The Wheelers opened our account for Summer Season with a good come-from-behind win against the Rockers in the 'late' game at Gawler. The core of our team remained Merrilyn, Brenton and me. Craig returned to play with us after a season with the Rockers. Young Natasha played her first game (and it was a good one at that!). And in goal, we welcomed Jordyn, who despite the numbers (< 70%) kept us in the game through the second half.
I played in the first line, had the misfortune of being crashed by the biggest player on the ice behind our goal within the first minute. My knee went very soft on me but I stayed on after shaking it out as I was a long way from our bench. Less than a minute later I was crashed into the side boards and the knee went weak again. I was skating off for the resultant face off when I gathered that I'd got my first ever penalty. No complaint, as I had held the person that crashed me on the shoulder to get to my feet.
I found my way into the penalty box and confirmed with the time keeper at what time I could return. I had just returned my attention to the game when everyone started shouting at me to get back on. I kept saying 'I'm serving my penalty!' until someone realised that I hadn't seen that the Rockers had scored off the faceoff, ending the penalty. So much for a rest! 0-1. Thirty seconds later, they blitzed us from the centre and exposed half of Jordyn's goal leaving an easy shot for Mal. 0-2. Three minutes later, another similar goal. 0-3.
It was starting to look bad. We were not connecting with each other, not a lot of talking. Merrilyn scored a few minutes later to give us some hope, and the sense of grim determination on our bench appeared justified. Alas, it was shortly answered back and we were out to 1-4.
During this passage of play I had spent a bit more time on the bench than my breathing required, letting the knee return to normal. I returned to take up my mainly defensive role. At one point I swooped in front of one of the Rocker tyro skaters to snatch the puck from in front of her near the boards. She had little control over her skating and collided into me as I decelerated, ramming me into the boards with a cross checking motion. She was penalised (in her first game) for Boarding, a source of great amusement to all! We didn't convert on the powerplay, but added some respectibility to the scoreline with a late period goal by Brenton. We went into half time 2-4.
We didn't chat a lot in half time, just a lot of heavy breathing and getting fluids in mixed with comments that we had started to turn the momentum with our passing game and needed to keep it going. I went out for the opening face off.
Turns out, the second period was amongst the best I've played in. There was a lot of two and fro in the first five minutes, no clear shots on goal. We were outshooting them by a large degree, but their young goalie kept us out as he had for much of the first half. In our own net, Jordyn spotted and stopped a couple of accurate hard slapshots from the point that went through to traffic. Well done to her!
I noticed a couple aspects of our team's play that were ensuring we couldn't convert scoring chances. Firstly, we were hanging back too much, often leaving a sole attacker while two of us covered defence. At times this was because we were wary leaving our own tyro skater, Natasha, alone to face their top line on the rush, at others I thought it was because we were on the back foot. The other thing we weren't doing is getting to the net for the cross-crease passes that were regularly finding their way there, nor for the soft rebounds which their goalie was having time to gather in.
The stalemate was broken about eight minutes into the period when Merrilyn put another shot on goal which again was deflected downwards by their goalie. I had glided to within five metres of the crease and was unchecked, there were Rockers behind their goal, one coming from behind me, and the goalie looking for the puck. I could see it clear, shielded from his view under his body. Three steps forward with an extended stick and I just pushed it under him and over the line. I don't think I even touched the goalie. He made sure the referee knew it was a goal. 3-4.
Merrilyn scored the game equaliser about four minutes later after a sequence of passing play between her, Craig and myself. It had started with Craig passing to me on the breakout. As two Rockers swooped in towards me I could hear Merrilyn calling "centre!" somewhere to my left. Without looking (no time before my opponent's stick would cut off the angle) I backhand passed towards where I believed she was. She was unchecked in the slot with time to line up and fire the puck past the scrambling goalie. We left them flat footed and their goalie stranded. It was a good goal, tied the game 4-4.
Four minutes later and I put the game winning goal into the net on an unassisted play. As best as I can recall I had swooped forward on my own, loosing a wrist shot from just past centre. The puck was deflected to the left of the goal and I glided in towards it, aware I was being gained on by their largest player. Keeping my cool, I actually slowed down to gather the puck and change my direction to loop back towards the goal. I could hear my opponent behind me, aiming to shepherd me behind the goal. Keeping my head up, I could see the goalie over my right shoulder a bit out from his net. Without thinking much more than that, I put the puck onto my backhand, spun and shot. Good Goal! 5-4!
Merrilyn wrapped it up a couple minutes later with another unassisted goal (she was short shifting to keep her breath happening). Both her and I were on the bench through the final minute, with our guys keeping the Rockers out of easy scoring range and Jordyn knocking aside a couple more desperately hard (but accurate) slapshots. A good 6-4 victory the result.
Merrilyn got a hat trick and an assist. Craig was credited with three assists. I had two goals and an assist. Brenton contributed with a goal and strong defensive play. Natasha shone by showing that awareness and courage can make up for lack of speed on the defence. Jordyn recovered from a tough first half to shut them out in the second. Go Wheelers!
My own game was good. I had three occasions when the knee limited me, and I sat out the end of the game once we had a two goal lead. My muscles and breath were up to the task of the twenty minute periods. I had my first penalty (finally!). I was brought to the ice by other's crashing into me at least three times. The most spectacular was when I was tripped near the boards, was airborne as someone else's stick struck my face cage, and ended landing on the floor in a rolling ball (zero shock or pain, would have looked spectacular I'm sure). I think I had a total of four shots on goal for my two scores. I took five face offs, won one with my feet, tied up their stick on the others (which I'd call neutral results).
Good start to the season. Ready now to play on Sunday night on the ice. Will need to continue to measure my effort with the knee, but am beginning to feel more confident on it (despite its occasional spasm, the muscles are regaining definition now).
GP 1 G 2 A 1 Pts 3 +3 1/0/0
Fridge
Saturday, 25 October 2014
Goals - 14/15 Summer Seasons
Tonight is the first game of the Vikings Div II Summer Season. The Wheelers take the floor about 6pm. For the first time we have six skaters and a goalie (young Jordyn), as well as two 'team managers' (Josh and Jye). If we all turn up, the new game length (40 mins compared to the previous 30 mins) shouldn't be a problem. The teams look a bit more even this season than last.
