sprinting up the ice on my own to the halfboards at their end. By which time I realised that I was truly on my own out there with four opponents coming in from all directions, so I put a shot on net and into the goalie's glove. The siren went not long afterwards, we went down 7-2.
If you can't gather from the general tone of this post, I was pretty happy with my game despite going -3 for the night and the team being soundly beaten. I created no great disasters, learned from the failed race to and around the boards at the start of the second period (didn't lose any such battles in future, and tied up that particular forward from then on), created a few chances and made some good plays.
Fitness wise, I was not 100% as was still getting the aftereffects of the previous game, hayfever, etc but still put in a tough game without any real performance drop off in the third period.
Next game, November 12 against the Rangers.
GP 7 G 2 A 1 Pts 3 +1 4/2/1 PIMS 4
Ice 47
The first box score event in the game was an interference penalty against myself. This was the second game in a row I've been penalised. Hopefully I won't make a habit of it, as this one resulted in their first goal on the subsequent power play. I had taken Justine's edict to 'keep our house clean' quite literally had been quite savage in my netfront push and shove. Sadly, I also 'tended the garden' (was pushing a player out of the high slot away from the play) and my opponent ended up on his arse after losing his balance. Fair call. And this player didn't try and crowd our goalie for the rest of the night when I was on the ice, so who knows if it was worth the goal?
In any event, I think I stirred up the guy I'd been pushing around because he got pinged for tripping on the very next shift after their goal. My impression at the time was that he was trying to do to one of our guys what I'd been doing to him earlier (using body press to ease him out of the way) and somehow lost control of his stick. Gave me a nice warm feeling!
Be that as it may, they scored on the resultant power play and we were behind 1-0. We responded with a goal fairly shortly afterwards on a play after we had managed to keep it in the zone after a bit of a battle in centre ice. The Flyers closed out the period with a further goal and went into the break 2-1 up.
The second period was a bit of a disaster for us, with them scoring two goals in the first minute. The first came from a play that started at the centre face off and into our zone in my corner. I was too slow getting to it with a weak stick as one of their guns stormed in and proceeded to carry it around towards the back of our net. I was in pursuit, sorting trajectories in my mind and thus missed my opportunity to cut him off (which I probably could have done if I hadn't hesitated). Thus he emerged around the other end with my close behind. He spread a bit wider as I drew up covering the post. End result, he had a passing lane open up to open player in slot who in turn had an open goal as Tommy scrambled back from covering the wrap around attempt. Their fourth goal came less than a minute later, this time from a defensive zone faceoff in which their centre seized the puck and stormed the goal with a simple tap in to take them to 4-1.
Justine called a time out and told us to get into gear and inject a bit of passion into our play. As speeches go it was pretty good and you could see the difference on the next faceoff, with our guys now looking like we wanted to win the race and get the puck. Sadly, our renewed effort didn't prevent them scoring twice more in the period (albeit, we scored once on a coast to coast soire by Cam who somehow turned their whole team into pylons and their goalie into a straw man). There were also a couple of penalties.
I was on ice for both of their goals, though didn't then and don't now think I could or should have done anything different myself. On the first, I was covering my man as the puck crossed the blue line along the opposite boards. Their forward put in a long range softish shot onto net (hoping for rebounds etc) and I watched it fly into the net from a distance as I applied the brakes to my own player. It was a catch Tommy would ordinarily have made.
Their fourth goal of the quarter was one where again I was pressing back against my own player as I applied the brakes weakside, saw out of the corner of my eye the puck carrier on opposite side sidle around Mike and drop it in with a soft poke.
I was on for our power play, involved a sequence where I was on point and retreived the puck six times in one shift, once passing it deep to the corner, once to the boards behind the net, and four times into the scrum on the catcher's mit. I pinched only the once, but did have to scramble once to keep it on the line as I got to my feet after a struggle on the board's, found time and space for the shot though!
We got called for a penalty just before the siren, went into the break shorthanded and 6-2 down. In the few seconds of power play that they had, I managed to get on the back of a breakaway and just clip the shooters stick as he swung. He was cursing under his breath at the shot went high and the siren went. I don't think he realised I was his undoing.
The third period was a little less dramatic in terms of the scoreboard (they scored once more with five minutes to go) but I worked my arse off. Highlights for myself included being on the penalty kill and mangling their powerplay effectively, getting involved in a scrap on the boards which resulted in me and my opponent on the ice but the puck leaving the zone, a couple of blocked shots and a nice play beginning with winning the race to seize the puck off the backboards, skating through a light stick, deking around the defender on the point and sprinting up the ice on my own to the halfboards at their end. By which time I realised that I was truly on my own out there with four opponents coming in from all directions, so I put a shot on net and into the goalie's glove. The siren went not long afterwards, we went down 7-2.
If you can't gather from the general tone of this post, I was pretty happy with my game despite going -3 for the night and the team being soundly beaten. I created no great disasters, learned from the failed race to and around the boards at the start of the second period (didn't lose any such battles in future, and tied up that particular forward from then on), created a few chances and made some good plays.
Fitness wise, I was not 100% as was still getting the aftereffects of the previous game, hayfever, etc but still put in a tough game without any real performance drop off in the third period.
Next game, November 12 against the Rangers.
GP 7 G 2 A 1 Pts 3 +1 4/2/1 PIMS 4
Ice 47
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