I am enrolled for my first tournament, the Viking Cup. I am in the Second/Social Division, composed of three teams in total. We have six skaters and Matt the Goalie. The other teams are similarly composed. Most of the players are from Div 2 in the regular competition, though we have three rookies on our team who are all trying it out (all can play). The usual combinations have been mixed up for the occasion. On my team, only Nat and I are used to playing together. Our team is the Wheelers.
Games comprise two twelve minute halves, with a minute for half time and two minutes between games. There are two Junior divisions and two senior Divisions., each team plays two games today and two tomorrow, followed by finals in the afternoon (I'll have to miss the finals if the Wheelers make it, being required on the ice for the Knights clash against the Rangers).
Today we played the Shufflers first. It ended up 2-2 draw. I tied it up in the ninth minute of the second half with a ridiculous shot from the right boards only a foot or two above the redline. This was my only score for the day. I was a bit rusty overall, dropping the puck off my stick a couple of times most noticeably. Had a good battle with Darryl, a dual citizen from Blackwood, through the game (he plays with the Shufflers in the regular competition and have had a good tussle with him there also). We played most of our minutes with each other on the rink.
Our second game was five hours later against the Rockers. This was a harsher affair. We lost 1-2. Dallas scored his second goal of the tournament for us. I pushed myself harder in this game, and my energetics were still picking up by game end (peak HR of 193 was reached in the last shift and EPOC maxed out after the game was over). The Rockers have a greater emphasis on strength than the Shufflers (who were more about skill - we are about speed and position) and it was definitely a more physical game. Both teams were blocking a significant significant number of shots.
Most memorable moments for the day included my goal against the Shufflers and the general challenge of that game, wrestling Craig to the floor mid-rink as we twisted against each other's sticks, being beaten by him shortly after in a race to the boards and subsequent battle for body position, successfully blocking a shot by glancing it off my upper elbow guard (lower left bicep) and not even feeling it.
A fun day, with two more games scheduled for tomorrow morning before I hop into the car and drive an hour to the Ice Arena for the important last game of the season.
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