Fridge

Fridge

Sunday 30 November 2014

Saturday midday family skate

Young A (5 y.o.) has got his own ice skates now and was very keen to try them out, Saturday was the first chance to do so.  So a bunch of us went there to share the excitement.  A's cousin, B (10 y.o), was there by popular demand, being the other one of A's generation who has got the ice bug bad.  Then there was me, Jess and Craig on the ice.  And Nan came along for the ride and to watch from the barrier.

We had a ball.  We were there a bit over an hour and a half and it was really good to spend time with A on his new skates.  He started taking tiny unassisted steps on the ice, by the end of the session he'd gone through using a sled and was back to unassisted steps.  Except that now they looked a lot more confident and one could see the beginnings of a stride happening.  He looked very pleased with himself afterwards, if a bit tired, which is what it's all about.

Craig and Jess and B had a fair bit of fun with A, and amongst themselves.  Most fun was watching B and Craig racing each other, and B showing Craig how to do hockey stops (and in doing so, demonstrating that my patient example-setting of back and forth stops on alternating feet has had its impact because that was exactly what he did with Craig to show him what to do).  B even raced me for a lap, and held it together quite well for the first half before losing it on the crossovers and apparently having a good stack (which I didn't see).

As for me, I didn't push anything too hard as I had a hockey game that evening and another the next day and knew I'd need to conserve my energy for that.  It was great fun though, playing the patriarch of this growing skating clan!

At the end of it all I learned that both Jess and Craig have now ordered themselves their own skates (Bauer Supremes) and they should be there in a week.  I can see Craig moving into Ice Academy in first term next year.  Jess denies she will, but would be pretty good if she did and I'd put money on her joining the family pursuit at around the same time.

Finally, Jess located a bargain deal for Ice Arena tickets recently, which gets us on the ice for about half price.  Yay Jess!



Friday Shoot

I'm dropping behind in trying to keep up with events in this skating life so will probably keep things short until back in 'real time'.

Following my revelation on Thursday evening that I'll have to step up a bit on the D (because the Knights were going to be down two of our best D's on Sunday) I decided to concentrate entirely on shooting with some power.  So I did.

One hundred shots from the 30' line, 5 hit the pole.
One hundred shots from between 60' and 90', 4 hit the pole.
25 forehand shots from 15', 5 hit the pole.

My hard hits from distance weren't real slapshots, where the stick hits the floor surface an inch or two behind the puck to generate additional whipping 'flex' energy in the shot, but full blooded strikes on the puck from a backswing.  I was reasonably happy with the accuracy, was starting to get the weight transfer happening by the last half of the session.

All in all, worth the effort and will repeat.

Friday 28 November 2014

(Late) Game Day - Knights (4) d Flyers (0)

On Sunday we played the Flyers for the second time of three this season.  For the second time we shut them out.  These have been their only defeats.  We're now second on the ladder, (ironically behind the Flyers), ahead of the Redwings on goal differential.  We play the Redwings this Sunday.

Again, I was fortunate enough to have a friend in the stands with a phone/camera and have put the three periods worth of highlights up on Youtube.  Thanks Lizardking!


Both teams started with eleven skaters and their regular goalies.  We lost Cam part way through the first period due strained abductor muscle, which meant we then were rotating through 3 D for the rest of the game.  However, Cam was involved in our first goal with an assist, so at least he got on the board.  The video shows our goalie having trouble with his straps.  It doesn't show one of our players being called for not having a chin strap on his helmet.  He was able to play out the game, but will have to have things fixed by the next game.  We went into first intermission with a 1-0 lead.


The second period was gritty.  Neither team scored in this period, still 1-0 after the second.


Final period saw a bit of blitz, with three goals going into their net.  We managed to keep them out of ours.  Tommy was shining in goal.  With about a minute to go I was back in our zone and followed one of their wingers into the slot, thinking there's no way that I'm going to let them steal Tommy's shutout.  So I gave her an opportune shove to clear the net.  Had done so also in the second at one point, realised I'll have to work on this aspect of my game a bit (which we subsequently did in training).  It was great to celebrate the win as a team and to have given Tommy his first shutout.

*

I was reasonably satisfied with my game, although lots of room for improvement.  I think I had two hopeless shots towards goal, one being a backhand snap.  Both got snarled up in front of the net.  New aspects were my aforementioned clearing of the netfront, a couple times battling on the boards to hold the puck there, and a slightly more forward defence when trying to contain their breakouts.  Several times I successfully used an active stick to disrupt a speeding forward's shot entirely, or at least hasten it before they were properly set.

