Game Day - USA (7) d Canada (4)

Warning: this is a bloody long post!

You will recall that Nancy, B and myself went to Melbourne for the weekend.  The centrepiece of our trip was seeing the Douglas Weber International Ice Hockey game at the Rod Laver Arena on Friday Night between Canada and the USA.  With representative teams mainly drawn from AHL, CHL, WHL, etc, and a smattering of NHL players in their offseason (and an Italia Liga member also), the game was probably technically an 'exhibition game'.  It was the fourth match in a series of five games, played in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth (two games).

Last year, Nancy and I had been to the Melbourne game and had seats right up the back.  We had still thoroughly enjoyed the game, sufficiently so that we returned in 2014.  Last time we'd come with my Sister and Brother in Law.  This year we came with one of our grandsons, B.  It was his tenth birthday on the Sunday, so it formed part of what will hopefully have been a memorable weekend.  This year, we had seats in the front row, to the left of the Canadian bench, roughly at the point where the boards start their curve around the end.  Prime seats indeed!

Being winter, the roof was closed over the arena.  The promoter billed it as being 20,000 people, but that's a bit more than the Arena actually holds.  More like 15,000.  Still, it was packed to the rafters.  That's a lot of people to have in a room!

The video below catches something of the exhuberance of our evening.  We had a great night!  The video shows no actual hockey footage.  Not for copyright reasons (though using it here for private useage would be okay), but because we were too busy watching the game.  And making sure a stray puck didn't come over and hit us (there was no net or barrier above the boards between most of the audience and the ice).  I think about four pucks went over the barrier in the evening.  As you'll see in the video, B got one!  And a player's sweater!  What more could an almost ten year old boy who's about to start ice hockey classes the following week want to see out single figures!

In rough order of progression through the video, you will notice the following:

I was very excited to be going.  I was decked out in my Canadian gear and, as we caught the absolutely jam packed tram a few stops to the sporting complex (next stop, the MCG), I was pleasantly surprised to see quite a few others similarly dressed.  We were outnumbered by the casuals and the NHL jersey wearers, but it was still a buzz to this little half Canadian.  The first thing we did when we got in was get B a Hockey Team Canada tee shirt and me a flag and program.

Now we were ready to find our seats.  As mentioned previously, we were front row.  You can see them in the second still in the video.  They were expensive, but not inordinately more to the seats in the back row.  It's a pretty special event to us, so the difference was worth it.  As you'll know if you've ever done it, the closer you are to the ice the more intense the experience.  And so it was.

There followed a bit of pregame pyrotechnics with some cool figure skating to accompany it, followed by the introduction to the members of each team.  You can hear the politically incisive social commentary of a typical 'middle-australia' crowd as the two teams emerged.  I myself recognised a few players from each team, generally their NHLers but also several from the WHL.  It was pretty cool to see them emerge.  I was, however, a bit disappointed to not be seeing Nathan Walker out there (he'd been well-billed as the (so called) first Aussie raised youngster to be drafted into the NHL).  Never the less, excitement was mounting.

Then followed the national anthems, Star Spangled Banner first, Oh Canada followed.  I've always thought the Stars and Stripes to be a stirring anthem (I think most people do).  Canada's is also pretty strong (though a bit dull the first time or two you listen to it, perhaps), and I was even able to recall most of the words and sing along (unfortunately you can (just) hear me on the video).  Loved it.  Imagine this, though:

Then, while the teams returned to a fairly complex warm up drill (involving three per side horseshoe with some reasonably complex drill in the middle) the MC conducted an interview with Australia's current favourite hockey son - Nathan Walker.  He was dressed in coat and tie.  In a way, it was kinda saddening because it only reminded me how I'd been very looking forward to seeing him play.  It was also distracting because I wanted to hear what was said above the hubbub of the crowd as the teams got into high gear.  It was also probably a bit distracting to Walker to be so apparently ignored.  But I and many others gave him a big cheer as he was leaving the press box.  We, not being far from the tunnel down which he disappeared, got to wave him off.  I stuck my thumb in the air when for a moment our eyes met.  I wanted to pass him all my good wishes in that moment.  It was pretty damn cool for me to see him raise his thumb at me in return with a big grin on his face.  As time sped up back to normal I even turned around to Nancy and said that he'd seen us!  I've never before been so outwardly starstruck, though the experience was actually something quite different.  And it was nice to see that Nancy had caught the exact moment on a blurry shot from her phone.  How cool is that!

Almost as he left the Arena, the game began.

The first period was a tough one, I suspect several of the players were 'finding their legs' to at least some degree.  It wasn't long, however, and we'd been treated to a couple Canadian goals.  And a scuffle that turned into a fight with matching five minute majors the result.  And an American come back goal.  We were all buzzing with the energy of the spectacle before us when the siren sounded.  B had offered some people in the row behind some of the sweets he'd brought in.  In turn, one was kind enough to take a few pictures of him.  All of a sudden, we and those around were forming a community of a kind.  2-1 Canada at the end of the first.

Durning the first intermission I bumped into Rebecca and Paul from the Vikings.  A little weird to see them in their finery rather than hot and sweaty in their sweaters.  Very very nice to see such faces!  There were more around, apparently, and I know a few C graders who'd gone, but these were the only faces I knew that I met.

The second period was fast and dramatic, Canada scoring once and the USA twice to tie the score at 3-3 at the start of the second intermission. The teams seemed reasonably well matched.  The individual players were becoming more evident to us through their skating and playing styles, as well as their temperments.  B had decided he liked what he saw in #91 for Canada, David Rutherford.  I was pretty impressed by his skating style (especially later when he seemed to be pushing off from both toes in a high speed heel to heel - how does one do that?! Nancy likened his skating to 'dancing over the ice'.).  Etem had silky stick skills.  The other memorable player for me was the American captain, Kopotka (#28).  You could tell by the boo's he got that he had struck a chord with his relentless, tireless, aggressively harrassing play.  I was pretty impressed by his level of 'compete'.

We decided not to rush out for the second intermission, but remained in our seats and just enjoyed the atmosphere for a while before wandering out to get some fresh air.  While we were so seated one of the rink officials wandered by beneath our seat, suddenly reached up and offered B the game puck from the second period.  Chipped and all!  He was pretty rapt!  Not long afterwards (on our walk for some fresh air) he got a moment with the Melbourne Mustang's mascot and Nancy got another classic photo.  A game puck from an international game, no wonder B looks like he does as he was accosted by the horse!

While outside we got talking to a young fella (twenties) from Melbourne who was really nice.  He and his mate were up the back back row.  We knew that the woman who'd taken B's photo and her fella were not returning for the third period.  We told this nice guy where we were and invited him and his mate to the otherwise empty seats.  They were there for puck drop - it was like santa had become real in July to them.  It was really nice to help co-ordinate with the universe in providing so much pleasure to a couple former hockey players.