Tomorrow is Game 4 in Div II Ice Hockey, the Knights taking the ice at about 6pm. Depending who is there will determine if I play my third game in D, or switch back onto the Wing. I expect that at least one of the two missing D's from last week's roster will be there, so I expect to go back into offence. Key issue will be how much my knee restricts me. I've enjoyed my time in D.
Thus, after tonight, I'll be in thick of my summer sporting commitments. Therefore, now seems a good time to clarify my goals for the coming seasons.
Manage the recovery from my present injury. This is a challenge. As the knee improves in function and the muscles repair there is a temptation to rush back into a full schedule of training to support the games that I play. It is still too early to do this. I probably shouldn't be playing yet either, but at the level I play at (ie. Div II) there is capacity and understanding for a player to play 'within themselves'. Which makes it a discipline on me to not push myself over the limits. Be that as it may, I'm doing it.
So, in an ideal world, this is how recovery works, aiming at being fully primed by the mid season break and thus be able to maximise the use of it to play out the last half of my seasons in style.
Coming week - re-engage with full off ice training programs, continuing to do the physio style exercises on relevant muscles around the injury site. Stick-handling with golf ball. In game - limit minutes and strains.
Week 2 - gentle, 'endurance' style inline skating (neighborhood and river). 'Light' ice training. In game - limit strains.
Week 3 - static shooting circuits. Social ice skating. In game - increase efforts.
Week 4 - dynamic inline shooting circuits. Full ice training. In game - maximum efforts.
Into the Midseason - skill development and deployment.
Midseason - build strength and conditioning, work on specific skills.
Down the Stretch - aim at peaking near end of regular season, then shift focus to team into finals.
For the Ice - score goals and make assists. Increase my minutes. Don't unnecessarily ice the puck. Don't pass in front of goal. Don't get out of position. Provide outlet options. Keep my head up. Don't panic. Read the play.
For Inline - play within my limits, increase my minutes, communicate, keep moving, play into their zone, stay on the score chart.
Generally - improve fitness, increase conditioning, maintain leg strength, build upper body and core strength, eat properly, get enough sleep, watch good games and learn from them, continue learning from online sources and live training, stay cool under pressure, maintain this blog.
Tomorrow is Game 4 in Div II Ice Hockey, the Knights taking the ice at about 6pm. Depending who is there will determine if I play my third game in D, or switch back onto the Wing. I expect that at least one of the two missing D's from last week's roster will be there, so I expect to go back into offence. Key issue will be how much my knee restricts me. I've enjoyed my time in D.
Thus, after tonight, I'll be in thick of my summer sporting commitments. Therefore, now seems a good time to clarify my goals for the coming seasons.
Manage the recovery from my present injury. This is a challenge. As the knee improves in function and the muscles repair there is a temptation to rush back into a full schedule of training to support the games that I play. It is still too early to do this. I probably shouldn't be playing yet either, but at the level I play at (ie. Div II) there is capacity and understanding for a player to play 'within themselves'. Which makes it a discipline on me to not push myself over the limits. Be that as it may, I'm doing it.
So, in an ideal world, this is how recovery works, aiming at being fully primed by the mid season break and thus be able to maximise the use of it to play out the last half of my seasons in style.
Coming week - re-engage with full off ice training programs, continuing to do the physio style exercises on relevant muscles around the injury site. Stick-handling with golf ball. In game - limit minutes and strains.
Week 2 - gentle, 'endurance' style inline skating (neighborhood and river). 'Light' ice training. In game - limit strains.
Week 3 - static shooting circuits. Social ice skating. In game - increase efforts.
Week 4 - dynamic inline shooting circuits. Full ice training. In game - maximum efforts.
Into the Midseason - skill development and deployment.
Midseason - build strength and conditioning, work on specific skills.
Down the Stretch - aim at peaking near end of regular season, then shift focus to team into finals.
For the Ice - score goals and make assists. Increase my minutes. Don't unnecessarily ice the puck. Don't pass in front of goal. Don't get out of position. Provide outlet options. Keep my head up. Don't panic. Read the play.
For Inline - play within my limits, increase my minutes, communicate, keep moving, play into their zone, stay on the score chart.
Generally - improve fitness, increase conditioning, maintain leg strength, build upper body and core strength, eat properly, get enough sleep, watch good games and learn from them, continue learning from online sources and live training, stay cool under pressure, maintain this blog.
Monday, 20 October 2014
Game Day - Predators (2) d Knights (0)
We lost in the late game at the Ice Arena last night against the Predators. They scored two goals within a few minutes during the first period. They had the stick on us during the first, it was much more even from there on. Shot count for the night was 16 -17 (their way) with them winning the first period and the Knights getting more real shots after that. In fact, they only really had one good shot in the last two thirds of the game when I was caught having to deal on my own with a two person rush and it ended up ringing off the pipes. We had a handful of good shots in periods two and three, with the puck almost trickling over the line with less than a minute to go being the least lucky.
We stay on top of the league for penalties, with Aaron taking two and Tom another. I think it's fair to say that neither was at their best to start with, though both put in good games and were responsible for the majority of our attacks. Andy probably played the most tightly of us all. Henry returned from his latest O/S jaunt and played a good solid game, much of it in D when it became obvious that we needed another D because Tom was struggling and Jonesy and Chris were playing their hearts out rotating through centre on the first lane. So our D had two neophytes (Henry and me) and the need for softer than usual minutes for the others that joined us there.
We had a new skater, Beau, who is very very fast but, like everyone starting out with us, needs to learn his required positioning and not chase the puck so much. Dan and Lachy did ok, each of them making an effort to keep the pressure on while in the opposition zone (and Lachy having at least one good shot on goal). In my view, everyone contributed to what I saw as a reasonable game on our part. In fact, we had a generally higher level of skill and speed than the opposition, but lacked on the teamwork (especially during the first). Although we played with the most number of players we have had to date (11 plus Bec the fill-in goalie) we were still missing two good defencemen (Mike and Cam). Almost all of our shots were blocked simply by good goalie body positioning, same as had happened during the previous game and shoot out. We do miracles getting the puck to the goal, and then shoot it straight into the goalie! I know we're better than that.
What was disappointing was that we didn't play as well as our team could. If we had, I reckon we'd have had a lot more shots on goal - and then it would have been up to the Puck God. Things being as they were, however, (and maybe because I'm an Edmonton Oiler fan and thus used to looking towards distant horizons) I was pretty upbeat after the game. The potential is there and it's pretty huge. That's my view, anyway.