My weakest points was being a bit late on the turn around to cover their breaking forwards, and several failures to block a contested puck.  Also, not taking that extra second to look before making a clearing pass (or, indeed, after capturing the puck before it could leave their zone and passing it back in).

Overall, our team rocked, with continual searching for the shot and plenty of communication.  I heard from the stands that we looked like a hockey team more than ever before, rather than a bunch of players.  From their goalie, that we were the most aggressive team he's yet faced this season (and he's now faced them all).  And, to me personally by a stranger spectator, that I seemed to have the opposition's playbook because I seemed to be always in the way.  Which was a great compliment for this budding defender!  Of the goals caught on video, I was on for two of them, and had literally just stepped on the ice when another went in.  Which is +3 for the game!

This coming Sunday, schedule has changed so we will be playing the Redwings at 5pm.

GP 6 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 +4 4/1/1

Short Shoot

I was going to have a day off of skating yesterday until I reviewed the fact that as a Defenceman in games where we will be playing with one D less than the usual four (due injury to Cam) it is my duty to my team to step up the (blue) line in terms of both conditioning and technique.  Particularly, putting the puck onto the net from the blue line.  So I ended up going for a short shoot down at the primary school (and will do so again tonight and tomorrow morning, and hopefully Sunday morning as well).

Because of time constraints I only had a half hour from the time I left home, which meant that I only had time to get off a few shots before returning.  Still, it was fun while it lasted.  Scored 5/25 skating in from centre to shoot from 30' or more, with the majority of the remainder passing within a couple of inches from my two inch target.

Tonight I'll take a little more time and see if can't increase the power a bit.

Wednesday Skate

I went down the Ice Arena on Wednesday night with Jess and Craig.  It kind of fell together at the last moment so they weren't properly prepared and had to borrow some long sleeved tops of mine so they didn't freeze.  It ended up with the three of us in similar but different hockey sweaters.  Jess made my St Louis Blues jersey look great, Craig was happy to wear a Canucks top, and I wore my CKA St Petersburg one.  So we were all in royal blue.  Looked like quite the trio!

It was busier than the week before, probably at least seven or eight hockey players that I know of doing laps.  I took it fairly easy, not at any stage pushing the envelope in terms of speed.  I did drive myself fairly hard doing lateral moves with reverse crossovers, particularly to the left (ie against the usual anticlockwise flow of social skating sessions).  I was beginning to feel like I was nailing it in the last few minutes, noticed a few of my opposition friends watching me out of the corner of their eyes as I did so.  That gave me more of a sense of affirmation than my own judgement.

Jess and Craig and I are likely to be there again on Saturday in the early afternoon, along with a couple of young ones.  'A' has his first pair of skates and is soooo keen to use them.  How could I say 'no' to the invite?!  This despite having to get up to Gawler for the early inline game in the evening.

Looking forward to it.

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Knights Training

Last night we had Knights training on the small ice.  Initially it looked like only three of us were there, but it filled out to be 4 D and about 6 Forwards from combined Knights and Bombers teams (the Bombers are our related Div I team).

Again, it was a great session, leaving me exhausted but more knowledgeable about my role within the team and a few more specific skills that I hope to put into play this week in our Sunday game against the Kings.  The drills were limited in number, allowing us to develop the insights gained.  I noticed that performance and aptitude increased during each one as a result..

The emphasis shifted more towards game-like situations than it was last week.  We started with the breakout horseshoe from opposing corners (we had two goalies this week).  Then a two-part drill.  In its first iteration, one forward skated backwards from a corner next to the goal, up the board towards centre ice, passing back and forth with the next forward in the corner line a couple of times.  The skating forward then transitioned in a long loop behind the centre line to steam in towards the goal down the other side and receive a third pass before taking a shot.  Meanwhile, the 'passing forward' had moved towards the goal and was trying to screen the goalie while a defender tried to clear them from the crease. D and goalie changed over every five or six plays.

In its second iteration, the screening forward and clearing D remained in front of goal.  This time, however, there were two D's at point.  The F in the corner passed fairly quickly to one, then the other, of the D's who had a shot.  After each play, the D's rotated through the three roles available, and the passing forward moved into the screening forward role.

We then completed a 'God exercise' (where coach indicates with her stick to all the players in a line in front of her which direction (left or right) they are to do crossover steps, or whether they are to get down on the ice or get up to their feet) which is about conditioning and maintaining bent knees.  The session wound up with a few penalty shots (my backhand was the most effective I noticed, but only if I held it till what seemed like the absolute last moment before whipping it in).