The third period was a bit depressing, as a half Canadian.  The yanks put on another three quick goals at one point, the first resulting from a monumental goalie/defence passing stuff up in Canada's half.  That was pretty gutting.  I think they were in shock for long enough for the next goal to be scored (also a bit soft, though can't remember the detail).  The goalie, though, started making some brilliant saves as the blizzard continued.  It seemed that Kopotka and his cronies could dominate the slot in the Canadian zone at will.  Conversely, the Canadians barely got the puck in front of the American goal, let alone a shot onto it for the whole quarter.  They did however score a quick breakaway goal against the run of play with about three minutes to go.  Hope rose.  Only to be crushed shortly after by another American goal.  And another.  Final score, 7-4.

I was satisfied that if the game had been rigged (being an exhibition game, and so as to make the climactic game a 'live' one in Nathan Walker's home town of Sydney, one couldn't blame them if it was), it wasn't through giving teams 'orders'.  I was too close to the players to not see the will to win, the warlike approach to competition, the grief of the goalie if they were scored against.  If the game was 'rigged', it would have been by co-ordinating the lines between the teams.  Surprisingly, it didn't matter.  It was a great game.  And the crowd loved it.

Before lining up for aftergame photos and presentations of sweaters etc, the players had one last scuffle.  I think only the first had been of a majorly serious level, but there had been no lack of aggression in the game (nor the resulting penalties).  The crowd was a bit bemused, but entertained at this swansong mano a mano.

The aftergame rituals were new to us, we don't usually hang around.  However, having front row seats, we did this time.  After the teams had presented themselves for photos and applauded what was left of the crowd, they again lined up in the centre.  Then, spectators who'd paid big dollars for various of the player's game jerseys got to come out and meet 'their' players and receive their jerseys.  A few of the players were signing signatures by going to the barriers for the fans to hand down whatever was to be signed.  B, of course, being a kid, 'had' to do that - 'because you have to if you're a kid!'

A player by the name of Harvey had been pretty popular in our corner.  Pretty feisty bugga.  B had him about to sign his tee shirt when Harvey decided he'd get a texta from thirty metres away.  And then he had to work his way down again toward B, signing as he went.  By this time the organisers were trying to close it all down, started to shepherd him towards the tunnel exit.  Harvey (bless him) shrugged the official off with a barely disguised snarl, pointed to B and said he'd made a promise, continued signing things before eventually getting to B and signing his tee shirt.  B was pretty chuffed.  Sweet, I thought.

Things got better, however, when Rutherford (aforementioned #91) came over, also signed B's tee shirt.  This was extra cool because he had been B's favourite player almost from the start.  B had been cheering him by name throughout (although it was only in the final period that he had noticed us specifically, looking up at B's call of "Rutherford, you're awesome!" and returning a look of identification to the subsequent raised thumb from the corner).  B was by this time approaching ecstasy as he held up his tee shirt.

But Rutherford didn't immediately leave.  Instead, he looked at B and said, 'do you want my sweater?'  In response to B's puzzled look, he continued, "here, I'll give it to you," and proceeded to take it off and hand it up (signing it as he did so), "just don't tell anyone."  The look of B as he turned around to the crowd was priceless.  The cheers they awarded him equally so.  It's moments like these of which hockey is made.

It wasn't much later and we were out of there.  A nice walk along the Yarra into town, with a bit of a moment half way to check out the photos and videos that had been taken.  Then, an impulse ride on horse and carriage through the parklands at midnight for a bit of a magical wind down from a magical evening.

Three times that night I had to explain to some poor non hockey goer in the city why there were thousands of people wearing Canada gear.  "There was an Ice Hockey game," I'd say by way of explanation.  They invariably nodded their heads sagely,  only demonstrating the link between Canada and hockey - even in Australia.  It is kinda appropriate that this unofficial 'Canada Night in Melbourne' is inextricably linked with a hockey game!

Exhausted, we finally got back to our apartment.  The next day, the sweaty sweater and the chipped puck were proof it had not been a dream.

Most excellent.  Hope to do it all again some time!

*

Off ice, last night (Wednesday) I did an upper body circuit.  Had been shown earlier in the day a couple new variations on various exercises I've been doing by a friend with a lot of experience.  Started evolving the workout to build in what he'd suggested.

Today, I think I could feel that oh so slight and non painful tightness in the shoulders, upper back and arms that maybe is coming from muscle growth.  If so, amazing!  This is only my third week, afterall.

I made today a rest day.  Tomorrow, core and lower body.

Game Day - Shufflers (8) d Wheelers (6)

While we were in Melbourne the Vikings Inline Hockey season returned from its midseason break at Gawler.  I was dying to know how my team had gone and it was about the first thing I checked when we returned to our apartment from our big night out.  In fact, it is about the only use I made of the internet all weekend (perhaps I should have checked how to get to the Ice House earlier in the day, though!).

To cut a long story short, the Wheelers gave up a 5-0 lead near the end of the first half to end up going down 8-6 to the Shufflers.  This puts the Shufflers a game and a half clear on top of the ladder, with us remaining in second spot thanks to a timely and long awaited victory for the Bumpers over the Rockers in the evening's second Div II game (yay Bumpers).

I wasn't the only Wheeler who wasn't there, Matt the goalie was also absent.  Me and Matt were substituted by Nat in the Goals and Mal on the rink.  Wouldn't blame them though, the Shufflers have evolved into a powerful unit.  For us, Merrilyn scored 3 goals, Alex 2, Matthew 1.  They each also got involved with assists in the high scoring slugfest.  We weren't putting enough shots on goal, looking at the scorecard (20-11).

There are three games left in the regular season.  It will be a tight battle to keep our second place and preserve the second chance.  Alex remains on top of the overall points ladder and assists.  Mark from the Shufflers has overtaken him on the goal count.  Somehow I remain in the top five point scorers with my 7 goals and 6 assists.

This coming Saturday (when I could have been there) there are no games.  The following week I can't be there and there is.  Then it will be two games to go before the finals.

I think I'll be learning of the results of our next game when I am in Geelong (Victoria).  I am keen to get back into it!

*

Off ice, I didn't do any formal workouts while in Melbourne.  I had vaguely planned to do some core and lower body circuits, but we were just too busy.  Also, I think the body enjoyed the break.

Last night, a twenty minute circuit on upper body got me back into the mode.  Tonight, lower body and a bit on the core.

Ice House Adventure

Me and Nancy had a long weekend, almost all taken up with a trip to Melbourne with our g'son B.  The centrepiece of the weekend was the big game between Canada and USA on Friday night, so we got there late on Thursday so we'd be fit and fine for it.  Which meant that we had all of Friday in which to do things in Melbourne.  So, seeing as B and I just 'happened' to bring our skates with us, we had  the opportunity we needed to set off in search of the Ice House to get a bit of skating in.

For those that don't know, the Ice House is Melbourne's main ice rink and is located on land's edge in the Dockland's of Melbourne.  It lies tucked in under the 'Melbourne Eye' giant ferris wheel, down a short street near the end of tram route 35 (Melbourne's free burgundy coloured city loop tram service).  So it's easy to get to - if you know how to get there.