As for my game, it had its ups and downs. The main positive is that I actually played, albeit with an extra tight strapped knee. First shift was great. I hadn't even got to the face off circle for my second shift, however, when I twisted wrongly somehow and was imobilised by the 'discomfort', I returned to the bench on one leg as soon as we'd cleared the puck from the zone. I gave it a few minutes, did four more shifts in the period. Did about the same in the following two periods. Had no further issues with the knee. It was a scary moment though!
My game itself, I was happy with it. I spent the whole game in D. Iced the puck twice in the first period, both unnecessary icings. I think I iced it once each period after that, and both instances were forgiveable and one wasn't called. Right at the end of the second I was trapped alone in our zone with a mass breakout happening, two of them coming down the centre and the puck carrier on my left wing. I was busy positioning to coral the single skater towards the boards and leave his shooting to Bec, while also covering the two centres and threatening to intercept or block them if the puck was passed instead of shot. Somehow they managed to screw that one up themselves but I was happy with my positioning, considering it was a three on one.
I was happy with various aspects of my game, in that they showed an increasing utility in defence. In no particular order, highlights included - advancing to the blue line when the puck was in their zone a lot more, carrying the puck from our zone to theirs on one occasion and a shorter distance on another, covering the slot and, when necessary, the crease and not having a shot unleashed when I was doing so, combating in the rear corner boards until a team mate cleared it, keeping the stronger skater on the outside if I was tracking them in, a couple nice clearing passes, a tough battle in defence of our blue line which resulted in at least four players on the ice and me staying on my knees with hands above my head to ensure didn't get done for handling the puck, retreiving and holding the puck when it was cleared from their zone a couple times before passing it in for a second go, playing solid minutes, close to twenty at a guess. Having my lower than ideal conditioning level be sufficient to keep me fit and agile to the end. Not having any goals scored against us while on the ice.
And that's about as good as it can get for a new D on a losing team!
GP 2 G/A/Pts 0/0/0 +1 1/1/0
We stay on top of the league for penalties, with Aaron taking two and Tom another. I think it's fair to say that neither was at their best to start with, though both put in good games and were responsible for the majority of our attacks. Andy probably played the most tightly of us all. Henry returned from his latest O/S jaunt and played a good solid game, much of it in D when it became obvious that we needed another D because Tom was struggling and Jonesy and Chris were playing their hearts out rotating through centre on the first lane. So our D had two neophytes (Henry and me) and the need for softer than usual minutes for the others that joined us there.
We had a new skater, Beau, who is very very fast but, like everyone starting out with us, needs to learn his required positioning and not chase the puck so much. Dan and Lachy did ok, each of them making an effort to keep the pressure on while in the opposition zone (and Lachy having at least one good shot on goal). In my view, everyone contributed to what I saw as a reasonable game on our part. In fact, we had a generally higher level of skill and speed than the opposition, but lacked on the teamwork (especially during the first). Although we played with the most number of players we have had to date (11 plus Bec the fill-in goalie) we were still missing two good defencemen (Mike and Cam). Almost all of our shots were blocked simply by good goalie body positioning, same as had happened during the previous game and shoot out. We do miracles getting the puck to the goal, and then shoot it straight into the goalie! I know we're better than that.
What was disappointing was that we didn't play as well as our team could. If we had, I reckon we'd have had a lot more shots on goal - and then it would have been up to the Puck God. Things being as they were, however, (and maybe because I'm an Edmonton Oiler fan and thus used to looking towards distant horizons) I was pretty upbeat after the game. The potential is there and it's pretty huge. That's my view, anyway.
As for my game, it had its ups and downs. The main positive is that I actually played, albeit with an extra tight strapped knee. First shift was great. I hadn't even got to the face off circle for my second shift, however, when I twisted wrongly somehow and was imobilised by the 'discomfort', I returned to the bench on one leg as soon as we'd cleared the puck from the zone. I gave it a few minutes, did four more shifts in the period. Did about the same in the following two periods. Had no further issues with the knee. It was a scary moment though!
My game itself, I was happy with it. I spent the whole game in D. Iced the puck twice in the first period, both unnecessary icings. I think I iced it once each period after that, and both instances were forgiveable and one wasn't called. Right at the end of the second I was trapped alone in our zone with a mass breakout happening, two of them coming down the centre and the puck carrier on my left wing. I was busy positioning to coral the single skater towards the boards and leave his shooting to Bec, while also covering the two centres and threatening to intercept or block them if the puck was passed instead of shot. Somehow they managed to screw that one up themselves but I was happy with my positioning, considering it was a three on one.
I was happy with various aspects of my game, in that they showed an increasing utility in defence. In no particular order, highlights included - advancing to the blue line when the puck was in their zone a lot more, carrying the puck from our zone to theirs on one occasion and a shorter distance on another, covering the slot and, when necessary, the crease and not having a shot unleashed when I was doing so, combating in the rear corner boards until a team mate cleared it, keeping the stronger skater on the outside if I was tracking them in, a couple nice clearing passes, a tough battle in defence of our blue line which resulted in at least four players on the ice and me staying on my knees with hands above my head to ensure didn't get done for handling the puck, retreiving and holding the puck when it was cleared from their zone a couple times before passing it in for a second go, playing solid minutes, close to twenty at a guess. Having my lower than ideal conditioning level be sufficient to keep me fit and agile to the end. Not having any goals scored against us while on the ice.
And that's about as good as it can get for a new D on a losing team!
GP 2 G/A/Pts 0/0/0 +1 1/1/0
Sunday, 19 October 2014
Busy Weekend
It was a busy weekend.
On Saturday, I drove to Gawler and back to register for the upcoming summer inline season with the Wheelers. I didn't stay long at the rink, just long enough to chat briefly to two new Wheelers (Craig, who once was a Wheeler but last season was a Rocker, and Crystal who was with the Bumpers for her rookie season over winter). Alex isn't playing at all this summer, Matt the skater has been transferred to the Rockers (albeit he'll only start up after the xmas break) and we don't have a goalie with Matt the Goalie taking up full time skating in Div I (sounds like we'll be rotating Div II goalies). I'll be #36 this coming season, third number in three yeas! The Wheelers' season starts at 6:45pm on Saturday against the revamped Rockers.