The valuable lessons learned for me were when I briefly played a screening forward role, and used my light feet to roll around much stronger defence players (two of the three shots I screened went in) and, most practically considering my present role as a D, how I generally managed to clear the opposition forwards by shoving them at opportune moments with my stick grasped in both hands, driving from my blades rather than from my upper body.  By the end of the clearance drills I was generally leaving my goalie with an unobstructed view of the shot (whereas when I started I was adding to the screening effect as I struggled to mover bigger and stronger players with strength alone).

I dare say we'll be a more aggressive team when we play the Kings than we were on the last occasion.  I suspect we'll need to be.

Sunday 23 November 2014

Midday Skate (and Knights shutout Flyers)

Today, I went for a short river skate at midday to stretch the legs after a rainy day off yesterday.  I did it in the reverse of usual anti-clockwise direction for the express intent of giving me my hardcore hill climb at the end.  I gave myself short five pace sprints along the smooth river path, transitions along the smoothest stretch of quiet side street that I covered, and powered up the hill in less strides than I have in quite a while.  This was followed by a good stretch and a hearty lunch, as game preparation for Knights v Flyers later in the afternoon.

I'll post a 'game day' report later this week, once the videos have been uploaded (thanks Lizardking!) and I have seen the official match card.  For the present, suffice to say that we shutout the Division leader Flyers 4-0.  This was their second loss to us (both shutouts), their only losses this season.  Tommy was on song in the goals, we were playing more like a team than previously, I was on the ice for three of our goals (albeit one when I had literally taken one step onto the ice during a line change when it went in).

Friday 21 November 2014

Game Day - Sharks (4) d Knights (3)

 


The 'high'lights in respect of my game are fairly obvious in the first period.  In my first shift I collide at fairly slow speed with a giant of a Shark, which causes my knee to freak out so I struggle off and sit out the next shift or two while my team mates cover for my knee's recovery.  I return to the ice for the faceoff after our opponents score, only to be present (indeed, in the goal mouth) for their second goal.  I watch our first from the bench, but am in the precedent defensive play to Christian's single handed assault into the O zone and score.  Although it's not caught on the video (which is why I know that not all my shifts are captured) I was banged to the ice a second time in this period, although this time it was by a team mate who'd drifted down into the corner and into what I thought was clear ice as I backed out of a battle in preparation for a rush.  That one hurt my knee far more than the hit with the opponent and I admit I was cursing my team mate as I limped back to the bench.

 

My highlight of the second period was my shot at goal from the point, which resulted in a bit of a scramble over the rebound and our team's third goal.  Again, no points went my way but I certainly (helped) create the situation that ended in our goal, very pleased.  To bring me back to earth, the next play was a goal to them, with me on the ice again. 


The third period was a bit brutal, with them scoring what turned out to be the game winning goal about half way through.  We were able to maintain our sustained assault on their goal for much of the period, with no result.  My best play was to take the pass from one of several final minute face offs and get a nice pass through to Tom in the high slot.  He didn't get a clean one timer, so it came to nothing, but I executed really nicely to capitalise on Christian's win in the draw.  No complaints.

*

If you've watched the above videos you'll know that the game was pretty harsh at times, with quite a bit of roughing going on.  It was also highly enjoyable at the time, though would have been nice to see us capitalise a bit more on our 26 official shots on goal (they only had 13).  As a team, we put it down to a bit of the 'hero' attitude (which caused players to play out of position) and lack of communication.  In other words, we weren't playing as much as a team as we had the week previously.

For me, I did some things well and some things not so.  The positives include my one shot on goal, a few nice passes under pressure, a couple successful races for the puck or to at least disrupt an attack.  My main failing was not successfully committing when pinching forward into the O zone to grab a loose puck (allowing them to get behind me), not being strong enough on the block when trying to stop them raiding up the board a couple times (allowing them to get behind me), and playing too far back to be effective at cutting their options.  All these things can be improved upon.

GP 5 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 +1 3/2/0

Evening Shoot

I skated down to the local school again this evening, gone for just over an hour.  Very peaceful down there, only a couple dog walkers on the oval.  Took the time to put in 25 shots while skating in from 30 feet (I hit my target with six of them).  Then a little bit of tight turning transitions, with and without puck, then my usual 100 shots (8/4/8/3).  I finished up the night with a few short dash sprints before skating home up the hill over the purple carpet of fallen jacaranda petals.