We didn't, so had a bit of an adventure walking through the docklands district, trying to work out who to ask for directions as we went.  The trouble was, of course, that almost everyone we saw could well have been a 'tourist' like us.  We got around it by asking the workers - a taxi driver, a gas fitter and a road worker.  They all came good for us and between their advices and our walking we finally found the joint.  B reckoned we walked about 5 km, I reckon around three.  Either way, we got there with a tour of the neighborhood thrown in.

The Ice House has two full sized rinks, one of which has all the dress ups for high level hockey, speed skating and, presumably, figure skating.  That rink was in use for some hockey training when we got there, was empty most of the time, and had a couple senior hockey players warming up on it as we left.

The other rink was moderately busy with skaters, most of them beginners in Melbourne's equivalent of the Ice Arena's blue skates.  About a third of it was separated by a temporary barrier, and there was curling introductory lessons (or so it looked) on the other part of the ice.  Watching the curling, I felt a little jealous of them because that is such a fun sport to play.  I was also a little cynical because I suspect that I wasn't seeing eager fans but some form of corporate team building exercise occurring.  I guess, 'whatever it takes,' though.  So, we occupied ourselves with some basic skating amongst the beginners.  Only really got to speak much to the one other kid, around 12 years old from Montreal who spoke French and liked the Canadiens. 

 I thought the rink was a bit overpriced for the period that we were there (about an hour and a half) but won't say too much because we could have stayed there a lot longer (public session is apparently 0900 - midnight).  In other words, no complaints.  The ice was level and didn't have too much snow on it, much smoother than the Ice Arena.    I'll have to ask B what he thought of it.

I found a little time to do my basic skills exercises, about all I could safely manage after a week and a half of not being on the ice.  Even so, I went over at least twice and found my stops required a little time on ice before was confident enough to commit.  I didn't push it too hard in any of the usual metrics, just basically reminding my body what the ice is like.

I didn't want to get hurt before the trip back into town to our apartment before we headed out to the big game.

A good afternoon.

Big weekend coming, and more around the corner...

I didn't go skating tonight, could've been to Vikings training at Gawler (but only got home at about the time it started 40 minutes' drive away), could've gone down the ice arena later (but would've been on the small ice only).  Could've gone to Ice Academy last night (but had childcare duties).  So, it's good to know that I'll have a quality ice hockey weekend coming up.

Not that I'll be actually playing the game!  No, rather, I'll be going with Nancy and B to the International Ice Hockey (exhibition) game at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.  And, along with something like 17,000 people, will get to watch Canada v USA in one of five games they are playing around the nation at the moment.  Mainly NHL and CHL/AHL players, it's good quality to watch.  And we're front row in the Canadian corner, which makes it even better!  Sure are looking forward to it.

Earlier that day me and B will go for a session at the Ice House rink, carting our skates all the way to Melbourne for the privilege.  That will be fun, as always, and for B it will be the first time he has skated on a really full size rink with really smooth ice.  This may well be the highlight of his tenth birthday weekend (the reason we're taking him)!

 Speaking of B, the following weekend his 'Ice Blast' term begins (introduction to ice hockey in six 'lessons' that both stress the play aspect (half the time being ice games) as well as develop skills (a different aspect of basic skills for each of the first five weeks).  The sixth and final week the boys will play a real ice hockey game and get a certificate.  B is quite nervous about it.  Me?  I'm excited.

And speaking of playing Ice Hockey, C grade is getting closer, with some information leaking out of the organiser (while he waits for a committee to form around him).  It is sounding like 2 Divisions, with 4 sides in Div 1 and six in Div 2.  There might even be club involvement (ie affiliation to one of the higher grade established hockey clubs in Adelaide) in the Div 1 teams (if so, will pretty well make Div 2 a 'rec' league).  Still a couple months away by the sound of it but I need to get onto registration!

*

I've kept up with the commitment to building a bit more muscle onto my frame, doing a upper body circuit tonight (late), and a core/lower body circuit yesterday (early).  Somehow I am managing to keep to the schedule (though my 'off days' are a moving feast and I need to make constant adjustments to 'the plan' to match my busy life).

Tomorrow will be a rest day, and I hope to do a core circuit (ie. no equipment) on Friday and Saturday while in Melbourne.

By Sunday I expect I'll need a rest in any event!

Bus crash delays Adrenaline game

What else can you say?  Our local representatives in the Australian Ice Hockely League, the Adelaide Adrenaline, were involved in a single vehicle accident on their way to Canberra for last weekend's fixture.  The bus rolled three times.  The coach was hospitalised.  The players I could see in the two news pictures I could find look a bit stunned.  The game was called off, the league says it will try and accomodate it somehow into the existing schedule.

This was the news I awoke to this morning.  Of course, to put it in context, it was amongst stories of hundreds dead in Palestine and the chaos of the Eastern Ukraine.  So, perhaps we should be thankful that it wasn't worse.

No news on it on the Adrenaline's official website.  A bit sad, that, but a true reflection of the non internet saviness of ice hockey organisation in this place.  There is, however, more on it here at Hockeywise.

Sunday Skate - carry, shoot and work out.

It was a beautiful partly clouded day indeed on Sunday so, for second day in a row, I went inline skating down at the local school.  I was gone a bit over an hour and came back as the sun set.

I began the session with the usual shooting drill (ie. 4x25 shots with different strokes from the 15' circle).  Results were 4/9/8/5.  Not great, but the wrist shot has certainly improved.  At one point I was retrieving pucks that had rebounded into the back court and had a shot on the way in at 30'.  'Ding'.  Excellent.

I then moved into the dynamic part of my present routine, working my way through some skill drills, following the same theme from yesterday (albeit a little more coherently conscious in doing so).

- Put stick on ground, do heel to heels around the ends in a tight figure eight, crossovers in the middle.  It is different to the ice in that a push is needed after the crossover to give sufficient momentum to carry right around (the crossover itself is sufficient on the ice due the lower friction).  Ten each way.

- Put gloves on the ground, about 3-4 feet apart.  Assume hockey stance about 2-3 feet from them.  Dangle the puck at end of stick in figure eights around the gloves.  I started becoming alert to the art of sliding the lower hand up and down the stick to account for puck's relative distance from my body as I did this.  It's quite a fluid motion when it happens properly!  Ten times each way.

- Line up four pucks, about 8 feet apart.  Skate around them, doing complete circuits of each puck in alternating directions and concentrating on leading with stick/arms/shoulders into and through the turns.  Five each way.

- Repeat the above drill, this time carrying a puck.  Five each way.

- Line up the four pucks so they are parallel to the goal line, between the top of the 15' circle and the side line, about 7 feet apart.  Skate out from the goal to the centre line on the puck side of the goal, picking up a puck there and immediately doing a tight leading turn (trying not to telegraph it beforehand) towards the wing.  Skating down the boards at about 3/4 pace.  Turn towards the centre when reach the level of the line of pucks.  Skate towards the centre (top of the goal circle) by slaloming through the four pucks (leading with puck'n'stick through the turns), culminating in a shot on goal as come out of the last turn.  Go for the rebound if possible.  Ten of these, and quite tired by now.