Today (Sunday) I picked up Craig and we headed down the Ice Arena at opening time. Were there for an hour. I was mainly keen to see what I could do with my knee, this to determine if I'd play later in the evening with the Knights against the Predators. Except for a few stops I didn't drill myself at anything in particular, instead concentrating on just working out where my limits were. The only points of concern remain an extended right leg when turning left, and difficulty with the power stride when accelerating. I can counter the first by bending my knees, the second by extending out the ankle and pushing off from the toes. As I should be doing these things anyway I decided that I could play in the evening and let my coach (Justine) know.
I think Craig is getting hooked on skating. His hour was spent entirely on the ice. I showed him a few of the basics (swizzles, snow plough stops, knee bends) and he seemed to cotton on and push himself fairly hard on them (but not too hard). Good signs, he's a keen NHL follower for years and young and fit enough to make a good hockey player if he pursues it over the coming year. Jess is pretty supportive, so he has a chance.
After returning home I gathered all my gear together, had a decent rice and curry meal, restrapped my knee much tighter than in past. Before I knew it, time to get to the rink.
More on the game itself in the next post.
On Saturday, I drove to Gawler and back to register for the upcoming summer inline season with the Wheelers. I didn't stay long at the rink, just long enough to chat briefly to two new Wheelers (Craig, who once was a Wheeler but last season was a Rocker, and Crystal who was with the Bumpers for her rookie season over winter). Alex isn't playing at all this summer, Matt the skater has been transferred to the Rockers (albeit he'll only start up after the xmas break) and we don't have a goalie with Matt the Goalie taking up full time skating in Div I (sounds like we'll be rotating Div II goalies). I'll be #36 this coming season, third number in three yeas! The Wheelers' season starts at 6:45pm on Saturday against the revamped Rockers.
Today (Sunday) I picked up Craig and we headed down the Ice Arena at opening time. Were there for an hour. I was mainly keen to see what I could do with my knee, this to determine if I'd play later in the evening with the Knights against the Predators. Except for a few stops I didn't drill myself at anything in particular, instead concentrating on just working out where my limits were. The only points of concern remain an extended right leg when turning left, and difficulty with the power stride when accelerating. I can counter the first by bending my knees, the second by extending out the ankle and pushing off from the toes. As I should be doing these things anyway I decided that I could play in the evening and let my coach (Justine) know.
I think Craig is getting hooked on skating. His hour was spent entirely on the ice. I showed him a few of the basics (swizzles, snow plough stops, knee bends) and he seemed to cotton on and push himself fairly hard on them (but not too hard). Good signs, he's a keen NHL follower for years and young and fit enough to make a good hockey player if he pursues it over the coming year. Jess is pretty supportive, so he has a chance.
After returning home I gathered all my gear together, had a decent rice and curry meal, restrapped my knee much tighter than in past. Before I knew it, time to get to the rink.
More on the game itself in the next post.
Saturday, 18 October 2014
Testing Times
It's been thirteen days of Injury Recovery since I was tripped and trampled in the final five of the Knights' season opener victory. It has been an interesting experience, from the initial shock and dread to the first glimmers of hope after a little education, learning about the amazing knee and applying this to make more of my body sense, the weird feeling of embracing the recovery process as another adventure, the discipline of icing and bolstering the knee during the first week, the joy of taping and removing the tape days later (not), the challenge of maintaining exercise routine with a change of focus onto the micro development of the knee's support structures of quads, hamstrings and calf muscles to complement the core workouts and make up for the dropped lower body circuits, the daily measurement of improvement on such metrics as achievable squat position, degree of extension, perception of discomfort, etc.
I gave myself full core workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday have more concentrated on working the quads and upper calf muscles with physio-type routines.
On Tuesday night I took the plunge and spent $30 on three kinds of athletic tape - standard 3" stretch, 2" hyperallergenic stretch and 2" rigid. After a fair bit of contemplation on the various techniques and philosophies of sport physios I ended up with strapping above and below the knee to anchor an extension limiting 'brace' at the back of the joint. This gave a lot more stability and support than I would have imagined, allowed me to concentrate on healing rather than injury prevention. The worst part about it was ripping it off of my hairy legs last night before reapplying a fresh set of strapping.
The plan now is pretty simple. Today I will continue to take it easy, maybe with a core circuit and definitely some more physio drill on the support muscles around the knee. Tomorrow around midday I will go down the Arena to give it a try out under load conditions. That will give me an idea if it is stupid or not to dress and play on Sunday night.
When go to the ice on tomorrow lunch, will take Jess's BF Craig with me, he has been asking questions about pathways to playing ice hockey for awhile. I think he might be getting more than interested. Another hockey player in the family!
I'll play if I'm able. I won't if I'm not. It all relies on my continuing honesty.
I gave myself full core workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday have more concentrated on working the quads and upper calf muscles with physio-type routines.
On Tuesday night I took the plunge and spent $30 on three kinds of athletic tape - standard 3" stretch, 2" hyperallergenic stretch and 2" rigid. After a fair bit of contemplation on the various techniques and philosophies of sport physios I ended up with strapping above and below the knee to anchor an extension limiting 'brace' at the back of the joint. This gave a lot more stability and support than I would have imagined, allowed me to concentrate on healing rather than injury prevention. The worst part about it was ripping it off of my hairy legs last night before reapplying a fresh set of strapping.
The plan now is pretty simple. Today I will continue to take it easy, maybe with a core circuit and definitely some more physio drill on the support muscles around the knee. Tomorrow around midday I will go down the Arena to give it a try out under load conditions. That will give me an idea if it is stupid or not to dress and play on Sunday night.
When go to the ice on tomorrow lunch, will take Jess's BF Craig with me, he has been asking questions about pathways to playing ice hockey for awhile. I think he might be getting more than interested. Another hockey player in the family!
I'll play if I'm able. I won't if I'm not. It all relies on my continuing honesty.
Sunday, 12 October 2014
Sunday Skate - Testing the Ice
This morning I decided to bite the bullet and put on my inlines. I spent about ten minutes out the front on the driveway and street, slowly doing figure eights, heel to heels and crossovers. Most of it was okay, but felt discomfort and instability behind the knee when turning in the opposite direction, particularly when it was the trailing foot in a glide. Not major, more a sensitivity than a sensation, there was no pain or disability afterwards.