Thursday 20 November 2014

Schoolyard puck

As a means of avoiding doing a core/upper body circuits this evening, I went for an inline skate to the schoolyard with puck'n'stick in hand.  I didn't bog myself down too much with any concentrated drills, instead taking dynamic shots from beyond the thirty foot line at my netball goalpost target.  Most memorably, getting four 'dings' in a row after coming in with transitions on an angle, deking at speed.  I probably only hit it three more times in another twenty shots, but no matter!  Also spent some time on a four cornered tight turn circuit, initially without and then with stick'n'puck.  Only did 25 forehand snaps (7 hits), spent more time just skating.

Trip home worked the quads and glutes quite well up the hill, though judging by the number of strides I still aren't generating full power.  That's six nights in a row with some form of skating!

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Wednesday night social skate

For the fifth day in a row I did some skating.  Tonight, went to the Ice Arena with Craig for a bit over an hour.  Was a smallish crowd there, not too many whom I know personally, maybe it's got something to do with combination of relative heat today, and the fact that all the hockey players are already fitting in games and trainings to their schedule.  I must admit that I probably wouldn't have gone myself, except that Craig was pretty keen.

I stayed on the ice the whole time, with edgework, a helluva lot of backwards crossovers each way, C Cuts, and both tight turns and transitions.  Maybe a dozen drilled hockey stops and a couple hundred metres spent on my toe tips.  I even tried a few three-turns in the centre circle, so my knee is definitely on the improve.

My logic was that ice time is for development of skating techniques, Knights training is for team and positional tactics, schoolyard shooting galleries are for development of hockey specific skills (ie stick and puck), games are for fun and for the compete.

Five days of skating though, takes it out of one, I think I'll go to bed rather than work on my promised Knights v Sharks game day post.

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Knights' Training

 Tonight was a combined training with our coach's two C Grade teams, the Knights from Div II and the Bombers from Div I.  Justine was assisted by Justin (!), a self confessed one time 'enforcer' in A Grade but a good honest hockey player at that, and who has a lot of hockey experience to share.  There wasn't a huge amount of talk talk, it was mainly go go.  Nine Knights showed up.  Skills and role based, beginning with the basics, I found it a very good session.

Big horsehoe, rushing pairs (with and without a defender), a shooting tutorial, backwards blind passing (ie communication!), breakouts of five v 2D.  A good use of an hour.

I particularly enjoyed the times I got to play in the defence role.  Having found myself playing the position this season I have been on a fairly steep learning curve in a positional/skills sense but have had little opportunity except games during which to put it into practice.  A half hour of repeated drills where I got to practice maintaining the gap, active stick, clearing or holding the blue line, covering the pass, watching the chest, clearing the crease and holding the corners, passing up the ice, working with my partner, was excellent!

I'll aim at putting into practice when we play the Flyers on Sunday.

I am still to post a Game Day report about the Knights 3-4 loss to the Sharks on Sunday.  I'm just too busy.  At least I have some video of the game so it's not just a fading blurring memory that I will be relying upon when I come to write it.

Monday 17 November 2014

Hello, Neighborhood!

I went for a short inline skate this evening, just before sunset.  This is the first real street skating I've done in over a month.  It was great to do.  I did it without taping up my knee, despite the slight swellling resulting from last night's battle at the Ice Arena (we lost 4-3 to the Sharks, Gameday report to follow...).

I went for a short river skate.  It was no real surprise to find that my conditioning is way down on what it was a few months ago, although my confidence and crispness have both markedly improved.   It was lovely to skate down streets surrounded by the purple blooming of the jacaranda trees and other assorted spring time scents, the birdsong, magical light of the sinking sun, regular river walkers and runners.

I'd worked up a sweat by the time I skated up the hill to home.  No adverse consequences for the leg, felt my skating muscles finding themselves by the time I got up the drive.  It's good to be back!

Knight's training tomorrow.

Saturday 15 November 2014

Game Day - Rockers (5) d Wheelers (2)

It seemed that the puck gods were against us tonight, though is obviously not the only reason we lost so comprehensively to the Rockers.  We might have had 26 shots on goal to their 13, but we didn't have the cannon who scored all five of their goals.  Weak excuses?  Perhaps, considering we defeated them in the first round of the season, but it seemed we didn't do anything very wrong in our game tonight and it seemed to make no difference.  I guess some nights are like that!

We kept the same lines as we had last week, and everybody had shots on goal.  We all covered defence fairly well.  One of their goals was gotten on the break, one was an unchecked forward in the goal mouth, the rest were slapshots from thirty feet.