Finish the evening with simple figure eights with transitions around the centre circles, ten each way.  Then do it a couple times each way with a puck on the inside and then outside (involves a deke or two).  Finally, maybe a half dozen flying shots from the 30' line as I gather the pucks before packing them up and going home.

(Actually, it was after doing the above that I decided to rattle off 25 quick shots from 15' to see if I could improve my forehand snap % for the evening.  I didn't (scored 3), so I picked up my puck and went home).

***

Today, my schedule said I should do an upper body session.  So I did it in the kitchen while cooking tea (rice, dahl and steak).  Timed to perfection, was doing my stretches while the meat 'settled' and was able to cool down for a few minutes before pigging out.  Perfect!

I didn't repeat the circuit, instead added a couple more exercises to it.  I took this approach when I realised how I was pushing it pretty hard at 15 reps for some of the dumb bell drills when I used the window as a mirror to ensure the angles were right and kept my consciousness on my balance and breathing to ensure that the muscle area that was working was the one we wanted to.  These weight sessions are, afterall, meant to be static drills.  Although static exercises are not common in hockey training, when aiming solely to build strength they do have a place.  And, doing a static exercise, one gets best value out of time and effort if the angles are true and muscle selection is focused.  

Although I am actually enjoying the process of the muscle building and training, much to my surprise I might add, it is not an end in itself and I don't want it to become one.  I might have to enquire about muscle maintenance during the season if I want to stop entirely at that point.  My guess is that if there are exercises to maintain as opposed to build, then they will take a quite different form.

Always more research!

'Off Ice' Training

Because this is mainly a skating blog I don't want to crowd it out with other subjects.  But, at the same time, I do want it to be a true record of my progress towards being a better hockey player.  So far the steps forward I have taken have generally been in skates.

Recently, as readers will know, I have started a program of 'off ice' physical training involving weights and stretches.  The whole point of doing this is to make me a better hockey player.  Therefore, it deserves a place on this blog, and will get one under the category of 'off ice training'.  I'll work it into many of my more skate oriented posts, and use the new category to facilitate searches on the subject, rather than post titles.  I will do this to reflect the subsidiary nature of this type of training and the whole thrust of my work and production.

Just to make it simple, the new category does NOT include all my inline escapades, even though they are, strictly speaking, occurring 'off ice'.  I will limit the category to those areas of training that do that do not involve any form of skate.  It will rarely include a record of anything other than weights and stretches, but it might.  I will stick to the term 'off ice' because I am using the term in the sense that is usually accepted to mean non skating training and development in the hockey lexicon.  It seemed the best thing to do...

In the four days since Wednesday I have had three off ice sessions.

On Thursday I worked a twenty minute circuit focused on the core and lower body.
On Friday, I did a half hour session on core and upper body.
On Saturday, I had a day off.
Today, a circuit focused on the upper body (20 mins).

I have got to the stage where I am going to add a repeat of the upper body circuit when it turns up in the schedule Jess has laid out for me.  I am going to do this because I had more energy left at the end of today's session than I did the first two times I tried it.  And I did it in five minutes less time.

A final note.  With the upping of my physical load and calorie expenditure, I have also increased the amount of food I am eating.  Trying to have some fruit and/or nuts and a glass of fruit juice within minutes of the end of a session, with a main meal loaded with 'good' carbs and some protein within the half hour.  Roughly an equivalent of four main meals a day now, and eating until I feel 'full' rather than to when I feel I've 'had enough'.  The idea, afterall, is to put on some muscle, and that takes energy.

Saturday skate, getting stronger already?

Yesterday was another dry winter's day (@ the climate change 'sceptics' out there, I find it strange that I feel I need to say this, in the middle of the first 'normal' winter in almost a couple of decades) so i took about seventy minutes to go down the local school on the inlines for some puck'n'stick practice.

For the shooting portion of my time on the school netball court, I shot the usual 4 sets of 25 shots, each set being a different type of shot, from a point on the 15' circle around the netball goal post, my target.  The four shot types were the usual forehand snap, wristshot, forward facing snap and backhand.  My results were a little better than usual - 11/9/9/5.

Looking back, it seems that I was a little more 'natural' and a little less 'analytical' in the manner in which I took my shots.  At the time I felt that I was connecting a bit better, and stronger.  There seemed some more power in the shots actually coming from the muscles (not just from the increase in skill).  I found this surprising as I have only had three short sessions with the weights and a couple on the lower body and core.  I mean this quite literally, the only such sessions in my whole life that I have done have been these sessions (hockey is indeed changing me).

The differences are quite subtle.  I suspect that it is only my raised sense of body awareness, particularly having developed this over the past eighteen months, that has allowed me to perceive it.  I've asked a couple fitness types about it.  They agree it is quite possible that I am not imagining it.  If so, that's quite exciting.  Onwards ho with the off ice training!

Anyways...

I wound up my training with about a half hour of skate/puck handling.  I made it up as I went along, but there was definitely a progression through skills and an accretion of complexity to it.  It went something like this:

- Lay stick on ground.  Skate tight figure eights around it, gliding around each end ideally on one skate and the only impetus coming from the crossover above the centre of the stick.  Ten each way.
- Stand in hockey stance facing two pucks, maybe three feet apart on the ground and about three feet in front.  Deke a puck in figure 8 pattern around the pucks in front concentrating on the cupping and control of the puck with stick's blade.  Ten each way.
- Lay four pucks in a line between the blue lines (7'-8' between).  Carry a puck down the line, completing a full tight circle around each puck in the line in alternating directions, concentrating on leading with the puck, stick, arms shoulders into the turns.  Do extra half circuit around the puck at end of line and return down the sequence.  Complete ten laps.
- Line up three pucks with same distance between, this time from the 'board' towards the top of the 15' circle. Put a puck about on the centre line on that wing that shares a 'board' with the line of pucks.  Skate up from goal to collect puck, corner, deke it down the wing at moderate pace to puck that is furthest in line from centre, do circuit with leading puck in alternating directions across the three pucks, ending with a step and shot from top of 15' circle (going for rebound if there is one).  Total of ten complete runs.
- Skate in with puck from centre to 30' line and shoot, coming in for possible rebound (only did about five of these, got three hits on the goal post and one 'double' (shot plus rebound)!).
- End the day with doing cool down skate of figure eights with transitions around the 'double centre' markings on the court, before donning street skating gear and heading home.

Really nice to pick up the 'strength effect'.  Nice to be out skating on the weekend also!

Wednesday Skate

It is the second week of mid year school holidays.  And so, it is also the second week of mid year public sessions on the big ice on Wednesday nights.  That's because the A grade competition goes into a mid season break over the school holidays.  Conveniently, my skate buddy, B, goes to school so he is on holidays at the moment and can be out late.  Even more fortuitously, being holidays, the Vikings also suspend their Wednesday night training program.  So, nothing else to do except gather B and head down to the Ice Arena.