So I went down to the Arena for an hour, including maybe 15 minutes off ice chatting with a fellow Viking (met a couple yesterday before the game also, Vikings are everywhere it seems). At no time did I go fast or very fast(with one exception), generally limited myself to gliding strokes and edges. Tried most maneuvers, however, including on my toes and three turns. A lot less strain than the inlines, and could do most things at a reasonable pace. Stops and transition caused no issues what so ever, even the gliding turn to the left (which was discomfiting on inlines) was fine, though an outward push did register negatively. All maneuvers while skating backwards were fine.
I did try one sprint at full acceleration between the blue lines before I left. This did put serious strain on the ligament again, though no harm done as it was no more than five strides. It will be a limiting factor until I rebuild the strength there.
To that end, I have located a good guide to therapeutic knee exercises. I hope to start on that tomorrow, knee permitting. If I do that and core workout a few times this week I might be day to day proposition to play on Sunday. I must remain honest with myself.
So I went down to the Arena for an hour, including maybe 15 minutes off ice chatting with a fellow Viking (met a couple yesterday before the game also, Vikings are everywhere it seems). At no time did I go fast or very fast(with one exception), generally limited myself to gliding strokes and edges. Tried most maneuvers, however, including on my toes and three turns. A lot less strain than the inlines, and could do most things at a reasonable pace. Stops and transition caused no issues what so ever, even the gliding turn to the left (which was discomfiting on inlines) was fine, though an outward push did register negatively. All maneuvers while skating backwards were fine.
I did try one sprint at full acceleration between the blue lines before I left. This did put serious strain on the ligament again, though no harm done as it was no more than five strides. It will be a limiting factor until I rebuild the strength there.
To that end, I have located a good guide to therapeutic knee exercises. I hope to start on that tomorrow, knee permitting. If I do that and core workout a few times this week I might be day to day proposition to play on Sunday. I must remain honest with myself.
Zen Game Day - Redwings (2) d Knights (1) in Shootout
I couldn't play in last night's fixture due my 'Injured Recovery' status following last week's crash and trample injury so I did the next best thing and went down on the bench to support my team mates in what turned out to be a tough and close fought game against the Redwings. It was 1-1 at the end of the first period, and so it remained until the end of regular time. The shootout that followed went to four shots each, with Mike (of Noarlunga Shinny fame) putting through their game winning goal. We still took a point, however, and remain above the Redwings on the ladder.
The Knights went in with nine skaters and Matt from the Flyers in goal. The Redwings dressed eleven players plus who I think will be their regular goalie. This situation was worsened by the fact that we took a total of FIVE minor penalties in comparison to the Redwings one. All things considered, I thought that we outplayed them more than not and had more near misses than they did, two on the pipes and maybe three within a couple inches.
We scored first at about the 13 minute mark of the first period. It was a fluky goal from a shot in the corner, passing through the goalie's legs in the crease to be tipped in by Aaron. A minute and a half later the Redwings responded with an even flukier goal, a shot from beyond the blue line being deflected twice on the way to goal before hitting the inside of the upright and trickling over the line behind the stranded goalie. Shit happens.
At one point in the First we were serving two tripping penalties simultaneously, which could have been scary as it put both of our two core defenders into the box for the resultant five on three. We saw that out without score, primarily due strong forechecking (!) after clearances. High risk, but it worked. The penalties kept coming, with too many men and interference calls in the second, and a hooking in the third. Tom, our Captain, wore one in each period and now leads the league in penalties (as does our team) after two games. I thought that the last two given to Tom were pretty soft penalties, especially considering they came at the end of a play where in each instance he had been fouled himself in what seemed to me a much more obvious fashion. Despite the penalties, however, the game was pretty clean compared to last week and there didn't seem to be an obvious strategy by either team to hit the opposition.
It was an interesting experience to sit out the game on the bench. It was pretty obvious when a player overstayed his shift on the ice, poor decisions and a plummet in pace were the result. Generally, however, our two forward lines managed their time well enough and all players contributed in meaningful ways to keeping the pressure on them. We only had three on defence, so they also had to be pretty tight with their shifts. Generally we kept the newer D further back and managed to cover their attackers well, allowing only one significant breakthrough and managing to foil the rush through sheer C grade doggedness on other occasions. Our offence has a lot of sparkle, with one or two more players to rotate this will be a big thing in the later stages of games over the coming weeks I think.
The team was pretty glad that I turned up. I'm pretty glad I turned up. If I'd played this week I would have rotated on offence, I'm told. I hope I can play next week.
Injury Update: the knee was a little stiff yesterday, though lateral movement and stability is now returning. I didn't do any off ice work because it was a busy enough day in any event. Coach is going to send me details for her sports physio uncle so I can touch base with him over the coming week - I think I'd feel a bit better about playing if I've had an expert have a look at me first (he's familiar with ice hockey players and their needs due his niece's history).
The Knights went in with nine skaters and Matt from the Flyers in goal. The Redwings dressed eleven players plus who I think will be their regular goalie. This situation was worsened by the fact that we took a total of FIVE minor penalties in comparison to the Redwings one. All things considered, I thought that we outplayed them more than not and had more near misses than they did, two on the pipes and maybe three within a couple inches.
We scored first at about the 13 minute mark of the first period. It was a fluky goal from a shot in the corner, passing through the goalie's legs in the crease to be tipped in by Aaron. A minute and a half later the Redwings responded with an even flukier goal, a shot from beyond the blue line being deflected twice on the way to goal before hitting the inside of the upright and trickling over the line behind the stranded goalie. Shit happens.
At one point in the First we were serving two tripping penalties simultaneously, which could have been scary as it put both of our two core defenders into the box for the resultant five on three. We saw that out without score, primarily due strong forechecking (!) after clearances. High risk, but it worked. The penalties kept coming, with too many men and interference calls in the second, and a hooking in the third. Tom, our Captain, wore one in each period and now leads the league in penalties (as does our team) after two games. I thought that the last two given to Tom were pretty soft penalties, especially considering they came at the end of a play where in each instance he had been fouled himself in what seemed to me a much more obvious fashion. Despite the penalties, however, the game was pretty clean compared to last week and there didn't seem to be an obvious strategy by either team to hit the opposition.