Despite the scoreline, I was fairly happy with my defensive game.  I blocked or deflected several shots and more passes, did a couple of stick checks (including one from behind a breaking Rocker, much to his disgust), delayed and forced onto the outside their star attackers on several occasions.  My passing was pretty good, although one was intercepted.  I had four faceoffs and won three.  Crashed into the boards several times, slightly straining my left tricep in an offensive jam in the corner.  I had six shots on goal, all trapped by their young goalie, and went off to the side on three.  None went in.  I set up our first goal, directing Krystal into the net and passing off to Craig who then moved it to her and then in.  I wasn't credited with any points.  I was on for both of our goals and two of theirs.

If anything, we could do a bit more talking amongst ourselves.  Apart from that, one can't complain about having 26 shots as a team.  Will just have to learn to shoot harder!

Tomorrow night, Knights v Sharks at the Ice Arena at 6:15pm.

GP 4 G 5 A 3 Pts 8 +6 1/1/2

Thursday 13 November 2014

Wednesday Skate - full movement!

I went on my own to the Arena for about eighty minutes' skating last night.  It was a good session, not a huge amount a people so there was lots of room to be able to push myself through various large scale maneuvers at speed.  I didn't once push myself into overspeed, but took things to my skill limited maximum velocity for several laps at a time while powerstriding, 'running', forwards and backwards crossover and gliding slaloms across half the ice with each loop, tight forwards and backwards slaloms and heel to heels along the goal lines, transitions both ways along the boards and on bends.  I ended the evening with tight figure eights using outside edges, heel to heels, forwards and backwards crossovers both with and without transitions.  Basically, my essential hockey skating routines without my stick.

No pain.  No limitations out of my right knee.  I intentionally put myself through routines featuring elements that had jammed my leg as recently as one week ago.  This took a bit of fortitude, but the idea was to test out my recovery to see if I am ready for the next phase.  It seems that I am.

Better get to it then...

Monday 10 November 2014

Game Day - Knights (7) d Kings (2)

We played the early game on Sunday afternoon against the Kings at the Ice Arena.  It was our biggest victory to date in terms of score.  We played with ten skaters and Tommy in goal.  The Kings had eight skaters plus goalie.  I found out after the game that the Kings had had their star centre promoted up to First Division (he'd been dominating the ice too much in the five previous games).

We scored our first goal after half a minute, the second was seven minutes later.  In the second period we scored within the first two minutes, and then again five minutes later.  The only penalties were simultaneous slashing and roughing minors given to Aaron for his striking back at their goalie for her constant chipping at our player's feet, and subsequently pushing their D into the boards when that unfortunate skated in to defend his goalie.  On the subsequent penalty kill we scored a short handed goal and they got onto the board with one of their own.  Five minutes later we put on our sixth goal.  In the final forty seconds of the game we scored our seventh, and they put in a final rushed goal with three seconds to go.

We had three players who scored three points on the day, with five others scoring at least a point.  We now sit second on the ladder, one game behind the Flyers (our season opener victory over them being their only defeat).  We lead the table in penalty minutes, and have the two most penalised players.  Next week we play the lowly placed Sharks.

I played around twenty four minutes on the ice.  I started on the wing for a couple of shifts, was just making the mental adjustment from having played defence so far this season when was given first option to go back to defence.  I had no problems with doing this and played out the rest of the game there, generally partnering Mike.  I was given the option to go back on offence if I wished, but I was more than happy learning my chops on D (one also gets more ice time on a the back end).  I didn't get any points but was on the ice for three of our goals.  I was also present when they scored their power play goal (though I didn't have any direct input around their scoring play).

My two shifts on the wing were played in the offensive zone, nothing particularly memorable in them except that I was beginning to get the feel of it again by the time I was given the option of moving back into defence.

For a change, I didn't ice the puck once, wasn't caught offside, didn't pass the puck offside, didn't have any of my passes intercepted.  I kept the puck in their zone a couple of times, and several times held it in the neutral zone before relaunching the attack.  Did a couple of nice D to D passes in these circumstances.  I was not involved in the play which resulted in their first goal, this despite being out there on the penalty kill.  The only advice I was given on my play through the game was after a couple shifts on D when Coach gave me some guidance on positioning (the concept of one up, one back) which I followed from then on.

I had a couple of shots towards goal from the point in the first period, neither with a chance of going in as I effectively put it into a melee of players before the crease.  These were my only shots all game, the rest of it was generally in a containment role (when we were in attack) or last line defence.