Good night tonight.  Several familiar faces, quite a lot of beginners, nice and open ice compared to a weekend though.  I stepped it back even more than I had last week, because I'm on the ice not so often at the moment I need to concentrate on just keeping my ice legs rather than developing new skills.

Same as last week, I went over within a few minutes of getting on the ice.  Same maneuver as last time also (transit from backwards to forwards) and again I landed on the side of my bum.  Several hours later, I can still feel exactly where I landed.  I went over a few other times (always from backwards position) but they didn't hurt so much as that first one.  At least it wasn't exactly the same spot (contusion on contusion is never good).

The music was pretty groovy (as usual, thanks Steve!) and it was good to see the way it affected the skaters, rhythmically and emotionally.  I wasn't too expressive, generally try to move in some sort of synch with the music in any event and was happy to leave it at that.  I did manage a few times to keep my foot rhythm in time with the beat (quite tricky if changing direction as dodging through or past other skaters).  Good fun.

A bit more stopping practice, interspersed with T Stops to concentrate on the outside edge of the stop and, in the full drill, concentrating on swiveling the head/arms towards the direction to be taken after the stop (ie the direction I had come from) as I entered into it so as to be better able to be already commencing the push under/cross over motion to begin the acceleration away from the stop as I stop (reducing the actual stopping point to as small a point in time as possible).  I did it at slow to medium pace, and felt a moderate improvement (still can't do an outside edge stop yet).

Most of what I did was at slow to medium pace, actually, not just the stops.  Lots of mohawk/heel to heel left and right transitions, pivots in the corners while I did tight figure eights, lots of gliding turns with the rotational impetus being provided from the swivel of shoulders and head towards the inside of the curve.  Towards the end I did burn a bit of energy in repeated sprints between the lines and tip toe walks.  Only right at the end did I go for it at about 80% for about four laps.  Nuono kept with me for three but dropped off at that point.  He looked surprised when he'd commented to me that I was faster than I looked and I replied that I'd been a bit out of synch tonight.  He'd probably be more surprised if I'd been at full speed for the five to ten laps I was doing over summer!

Also near the end of the session, I went into the centre circle for about ten minutes (after the figure skaters finally abandoned it) and had a few goes at my nemesis, three turns.  I actually started stringing a few together for the first time! Most of the time I was still pretty clumsily hesitant, but a couple of times I did it without thinking about it and felt that I'd somehow pulled it off.  A first!  Had a couple people ask me what I was doing, as though I knew!

Trick now, convert that high top end speed which others seem to comment on into quick acceleration.  Combine that with effective stopping maneuvers and tight turning ability (both at speed) and I'll be more productive for my team.  As we're in the count down towards the summer season, I need to start focusing on this a bit on the ice.

For a pleasant change, it was a fifteen minutes on the small ice after the big rink closed.  That was really nice to wind down.  I spent most of it playing around with my version of the backwards 'grapevine'.  Don't know what it looks like, but it sure feels graceful!

A good evening.  Tomorrow, step up the physical off ice training.  Jess gave me a few more exercises to do (getting towards whole body development, which is sensible if done properly) and a lot of good advice.  I'll start expanding my routine set by set.  She seems to have high hopes.

Training to be stronger

I pumped iron for the second day in a row this evening.  I have had my week off of extreme sport, read my background material, spoken to my most trusted personal trainer, made my commitment.  And then someone dropped off a barbell (?) for single hand use which can go down to as low as 2kg of weights plus the bar (probably another 2kg).  And I had Nancy nearby the first time I used them to point out the probably obvious things such as angles and posture and so forth.  Today I used them alone.

The workout is simple, being as I don't want to go too overboard on this in the coming month.  Last night, sets of twelve with both right and left arm doing curls, straightarm forwards and sideways, and reach over the shoulder lifts, followed by cool down stretches for the upper body (plus my usual leg stretches).  Followed by fruit juice and food.  Tonight, the same except I did sets of fifteen.

Apparently rather than keep adding, I should start cycling through sets when I feel capable.  Tomorrow I'll have a rest day to allow for a bit of muscle repair (I'm told that the full work out system rotates through different muscle sets so as to not over strain or develop any single group, and to allow for recovery - at least two days off a week).

I certainly feel like I've worked out quite a collection of muscles in the upper body (my nominal aim).  Tomorrow I'll start off the lower body and core work, and then run the two projects in tandem, morning and afternoon, staging my days off, and see where I get in a month.

Looking forward to another social skate tomorrow night at the ice arena.

Sunday, skating with A and down the school yard

It felt strange for a change to have a Saturday night without the need to get to Gawler for a game.  Nor the need to regulate my behaviour in the day(s) leading up to it with the game performance in mind.  I'll admit that, besides missing playing hockey, I did kinda enjoy the experience.  If it hadn't been for a social skate on Wednesday at the ice, I wouldn't have done anything on skates or with a stick in hand for a week.  Thank goodness all the hockey leagues have a holiday together.

Anyway, by Sunday morning I was starting to go through withdrawals.  This was made worse by not being able to get to Noarlunga for a shinny due a work commitment  :-(   and, when I thought I might just skive off for a couple hours so I could get a quick hour in at the end of the public ice session, that idea was scotched by the fact that I had to unexpectedly wait around at home for a couple hours due aforesaid work commitment being delayed for that period.  NB I get time in lieu as compensation for the work commitment, but it still is an absolute drag on my Quality of Skating Time index of living.

I put off resolving the problem by having a little (10 minutes) skate with A (4) and the new inline skates his nan had got him.  We had good fun, going up and down the thirty metre stretch of footpath alongside the only level area of my street (the frontage of our and our neighbor's houses).  He is learning to skate, so was taking it in little steps, learning that skating is not like walking, falling on his bum a few times.  We both were fully kitted in our knee pads, wrist protectors and helmets.  By the end of his third lap he was insistent on doing it himself (ie without me holding him or hovering too close).  Good fun.

It was getting depressing again by the time 3 pm came around and, though I was finally free from being stuck at home, I knew that even if I 'impulsively' went to an ice rink, I wouldn't be able to skate due time factors.  Which was about the time that I noticed that it still hadn't rained all day (poor A had had to wait from Wednesday to Sunday to use his new skates because it had rained in light showers intermittently throughout that period).  So, everything was dry, it wasn't about to rain, it was a Sunday afternoon, and I had nothing better to do.  So, I might as well go skating!

I chose to go to the school so I could do some basic stick'n'puck work, with less stress on the skating (if I'm not on the ice much, I don't want to feed my top levels of body memory with complex or long distance skating training, which are my basic alternatives to stick'n'puck work at the school).

I was gone seventy minutes, raising a mild sweat only in that time (gives an idea of the relatively cool temperatures).  On the skate to the school I reckon I greeted or was greeted by half a dozen different people, a surprising large number in our neighborhood.  Maybe they've missed seeing me go by - from a daily event in late summer to almost monthly in midwinter?