It was an interesting experience to sit out the game on the bench. It was pretty obvious when a player overstayed his shift on the ice, poor decisions and a plummet in pace were the result. Generally, however, our two forward lines managed their time well enough and all players contributed in meaningful ways to keeping the pressure on them. We only had three on defence, so they also had to be pretty tight with their shifts. Generally we kept the newer D further back and managed to cover their attackers well, allowing only one significant breakthrough and managing to foil the rush through sheer C grade doggedness on other occasions. Our offence has a lot of sparkle, with one or two more players to rotate this will be a big thing in the later stages of games over the coming weeks I think.
The team was pretty glad that I turned up. I'm pretty glad I turned up. If I'd played this week I would have rotated on offence, I'm told. I hope I can play next week.
Injury Update: the knee was a little stiff yesterday, though lateral movement and stability is now returning. I didn't do any off ice work because it was a busy enough day in any event. Coach is going to send me details for her sports physio uncle so I can touch base with him over the coming week - I think I'd feel a bit better about playing if I've had an expert have a look at me first (he's familiar with ice hockey players and their needs due his niece's history).
Thursday, 9 October 2014
Zen Training Session
Tonight I went down the Arena to be a spectator at Knights' training session on the small ice. I'm not playing this coming Saturday, avoiding the ice until the middle of next week at earliest, so anything that I can do to keep me as close to primed as possible during this enforced layoff (due my knee injury) is a welcome opportunity. I think the guys appreciated my effort to remain involved also. Team building.
Justine put them through their paces. First, edge work and puck protection for about fifteen minutes. Then, point to point passing in the star with a shot to follow. Then the defence one on one circuit. Final standard exercise, 2 on 1 with D in crease front battle with O2 while O1 comes in for a shot/pass. Final few minutes, a game of british bulldog.
Watching it all I was able to observe closely, comparing and contrasting the varied skills and abilities of my team mates. I'm not up there with our centres or star D's yet, but can get there. Watching some of another team that were with us, recognising them from Noarlunga shinnies through winter, I was able to rank myself on their play also. I must say, I think that I've come a long way and, with some development time now (soon), have a good set of core skills on which to build.. My skating certainly is my strongest feature, but the stick handling is reasonable also. With recent improvements in strength, quickness and agility I could become a good C Grade player with more experience and game sense. That will come with time. A worthwhile insight to inspire me through my recovery, and well worth the investment of time to go Zen Training.
Injury Update: I am more optimistic about things as the swelling in the muscles connecting through to the knee decreases and movement returns. Still have tenderness and some residual swelling (around the muscles that I thought had absorbed much of the shock, not the ones I was most worried about), especially as movement increases and various muscle groups are recruited after days immobile, the temptation will be to return to full activity. I must remain honest with myself in my assessments and be patient and thorough with the return program. If I do this I'll be thankful in the long run.
Off ice: Tuesday, an upper body twin circuit, sped up and now only nine reps. Wednesday, a 'cut back' core workout in the morning (using only those routines that didn't put any pressure on the knee) and twin upper body circuits in the evening. Tonight, cut back core workout.
The cut back core program drops side planks and straight leg raises, goes easy on the other drills that involve the right knee (eg quadraped) to ensure that no stresses are being applied.
Justine put them through their paces. First, edge work and puck protection for about fifteen minutes. Then, point to point passing in the star with a shot to follow. Then the defence one on one circuit. Final standard exercise, 2 on 1 with D in crease front battle with O2 while O1 comes in for a shot/pass. Final few minutes, a game of british bulldog.
Watching it all I was able to observe closely, comparing and contrasting the varied skills and abilities of my team mates. I'm not up there with our centres or star D's yet, but can get there. Watching some of another team that were with us, recognising them from Noarlunga shinnies through winter, I was able to rank myself on their play also. I must say, I think that I've come a long way and, with some development time now (soon), have a good set of core skills on which to build.. My skating certainly is my strongest feature, but the stick handling is reasonable also. With recent improvements in strength, quickness and agility I could become a good C Grade player with more experience and game sense. That will come with time. A worthwhile insight to inspire me through my recovery, and well worth the investment of time to go Zen Training.
Injury Update: I am more optimistic about things as the swelling in the muscles connecting through to the knee decreases and movement returns. Still have tenderness and some residual swelling (around the muscles that I thought had absorbed much of the shock, not the ones I was most worried about), especially as movement increases and various muscle groups are recruited after days immobile, the temptation will be to return to full activity. I must remain honest with myself in my assessments and be patient and thorough with the return program. If I do this I'll be thankful in the long run.
Off ice: Tuesday, an upper body twin circuit, sped up and now only nine reps. Wednesday, a 'cut back' core workout in the morning (using only those routines that didn't put any pressure on the knee) and twin upper body circuits in the evening. Tonight, cut back core workout.
The cut back core program drops side planks and straight leg raises, goes easy on the other drills that involve the right knee (eg quadraped) to ensure that no stresses are being applied.
Monday, 6 October 2014
More on the knee, and on last night
My right knee has been weird today. No real pain, a couple moments of major muscular discomfort, regular ice packs, limited movement. I checked it out on Dr Google and I reckon I've got a Level I Posterior Cruciant Ligament strain. Not good, but could be worse. Depending on the detail it will take anywhere from 2 weeks (!) to 6 months before I could be clear to play or know that I'll be out for a long time.
Last night in the post game one of my team mates gave me his view of what he said happened to me. I took it with a grain of salt, these things being what they are. But today I was told pretty much the same story by Craig, who'd seen things from the stands. These are the only two eye witnesses I've spoken to about it. And they both describe essentially the same thing. So I'll give it credence as it matches what limited memory I myself have of the incident.
What I'm told is that I was tripped, and that the malefactor then jumped/fell on me. That's hockey, so no bad karma, but it does suck that it was a foul that did for me. No wonder my nemesis was a bit stressed at the end of the game, he felt guilty. As he should. *sigh*
For treatment, everything else must go on hold. At the moment, keeping the swelling down and resting the joint (ice, arnica, anti-inflammatories). Once the swelling is gone, straight into some simple exercises to maintain as much as possible of quad and hamstring condition. This appears to be the limiting factor on time taken before returning to the ice and, ultimately, playing again.
After about two weeks the joint should be able to cope with the simple exercises required to start rebuilding it strength. From there on one's body is the governor with regard to how much and what type of work can be done towards rehabilitation.