I lost my feet from under me on four occasions when skating.  Once in the first when back checking on a rushing forward with no one else between me and the goalie.  I managed to control my slide so that still kept the opposition on the outside, giving time for our centre to get involved.  I also fell down once on the break (transition) with no loss except a possible scoring opportunity (I would have been clear into the O zone if hadn't fallen) and once in the corner.

My most dramatic play was the fourth time I lost my feet.  It was in the third period and I'd come out from the right corner to protect the goal from two lurking forwards.  Two of us tangled and we both went down, me releasing my stick in the move so that I didn't get called for tripping.  The puck was on the ice in front of my loose stick as I could see the second forward coming in for the shot, our goalie was down and out of position behind me.  I didn't try and grab my stick, instead pushed it with both hands to block the shot (which I did, twice, the second time the forward came down).  Then there was a welter of sticks and blades and skates striking at the puck, with my stick the main line of containment until others piled in also.  Eventually there were four bodies on the ice, me and my stick on the bottom, when Tommy finally got his glove over the pile and onto the puck and brought on the whistle.

I was pretty happy with my role in this one.  It was nice to have a nice win.  After the game we thought that we'd been much better with our on ice communication.   To me, this was confirmed in separate conversations I had with three Kings players I know after the game.  All of them independently brought up the fact that our passing had been very good.  I saw this as a consequence of our increased chatter.  I also know that a couple of times when I either got drawn down on the offence or onto the left boards in defence (and thus out of position) I was able to direct either my wing or D partner to cover my zone, and they did.  Good stuff.

My knee gave no grief.  This is good as it is now five weeks since I got trampled, I was hoping to be returning to full capacity by now.  Although I continue to tape it when skating I am now at the point where I need to work on its flexibility, and get back to building strength in the legs and core more generally while I rebuild my match fitness.  I didn't suffer any lasting effect from playing inline hockey the night before so the back to back games every weekend might be having their own positive effect in this respect.

Next weekend, Wheelers v Rockers and Knights v Sharks.

GP 4 G 0 A 0 Pts 0 +2 3/1/0

Sunday 9 November 2014

Game Day - Wheelers (3) tie Bumpers (3)

Another close game last night at Gawler saw us open the scoring, eventually surrendering a 3-1 lead for a tight draw.  We had our full team of skaters for the first time (with a reserve goalie, however).  It was nice to be able to run two 'permanent' lines of three skaters, letting us keep the shifts to manageable length and put some effort into the team work.  I was on the rink a little over twenty two minutes, split into maybe five shifts per half.

I was on a line with Craig and Krystal.  Craig was solid on the backcheck, Krystal was most useful when closing on their net, I played my usual utility role.  I had about three decent shots at goal, and rushed for the rebound that many times also.  I took about five face offs, clearly winning three and tying up the other two.

My line faced their 'A' line most of the time during the first half, but only about half our starts in the second were against them.  It was their 'B' line which scored on us with five minutes to go and tying the game, which just goes to show.

I was on the rink for all three of our goals, and the last of theirs.  The first goal saw me carry the puck out of defence, holding it after a quick exchange of passes with Craig to allow him to put himself closer to the net.  A tape to tape pass and he popped it in.  I didn't get credited with anything for our second goal, because I was in the high slot and covering defence as Craig took the puck from the right corner behind their net while I urged Krystal to get in to the crease.  She did so, and was in a perfect position to receive a short pass from Craig and one time it in from about three feet before the goalie could scramble across to cover her.

Our third goal, in the second half, turned out to be a relatively simple affair.  I had a shot which rebounded into the left corner, where Krystal gathered it.  She held it long enough for me to maneuver in the slot to give her an outlet as the oppo closed in.  She moved it towards me through traffic.  It would have been awkward for me to do anything but gather and settle it down.  Thus I was very pleased to hear Craig's voice behind me as he pinched down from centre calling for me to leave it for him.  So I pulled my stick up at the last moment, allowing him a clean scoring shot.  Sweet.

As the above shows, all three of our goals relied on passing and communications.  The goal they got against my line showed the danger of not talking.  We were in attack, should have made something of it.  On three separate plays, though, there was confusion and hesitation on our part in close in play, each time allowing their players to move it closer to our goal.  It ended with the puck in the back of our net, tying the game.

My favourite play for the evening was crashing near the boards in our defence, with one of their players down with me and another coming in.  My stick was knocked out of my hands, but I still managed to push it to knock the puck with the shaft and prevent their loose skater taking it away.  I was onto my feet quickly, still stickless, used my feet to block their next attempt to retreive the puck.  The puck rebounded a few feet towards their goal, I chase it and kicked it a few feet more.  Used my body to shield it as it moved, then kicked it again just before they could get around me so that the puck cleared over half way.  That gave me time to turn back and get my stick.