Be that as it may, I started with an old 'set' of four x 25 shots at the netball goal post from the edge of the 15' circle, shooting sets of forehand snap, wristshot, forward facing snap and backhand in turn.  Results were 4/9/7/6, an overall percentage of 26%.  This is in no way comparable to a game, mind you, as it is only measuring strike rate of shooting at a 2" target from that distance and thus only comparable to similar shooting sessions in past.  And, a hundred shots is too small a sample for valid statistical use.  But the percentage is reasonable as these things go.

I spent the rest of my time on the court doing base combination maneuvers (eg, stringing together heel to heels, figure eights and transitions) while setting simple goals for stick'n'puck (eg, keep it on inside/outside and/or foreand/backhand and/or deke during/between/after the maneuver, and/or shoot from either the 30' line or the 15' circle.  What was interesting is that of the three times I shot on a straight rush from centre to the 30' line I hit the target twice.  Potential.  And, fun!

I felt a lot better when I'd got home than when I'd left.

All in a Sunday afternoon.

Wednesday Night Skate

As it's now school holidays there was no Vikings training at Gawler, nor A Grade ice hockey at the Ice Arena.  Which in turn meant that the pubic skating session was on the big ice, to the music of Steve the DJ.  And, just to add a final bonus, being school holidays meant that B could stay out late on a weeknight.  So we went skating on the big ice.

While B went and did his thing (meeting up with a footy mate also out on a holiday event) I got skating.  A bit of overspreed sprints (x 10), transitions, stops on the end boards (x100) and just general skating fun for an hour and a half. 

I crashed over once early on while talking to Nuono as I transitioned from backwards to forwards and my skate edge caught.  I crashed right near the end onto my knees in a spinning slide after trying a stop coming out of  a overspeed sprint.  Both falls were on almost the same spot on the ice.  I got a 'deep' bruise on the lower buttock a day later from the first, and a sore knee immediately from the second (with the slightest hint of a bruise).  Blake saw them both, and had a couple falls himself from pushing it over the safety limit.  Neither of us severely hurt, both back on our feet pronto.

Good stuff.

3 on 3 - AHL Overtime Changes will broaden the base

3rd in an occasional series of posts about 3 on 3 hockey.

I have previously commented that there is a dearth of material looking at the strategy and play of 3 on 3 hockey.  Indeed, that was one of the reasons I began writing this occasional series of posts.  Imagine my surprise and joy to read that the American Hockey League is going to change its rules about extra time from next year.  Basically, there will be a portion played 3 on 3 (several minutes additional to a lengthened 4 on 4 period, with the teams going to the usual shoot out if there is no score in ET).

I can already imagine some of the league's professional heads considering the peculiarities of 3 on 3 hockey.  Eventually, besides an exposure of viewers and players to it, there will leak out published philosophies, strategies, drills and plays.  The process will intensify if the change makes it into the NHL.

Or, so I hope.

Sunday Skate - Noarlunga Shinny

On Sunday I headed down to Noarlunga for a two hour shinny on the small ice.  I got there a little late, there being already about six on the ice and what looked to me like a helluva lot of players in the final stages of kitting up.  They were putting themselves through some simple 2 on 1 drills with our one goalie (John) as I got dressed.  I managed to play a couple times as the '1' (D) before it was time to break into teams and get the game going.

We had a total of fifteen skaters, which broke down into 'darks' (8) and 'lights' (7) plus the goalie.  I had a choice of sweaters, wore my (white) Canadian one to make the teams roughly even.  It sure was nice on this occasion to have a rotating bench with enough time to gather one's breath before heading back out, especially compared to last time when my team had only had a bench of one (!) which made it hard yards by the end.

I combined the decent sized bench with short shifting (between one and two minutes a shift) so that I was still firing on all cylinders in the final period.  I noticed that by then quite a few of my fellow players were slowing right down.  I don't think I was.

An innovation from the last occasion I was there was the use of the electronic score board.  We played three periods of twenty minutes, and about ten minutes at the end for everyone who was still willing to get on and go for it.

Basically, good match training.

At the end of the first period the Darks led 3-2.  This was surprisingly good as it seemed to me that they basically outsized and outskilled us (they had a couple of seriously proficient C graders who played to win), although our mosquito tactics ensured that we scored two goals to stay in touch close to the end of the period.  I spent much of my ice time trying to make position on the ice, chasing dumped pucks, racing opponents towards the boards.  I was on the ice for at least one of their goals.

The second period was great, scoreline at the end being tied 6-6.  I scored one of the goals on the play which followed one where I put the initial assist out of the slot to Ben(?) the playmaker on the boards, who passed it to the eventual scorer at point.  The goal I scored, I again had passed it to Ben in the corner, who passed it up the boards to our third player who in turn shot it across the goal to me who had drifted to the far post and I just had to tap it in.  Which I did.  The goal drew some applause.  It was a seriously good section of play in its teamwork.  It's ephemera such as this that make shinnys so magical.

The third period was their runaway one, skating out victors 13-7.  Matt with the Darks scored five goals in the period and seemed to have been the difference for the first ten minutes.  After that, our lot were a bit demoralised, though we closed the hemorrhage in front of the net at least.  I did note that I wasn't on the ice for many of their goals and I was on for ours, which was something.

It was a fun day, played at a higher level than previously.  This was partly due the incremental improvement in the play of the 'originals', also the injection of fresh faces after an invitation was posted on the C Grade page (which is more likely to be read by premium c graders than the more casual variety). 

There was quite a bit of physicality through the day, no mercy being shown to size or gender.  I was monstered on the boards a couple times before I got my own chance to dominate one of my tormentors.  I did it by immobilising his stick with mine, braced by one leg and using the other to kick the puck where I wanted it to go.  He took it a bit more cautiously against me in future.

Footwork was actually quite an important part of the repertoire for in-close puckhandling under pressure I noticed, from one of our premium whites' habit of kicking the puck as he carried it through traffic, to Ben using foot skills with the puck and his stick to go through a whole line to crash the net and force what I thought was the most gutsy goal of the game.  I should have known it would be like this (ie physical) when I had a visceral reaction against a big black bruins sweater someone was wearing during the pregame.  I've never really had a reaction like that.  No wonder Bruins fans love their Bruinness if it causes such a reaction more generally!  Maybe I watched too much NHL this year lol.

When I got home for another meal I had to admit it was a most magnificent way to spend a sSunday evening.

Game Day - Rockers (4) d Wheelers (1)

On Saturday night the Rockers defeated us in the last game before a mid season break.  They did it reasonably comfortably, leading 3-0 at half time and running out winners 4-1.  I had a bit of an audience with me for a change, with my missus, sister, brother in law and four nephews along for the ride.  Nancy filmed my shifts for me, I use the resultant youtube product later in this post when I analyse the game more closely.  But, before I do that, a few prefatory remarks.

We knew from last week that we wouldn't have our arch sniper with us and would have to rely on a reserve player.  It was, however, still a bit of a surprise to learn upon arrival before the game that Matt the goalie would be a skater for us tonight and we would have the Bumper's goalie between the pipes for us.  I didn't have a problem with either of these substitutions but was a bit curious.  Turns out it was a compromise type of solution to a confluence of difficulties.