It's a bugger, but a challenge. That's hockey.
*
Speaking to Jess and Craig about their view from the stands last night, and of Wayne yesterday, it seems that we played okay. Our first period was pretty disorganised, our stronger skating held us in good stead as the game went on, I remained out of the play too much when the puck was in our O zone, they played a lot rougher than we did. No great surprise in any of that.
Last night in the post game one of my team mates gave me his view of what he said happened to me. I took it with a grain of salt, these things being what they are. But today I was told pretty much the same story by Craig, who'd seen things from the stands. These are the only two eye witnesses I've spoken to about it. And they both describe essentially the same thing. So I'll give it credence as it matches what limited memory I myself have of the incident.
What I'm told is that I was tripped, and that the malefactor then jumped/fell on me. That's hockey, so no bad karma, but it does suck that it was a foul that did for me. No wonder my nemesis was a bit stressed at the end of the game, he felt guilty. As he should. *sigh*
For treatment, everything else must go on hold. At the moment, keeping the swelling down and resting the joint (ice, arnica, anti-inflammatories). Once the swelling is gone, straight into some simple exercises to maintain as much as possible of quad and hamstring condition. This appears to be the limiting factor on time taken before returning to the ice and, ultimately, playing again.
After about two weeks the joint should be able to cope with the simple exercises required to start rebuilding it strength. From there on one's body is the governor with regard to how much and what type of work can be done towards rehabilitation.
It's a bugger, but a challenge. That's hockey.
*
Speaking to Jess and Craig about their view from the stands last night, and of Wayne yesterday, it seems that we played okay. Our first period was pretty disorganised, our stronger skating held us in good stead as the game went on, I remained out of the play too much when the puck was in our O zone, they played a lot rougher than we did. No great surprise in any of that.
Game Day - Knights (1) d Flyers (0)
Tonight saw the conclusion of Round 1 in Div II of the Summer IHSA competition. The Knights were victorious over the Flyers in the second game of the evening. Being the opening night of the season, ours wasn't the only team to be gathering there for the evening (there were three games). Which, when you add the fact that 'supportive others' seem to be keen to attend an opener, meant that there was quite an audience during our game. In this regard, many thanks to Wayne, Jess, Craig, Brodie and Eli. Thanks for coming!
I was quite calm in the leadup to the game. Only the normal pregame nerves that should be happening before any game. Not the full on rush that I had before my first ever game. Made me feel all grown up lol! And thus did I bask in the warm glow of expectation until I was informed that I was going to play Defence. All of a sudden, the butterflies inside my stomach spread their wings. I spent the last ten minutes before heading to the change rooms reviewing what I knew of playing defence, and what my fellow defenders offered by way of short form advice.
It boiled down to: stay between your player and the net, read the play, never let them get behind you, clear the puck is priority one, try not to ice it when you do, get possession, keep possession, do not get caught pinching, clear the slot is what you do. Subsidiary tactics: talk, listen, evaluate, take the loose man and let the goalie take the puck carrier if outnumbered, direct the offence towards the boards, delay them. And generally, mainly because we were relatively few in number (Tom, Andy, Aaron, Baden, Foxy, Christian, Michael, Laghlan and me and a goalie (Tom)) and it being the first game of the season: short shifts.
For warmups, a couple forwards/backwards side to side lines, then 'circle work' and a shooting horseshoe, finally the passing/shooting horsehoe. Five minutes was up pretty quick. I started as the 3rd D, came on for my first shift after about a minute. From then on it was pretty continuous changes every couple minutes until the last five minutes (see below). That's a lot of ice time for me!
Period 1 was our worst as a team. Within this context I was reasonably happy with my efforts as a budding defenceman, and we weren't overpowered. Much of the period was played in our end, I spent a fair amount of time harrassing the centre and wing (and covering, if it appeared necessary, the man on point in the absence of our rookie winger). My skating skills were well used, as well as my eyes and assessment activity.
Surprisingly, I seemed to be on top of the physical side. If not clearing the top of the slot (yet), I was managing to clear the front of the net. On one occasion this involved a backward 'check' on the opponent while I tangled his stick. He was bigger and stronger than me and pushed back, tried chopping at my stick. So I planted my edges and gave him a bit of a backwards 'nudge'. He skated off and I didn't have to fend him off again until into the final period. Even as I did it, I thought my off ice program of the past ten weeks is paying off!
Never-the-less, they massively outshot us in the first period. But it didn't feel too bad. For although we had been fortunate to be blessed with great keeping by Tom and we seemed a bit scrambly and frazzled, we had been skating pretty good and generally covering our positions. Not enough shots, surrendering the puck, giving them an easy ride into the slot, these were the things to remedy.
My worst moment, perhaps of the game (though, see below), was when I thought I'd try a cross ice pass to my fellow D, not registering the closeness and speed of the oppo centreman who proceeded to intercept my way too casual pass. Shot - rebound - scramble - siren. End of period. Whew! 0-0.
Our second period was much improved. I started systematically denying the oppo any freedom while in the danger zone, delayed and steered outnumbering opponents towards the board or into the corners. I got to play for the majority of a penalty kill (after our captain got a minor (2 min) penalty for something piddly), which we played quite aggressively in their zone for a goodly time before sprinting back to prevent the counterattack (success).
I managed to stickcheck, kick or even get my stick in the way of several shots - I carried the puck up across the blue line a couple of times, once even pinched high to chase the puck into the offensive zone on my own before dumping it after our forward line had changed.
Starting to get the hang of the D gig. Expanded the 'zone of denial' to anything south of the hash marks (ie, an area bound by our defensive face off circles and the goal) and thus cut off a number of threatening options before they could manifest. This was my best period.
At some point Aaron put the puck into the back of the net to give us our game winning lead of 1-0. This after a hard scramble in front of goal involving upto three Knights and as many Flyers. It was a case of keeping on hammering the rebounds until one went in. I witnessed it from my station back on our blue line. Good stuff!
The third period was more of the same, a close fought and aggressive game. I did manage to block a few shots (though one was a risky-ish cross face deflection into the corner), and hussled them away from in front of net on a number of occasions, steering my oppo to where he hadn't intended on others on their rush. Intercepting passes or winning a race to the puck and clearing it became a mission.