Very satisfying. 

Tonight, the Knights take on the Kings in what should be an even grungier game.

GP 3 G 5 A 3 Pts 8 +6 1/0/2 

Wednesday 5 November 2014

Knights Training

On Tuesday night we had Knights training at the small ice at the Arena.  Coach couldn't make it for personal reasons, so Nick took the session.  He's a goalie, which was good for the two goalies we had turn up (one of whom was our new Knights goalie, Tommy).  There were about six other players, both Div I and II players, so it was a nice size grouping.

Commenced with basic tight turn skating drills, forwards and backwards doing full loops around all the circles.  I pulled off tighter loops with more accuracy going in reverse!  Then, side stepping practice across the ice up and back, basic breakout drills from the corners, centre based D drill, Big passing horseshoes, point to point passing, 3 on 3 small game, closing off the hour with a few runs at penalty shots.  Totally knackered by the end of the 3 on 3.

Knee held up on me beautifully.  Very encouraging considering that I didn't hold back on any of the drills.  Only the one minor moment of weakness when didn't bend the knees enough on the tight turns.  Conditioning will need work, but survived better this week than would have done last week.  Doubt that I'll make it next week due work commitment, but will if I can.

When I got home my knee felt the best it has in over a month, nice and loose and no dramas.  Was good to get the tape off of it (am only leaving the tape on for games and skating now, taking it off for general day to day stuff as much as possible).

Will try and start up with some quickness and conditioning exercise over the next few days leading into the Wheelers game on Saturday (when we play the Bumpers) and the big one on Sunday (playing the Kings for what will be a tough match in the early game).

Monday 3 November 2014

Sunday Skate

The Knights had the bye during the current round in Div II ice hockey so I had Sunday afternoon off.  Came through on my promise to B, that we'd get to the Arena on those weekends when I don't play on Sunday.  We were accompanied by Craig, who is definitely developing a taste for the sport of skating.

We were there just under ninety minutes.  I stayed on the rink the whole time.  I didn't go over once.  I took it very easy for the first fifteen minutes, then slowly worked my way through the various maneuvers, paying particularly careful attention to those that have previously given me discomfort or pain.  The only maneuvers that I drilled with any discipline were maybe thirty stops, tight gliding turns, 'running' crossovers.  I spent much of my time skating backwards, trying to replicate a few of the moves I do fairly comfortably forwards (eg C cut power strokes, slalom and outside edge turns, alternating crossunders).

By the end of the session I'd given my body a good workout, hitting about 90% effort at times.  The knee held up admirably, and didn't swell later.  Starting to regain my skating confidence.  It's now been four weeks since I was crashed and trampled.  On schedule, in other words.

I have Knights training on Tuesday, possibly a public skate on Wednesday, Wheelers game on Saturday.  I'll need to keep my priorities clear, DON'T injure myself again before the game on Sunday arvo, DO push my limits further with each session and start regaining game condition.

RIP Hugo

Eight years old, sitting next to his dad in the stands in a game at Dunkirk, France, on the weekend.  Three minutes from full time.  Puck deflected into stands.  Strikes Hugo behind the ear.  Cardiac arrest.  Revived.  Pass away in hospital.  R.I.P. Hugo.

Link
Link

Saturday 1 November 2014

Game Day - Wheelers (5) tie Shufflers (5)

We played a tough and tight final game of the night against the Shufflers after a pretty dramatic day on the rink.  My night began upon arrival, when I noticed that the game that was underway was paused, and a player was down on the rink and in a bad way.  All play stopped while an ambulance was summoned.  The player was my nemesis from last week, Greg of the Rockers, and it became pretty clear that he'd snapped his leg just above the ankle.  This was the result of a 'blue on blue' collision.  What could you say except that bad shit happens, that's hockey, and join the round of applause as they stretchered him off.

This had served to delay the evening by about fifty minutes, which had consequential effects upon the rosters in our game, the final one of the evening.  For example, we lost Merrilyn who had to get to work.  Paul, who'd played in the earlier game, played with us as a reserve.  Apart from him and me, Brenton and Natasha played, Jordyn was in net (she'd played in goal in the tied game before ours also), and Krystal came on board for her first game as a Wheeler (she'd also filled as a reserve in an earlier game).  The Shufflers had three reserves playing for them, Donna, Mal and Nat the Goalie staying on from earlier Div II game to join the three Shufflers present.