Firstly, the practice regarding reserves has changed recently for Div II.  Now a reserve must ideally come from another team in Div II, not from a Div I team as previously (or must be a lower rated Div II player).  We were apparently slated to have one of our alumni Dylans playing for us, but he went and got himself suspended again for fighting in his Div I game earlier in the evening.  Around the same time our Matt the Goalie (who plays in a Div I team as a skater) banged up his knee in a way that meant that he wasn't able to be goalie in his Wheelers team, though he could still skate.

So, the compromise was that Matt the Goalie could skate with us as a reserve, but not win the game for us by doing so, and Natalie from the Bumpers could defend our net (Nat is the greatly improving goalie from the Bumpers, who played in a tight loss to the Shufflers in the game before ours).  I was happy with Nat in the net, knew our job was to try and keep the Rockers from getting shots in on her.  I wasn't concerned by the ethical dilemma that Matt the Goalie cum Skater was posed by being a reserve in his own team, it was only as the game drew on that I saw the difficulties that came from this situation.

In retrospect, though, there's probably not a better solution than the one that was attempted.  Which is sometimes as good as you're going to get in these types of things.  It was still fun and that's what matters most.

First Half

Nancy filmed my shifts from the first half.  I mashed it up into the following:

1st Half

The first thing to note is that I was only on the floor for seven minutes, less than half the period.  I felt this a pity because I was the quickest skater on our team.  The problem wasn't me going off but, instead, the others not doing so.  I seem to have gotten into the habit of short shifting and changing on the fly.  If I am to keep doing this, however, the team I am with should be be doing so also.  A five person bench means that a player should be out there for nine minutes, give or take.  Not seven.

My second shift was a nightmare, with the Rockers scoring twice.  The first, I was aware I'd buggered up in the offensive zone (my shot which was in effect a pass to their best defender at about 1:50 on the video) and could immediately see how the resultant breakout was going to end up.  For the second goal (about 3:10), it was only when I looked at the video that I realised how my ineffective defence of the post as the attacker came around behind the goal was a necessary precondition to their scoring.  I need to sharpen my defensive game as well as my critical faculties when deciding whether to pass/shoot the puck or not.

Their third goal isn't captured on the film (as I watched it from the bench) but it involved a strong if wayward shot from behind the centreline and a fluke deflection off a player half way to goal which caused the puck to wobble in flight and dip into the goal past a screen of at least one other player (I can't even recall if deflected off of one of theirs or one of ours, it was that fluky).

There's a lot more I could write about from the first half with reference to the video, but I'll limit myself to an incident that occurred shortly before half time (around 6:20 on the video) where I chased puck into offensive corner, went down on the floor in my effort to capture and defend the puck, took a moment to reorganise my grip on my stick so as to allow me to legally pass the puck to Marrilyn for a good shot at goal.  As I got to my feet it looked to me like the puck had (just) crossed the line hard up against the near post, to be squeezed back by the goalie a split second later.  The referee (who was right near me) didn't immediately blow his whistle so I pointed at the puck (which was by this time partially on the line).  The whistle still didn't blow.  C'est la vie, I said to myself.  I think everyone else thought the puck hadn't crossed the line.  I might be wrong.  But this, combined with some other great saves of their goalie, only goes to show how contingent the end result can be on a mistimed blink of a referee's eye.

Second Half

Firstly, here's the video:

Second Half

Again, I'll only draw out a few incidents from the film in this post (which is quite long already).  The first of these occurs just after 1.00, when a Rocker shot at goal from mid rink results in a centre circle face off.  The video commentator thinks at the time it's a goal.  It isn't.  It rebounded up off the goalie (?) into the netting high above, bouncing back towards the shooter before landing on the floor.  I think a few of the players were wondering what had happened also!

The second bit of film to look at is that between 6:20 to 7:00 (during my second shift) when Nat made two great saves on the crease.  The fact that she made the second came mainly down to me losing the faceoff in the Defensive zone (resulting from her first save in the sequence).  Needless to say, I am NOT blaming our goalie for our loss and this little snippet shows why.

My goal is the third highlight to check out, the final evolution of the play commencing at about 8:20.  Nancy had accidentally discovered the zoom facility during the half minute before this, so there's close ups of various things before she focused in again on the play and fortuitously recorded the goal in hi res!  The thing I recall most about the shot is that I knew I wanted to make one as I came around behind the goal, was shut out by a defender from a wrap around, was aware this goalie had already stopped a number of shots from similar position, that he was less alert as I made as though to come around the front of the goal in the slot while I was actually priming myself for a back hand snap.  Which I did, resulting in the puck (just) squeezing under his dropping pad for our only goal.  I gave a double punch to celebrate, feeling a little vindicated by our goal.  It was 3-1, and we suddenly thought a win achievable with about five minutes left.  Silly us, because they scored shortly afterwards to reinstate their three goal lead.

The short final shift of less than a minute was instructive in itself.  Perceived wisdom is that we shouldn't have bothered with a final change at that point while the clock wound down, but we grabbed our chance when the whistle went (that's why we raced to the face off circle).  In the forty or so seconds that followed we managed to win the face off, get a shot on goal and, with our final play, have Matt pass from the corner diagonally across the slot for a one timer attempt by me.  I missed the puck by a very narrow margin (it could have been a classic Wheelers goal if I'd connected!).  The point is, one can create havoc even in the final minute of a game if the will is there.  Catching Matt's eye after the final whistle, I saw that he had the same sense about events.  That was a nice way to end, considering we're not that used to losing.

In Conclusion (my game)

I played a total of about sixteen minutes, making up for my seven minute first half with a nine minute second.  Probably the first game we've had where I didn't carry extra minutes.  So, not only were we missing Alex and fielding an injured Matt the Goalie cum Skater (playing in an overly restrained fashion due not being sure what was 'sporting' for him to do as a 'reserve' skater), but we underplayed our fastest and most agile skater.  Sigh.  We'll have to work on this a bit.

I had six face offs, winning four of them.  When I was on the floor, they won a total of ten faceoffs and we won 8.

I had 8 shots on goal (including 3 that were blocked) for my single point out of a total of 12 that we made while I was playing.  They had 14 shots in the same periods, scoring twice.  I was a directly relevant factor in both of their goals.

My worst habits (if we forgive my good habit of coming off on short shift rotation basis in a team that doesn't yet do this) was my poor pass selection, lack of consistent protection of the puck from being stolen, and generally chasing the puck rather than using my head more.

As a team we probably played our worst game for a while.  Key to our failure was that we just didn't connect, either communicatively (not a lot of talk) or actively (passes were failing).  Positionally, we tended to only have two going in on the rush so that when the puck bounced around or passed in front of their goal, their was no-one there for us.  This is partly due the limitations that Matt the Goalie cum Skater had, but it was also symptomatic of a more generalised malaise.  It's all there on the film if you look.  Despite that, I played quite a reasonable game and aren't too dissatisfied from a personal perspective.