With about five minutes to go, however, my game ended when I got barreled over (no malice) and then fell upon near our bench. I felt my right knee outside muscular 'stretch', no pain. Couldn't move it properly afterwards couldn't take weight. Pulled myself to the gate and crawled over for my replacement to get on. Sat out the rest of the time on the bench. Cheered and grinned when the final siren went off.
The Knights have won our first game of the season. We hadn't beaten this team last season. We had them this season. We were outnumbered. We had a good goalie. We have some not bad players, most of whom know each other. We played less on the body than they did. I think I was a remarkably 'clean' defenceman in the first game of my defensive career (which may not be very long as other members of our team come on board over the coming weeks).
As for my injured knee. I've applied arnica and ice to it over the past few hours, conducted my own 'audit' of the situation. I am beginning to think that I might be lucky and that the strain I have experienced is not a structural part of the knee but of the musculature surrounding it. To wit, a 'corking' of the linear muscle to immediate upper inside of knee cap complex and a straining of the tendon towards the rear of the outside. This is not good, mind you, but is better than what my first thoughts were when I realised that something had happened out on the ice.
Next game - Saturday evening versus the Redwings. Our only Saturday game. Hopefully my knee allows me to skate.
GP 1 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 +1
I was quite calm in the leadup to the game. Only the normal pregame nerves that should be happening before any game. Not the full on rush that I had before my first ever game. Made me feel all grown up lol! And thus did I bask in the warm glow of expectation until I was informed that I was going to play Defence. All of a sudden, the butterflies inside my stomach spread their wings. I spent the last ten minutes before heading to the change rooms reviewing what I knew of playing defence, and what my fellow defenders offered by way of short form advice.
It boiled down to: stay between your player and the net, read the play, never let them get behind you, clear the puck is priority one, try not to ice it when you do, get possession, keep possession, do not get caught pinching, clear the slot is what you do. Subsidiary tactics: talk, listen, evaluate, take the loose man and let the goalie take the puck carrier if outnumbered, direct the offence towards the boards, delay them. And generally, mainly because we were relatively few in number (Tom, Andy, Aaron, Baden, Foxy, Christian, Michael, Laghlan and me and a goalie (Tom)) and it being the first game of the season: short shifts.
For warmups, a couple forwards/backwards side to side lines, then 'circle work' and a shooting horseshoe, finally the passing/shooting horsehoe. Five minutes was up pretty quick. I started as the 3rd D, came on for my first shift after about a minute. From then on it was pretty continuous changes every couple minutes until the last five minutes (see below). That's a lot of ice time for me!
Period 1 was our worst as a team. Within this context I was reasonably happy with my efforts as a budding defenceman, and we weren't overpowered. Much of the period was played in our end, I spent a fair amount of time harrassing the centre and wing (and covering, if it appeared necessary, the man on point in the absence of our rookie winger). My skating skills were well used, as well as my eyes and assessment activity.
Surprisingly, I seemed to be on top of the physical side. If not clearing the top of the slot (yet), I was managing to clear the front of the net. On one occasion this involved a backward 'check' on the opponent while I tangled his stick. He was bigger and stronger than me and pushed back, tried chopping at my stick. So I planted my edges and gave him a bit of a backwards 'nudge'. He skated off and I didn't have to fend him off again until into the final period. Even as I did it, I thought my off ice program of the past ten weeks is paying off!
Never-the-less, they massively outshot us in the first period. But it didn't feel too bad. For although we had been fortunate to be blessed with great keeping by Tom and we seemed a bit scrambly and frazzled, we had been skating pretty good and generally covering our positions. Not enough shots, surrendering the puck, giving them an easy ride into the slot, these were the things to remedy.
My worst moment, perhaps of the game (though, see below), was when I thought I'd try a cross ice pass to my fellow D, not registering the closeness and speed of the oppo centreman who proceeded to intercept my way too casual pass. Shot - rebound - scramble - siren. End of period. Whew! 0-0.
Our second period was much improved. I started systematically denying the oppo any freedom while in the danger zone, delayed and steered outnumbering opponents towards the board or into the corners. I got to play for the majority of a penalty kill (after our captain got a minor (2 min) penalty for something piddly), which we played quite aggressively in their zone for a goodly time before sprinting back to prevent the counterattack (success).
I managed to stickcheck, kick or even get my stick in the way of several shots - I carried the puck up across the blue line a couple of times, once even pinched high to chase the puck into the offensive zone on my own before dumping it after our forward line had changed.
Starting to get the hang of the D gig. Expanded the 'zone of denial' to anything south of the hash marks (ie, an area bound by our defensive face off circles and the goal) and thus cut off a number of threatening options before they could manifest. This was my best period.
At some point Aaron put the puck into the back of the net to give us our game winning lead of 1-0. This after a hard scramble in front of goal involving upto three Knights and as many Flyers. It was a case of keeping on hammering the rebounds until one went in. I witnessed it from my station back on our blue line. Good stuff!
The third period was more of the same, a close fought and aggressive game. I did manage to block a few shots (though one was a risky-ish cross face deflection into the corner), and hussled them away from in front of net on a number of occasions, steering my oppo to where he hadn't intended on others on their rush. Intercepting passes or winning a race to the puck and clearing it became a mission.
With about five minutes to go, however, my game ended when I got barreled over (no malice) and then fell upon near our bench. I felt my right knee outside muscular 'stretch', no pain. Couldn't move it properly afterwards couldn't take weight. Pulled myself to the gate and crawled over for my replacement to get on. Sat out the rest of the time on the bench. Cheered and grinned when the final siren went off.
The Knights have won our first game of the season. We hadn't beaten this team last season. We had them this season. We were outnumbered. We had a good goalie. We have some not bad players, most of whom know each other. We played less on the body than they did. I think I was a remarkably 'clean' defenceman in the first game of my defensive career (which may not be very long as other members of our team come on board over the coming weeks).
As for my injured knee. I've applied arnica and ice to it over the past few hours, conducted my own 'audit' of the situation. I am beginning to think that I might be lucky and that the strain I have experienced is not a structural part of the knee but of the musculature surrounding it. To wit, a 'corking' of the linear muscle to immediate upper inside of knee cap complex and a straining of the tendon towards the rear of the outside. This is not good, mind you, but is better than what my first thoughts were when I realised that something had happened out on the ice.
Next game - Saturday evening versus the Redwings. Our only Saturday game. Hopefully my knee allows me to skate.
GP 1 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 +1
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