The late hour, the earlier injury, the plethora of reserves and the fact that they (together with Jordyn, Krystal, and Nikolette of the Shufflers) had all played in an earlier game meant that it would be an interesting gig.  We had three 'fresh' and two 'tired' skaters.  They had two 'fresh' and three 'tired' skaters.  Both teams had a 'tired' goalie.

In the first half we had fifteen shots on goal, they had fourteen.  We led 3-2 at half time.  In the second half, we had only two shots to their ten.  Luckily, both of ours went in, because the final score was a 5-5 tie.  I scored my first ever hat trick, matched with one by a Shuffler, from my five shots at goal.  This despite the fact that played the huge majority of the game in defensive mode where I stick checked, body blocked or kicked away at least six shots at goal.  My most arsey move was an almost casual backwards foot rise to kick aside a puck as it flew behind after being slapped at goal by the opposition point.  It was a pretty neat trick!

I came out hard in the first half, played a seven minute shift to open (!) with no goals being scored.  I spent much of my time physically checking the two gun Shuffler forwards, keeping them on the outside or out of the slot until my legs started to fade.  When I got off the rink, it was 0-0.  My aim was to prevent them getting into a dominant position early, psychologically perhaps moreso than with regard to the scoreboard, as they had in their game the previous week.  While I recovered, both teams got a goal.  For my next shift, I rushed the net in the first couple of plays, resulting in a one on one between me and the goalie with the puck beneath her body between her legs, me looking at it and pushing it through and over the line before the whistle went.  Very similar to last week's goal.  2-1.

My second goal came near the start of the following shift, a fast skate up the board to gather a loose puck from Brenton, gather, steady, shoot with a low strong wristshot through the goalie's legs. 3-1.  Scattered applause.  This shot from the centreline is my longest distance score to date.  Goes to show, accuracy is at least as important as power.  They pulled it back a couple minutes later and the score at half time was 3-2.

The second half wasn't two minutes old before the Shufflers tied the score with a snapshot from point.  3-3.  Then came twelve minutes of unrelenting hockey, mainly in our zone with us scrambling to cover both shot and pass.  It was somewhere in this passage of play that I deflected a number of shots on goal with my feet (including the aforementioned backwards kick) and also shut off the goal mouth in some pretty brutal stick checking on the swooping forwards.  Desperate stuff.  But it paid off at the 6 minute mark when I intercepted a wayward pass and swooped diagonally forwards before cutting back across the goal and firing another strong wrister from about 30'.  Goal!  4-3.  I was off the rink when they got the equaliser about a minute later.

Five minutes to go, the game was tied at 4-4.  Then came a goal to them that I am still a bit cheesed off about.  I took a faceoff in our zone.  I got it to the boards and pushed it forward while battling one of their forwards.  Got the puck free and up the boards and 'slam' it stopped at the feet of a referee.  Chase it.  Win it.  Referee's foot still in the way.  Maneuver it past, referee moves and succeeds in blocking the puck again.  I tell him to watch what he's doing (he had been busy chatting to someone off the rink!) as the battle continues.  Me and opponent keep scrabbling around the puck, both eventually falling down.  Their other gun pounces, I delay him with my stick blocking the puck as I get to my feet.  Opponent takes off finally and I began pursuit, only to have to lose a pace or two as the referee moves across my path.  Opponent swoops and scores goal.  4-5.

With about a minute to go I see Paul neatly slot his second goal to tie it up again at 5-5.  I'm on the rink for the last half a minute.  There's two faceoffs in that time.  We end up clearing it and the siren goes.  The game is a tie.  It had been tough.  It had been close.  Archetypical moment - in the play that led to their final goal seeing Brenton throw himself onto the floor for a shot block in front of our goal.  Desperate good stuff.

My knee held up for the whole game.  Thus, it continues to improve.  My shots were accurate, the practice is paying off.  Perhaps most importantly, I had more practice at playing defence against skilled physical players.  Four face offs, two wins.  This was perhaps my best game.  And that's not just because of my scoring, or blocked shots, or minutes on rink, or defensive play.  But because it all happened together in the one game for a change.

In the last three games of the evening at Gawler tonight a total of 35 goals were scored.  Two games were ties, both decided in the final minute of play.  The other game was a one goal victory.  The league not only feels like the competition is closer, it actually looks like it is.  Well done to the organisers!

Finally, I finally picked up my gold medal and MVP trophy/plaque from last season.  I haven't won a trophy since my primary school soccer days.  Yipee!

GP 2 G 5 A 1 Pts 6 +4 1/0/1