GP8 G7 A6 Pts 13 +11 5/2/1

Flow through midseason crisis to position of strength

Those who have been reading this blog since its inception may remember some early references I made to the neurotransmitter/hormone, noradrenaline (otherwise known as Norepinephrine or, sometimes, 'the hockey hormone').  Since that time I have neither made nor, more importantly, seen reference to it anywhere.

Hold that thought and let me tell you more...

Nearly twenty years ago at an obscure point in my university daze I came across the work of a russian academic in an american journal discussing a state of consciousness he termed 'flow'.  What impressed me at the time was that he 'operationalised' the term, defining 'going with the flow' in terms of what is actually experienced and laying out certain conditions that were a necessary precedent to the state arising.  His work had some objective validity because it was based on interviews with, over the decades, tens of thousands of people from all classes and places in the world.  His findings were universally applicable.  The saddest thing about this story is that I have long forgotten the name of the guy and long ago lost my copy of the seminal article he authored on the subject.  The concept of 'flow' however, was one that has resonated ever since.

Snap back to the present...

Imagine my joy, therefore, when, while perusing one of my favourite weely blogosphere visits (Sports IQ), I came across a post discussing recent advances in understanding the state of 'flow' via its neurochemical and neuroelectrical bases.  Even better, it referred both to the work of my missing scientist (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) and Norepinephrine (where we learn amongst other things that a significant natural source of the substance is found in banana peel).  Both in the one article!  Good stuff.

Flash forward to physical development.

You may recall from my last two posts that one of the things I have recently bumped into both in games and training has been my lack of necessary size/strength/skill in physical battles for position.  I can't really alter size, and skill will come when I know what I need to learn (the first intuitive steps being taken in Sami's drill last night), but I can take on the process of building my strength immediately.

Afterall, after this week's coming game I have a break from inline hockey for five weeks (!) and it looks like I won't be doing either ice academy or playing anything but Sunday shinnies at Noarlunga for at least a couple months yet, so I am effectively in a (midseason) offseason.  Which is apparently the best time in a busy hockey player's life to do some strength training.  Which is what I need to do.

So guess what I'll be developing in my hockey development discipline over the next few months?

As a first step, I had a little talk with Jess, the personal trainer who I know best.  She has given me a few suggestions of various simple 'exercises' using either only one's own body or a simple weight at most.  Thus, no need for a gym (which she knows I don't want to do if can be avoided).  And she's told me which muscle sets they work on (after assessing my need from her knowledge of my goal) which is for me to then tailor to my needs.

So, combining this with the growing understanding I have of how mind/body/life works when doing new developmental things, I think I have worked out how I can productively channel the unexpected opportunity my midseason crisis offers.  And it will make me a more dangerous hockey player to boot (my 'meta plan' through this period between ice hockey seasons).

Thanks Jess!

Academy - Sami Session to end the term

Tonight completed my run of eight Academy sessions in a row.  That's a record for the ages!  Well worth the effort.  Just to add a bit of spice, we had a guest coach tonight, with a guest assistant.  Sami, Adelaide's resident smiling Finnish coach, took the session with Chris as his assistant as there were a few of us.  I've heard of Sami's sessions before though have never had the pleasure.  So, though a bit sorry that wouldn't get a chance to say thanks to Cory for a great several months, was intrigued by the time the session started.

It started pretty simple, with a warning that we were going to spend the first half hour or so on 'boring' skating.  Which suited everyone fine this week, it seemed.  I know it did me!

Began by doing tightish turns in a circuit of all five circles from one end to the other.  Couple laps there and back with inside edges, then twice as much on the outside.  Idea was not to cut the ice, to generate the turn by the pivot of the upper body (shoulders) towards the centre of the circle.  Stick in two hands and blade on the ice towards the centre of each turn.

Then, working in pairs, put two sticks on the ice end to end.  Do figure eights around/over them on inside, then outside edges.  Then, on the one foot, hop the length of the two sticks landing on alternating sides of the sticks with each hop.  Tough to do!

Then, three pucks in a line between the blue lines.  Skate to the first puck and then on one foot curve your way through the next two (again, not cutting the ice, doing it with the upper body).  Do it twice each way.  Add a puck, repeat the exercise, and again.  Add another puck, do it five times each way.

Then, skate entirely down the ice on the one foot.  Get your initial push off by jumping forwards from a one footed start, and as your momentum pulls you up, push off again with jumping hop on that foot.  If your other skate touches the ice go back to the start.  After several failed attempts I managed to make it - to the encouraging cheers of my classmates as I bunnyhopped my painful way across the closing stretch with ever decreasing power in each jump.  I think it was their cheers that got me over the line!  Then it was do it back the other way.  And again, and again, on the other foot.

Then, for those who'd had some success (I'd finally made it on the right foot as outlined above, and made it easier by the time I got onto my left foot) repeat the exercise except now add a one foot stop on each blue line.  If your other foot touched the ice, go back to the start.  I was on about my fourth attempt when it was time to get a drink (actually, now I think of it, I think I stubbornly finished it on my right foot as he'd called it as I'd successfully stopped on the second blue line for the first time).

The latter half of the session was more concentrated on skill with the puck, beginning with passing/receiving.  A player on each board.  One player with puck skates towards the opposite side, passes to their opposite number when they are about half way.  Second player receives the puck and commences skating towards the next player on the opposite side until they are about half way, passes it, etc.  With paired groups composed of three players each side, had about twice as long a rest between the runs, which is about right for mild anaerobic training.

Then, step it up by now skating at some speed towards the opposite side, pass it when ready, keep skating to receive the returned pass from Player 2, pass it back to them.  They then head off and repeat the exercise the other way with the third skater (who'd been waiting behind player 1).  What was interesting was that accuracy, power and speed picked up as we went, despite the additional complexity.

Then, three or four rounds of the puck possession game (all in between the blue lines with a puck each, try and knock everyone else's puck out of the area while keeping yours in, if your puck gets knocked out of the contest area, you get out of the zone).  Drink.

Return for a body checking game (just what I needed after my experience in the game on Saturday), with one player defending a circle against another who was trying to get in.  Got way overpowered with my small size and frame and not knowing how to use it properly.  By the last attempt at a breakin, however, my body had worked out a new 'trick' and was able to 'roll' off and around the tall strong young guy who'd had it all over everyone till then and into the zone.  Much to his surprise.  I just wish that I could reconstruct how I did it exactly!

Then, some shooting.  Start midway between blue line and goal, everyone shoots.  Those who miss, go and entertain themselves up the other end.  Survivors, shoot from the blue line.  Survivors, shoot from the centre, then the far blue line, hashmarks in the opposite zone.  By the time they got to the opposite goal line, only two shooters left.

End of the session, a bit less than five minutes of free time.  Yay.

The stretching, comradely banter in the change room, snack on banana and bottle of orange juice, the drive home and after match meal.  All a most excellent way to end off what has been a great term of skill development.

Now up to me to put it into practice.