Team lists for the Adelaide Summer League Ice Hockey competition were announced last night and for the first time in six years my name wasn't there. I had to make a very difficult decision earlier in the year which resulted in my not registering to play this season. It was not an easy decision to make but I had no realistic options. Life has gotten extremely busy with some intense family commitments that are unpredictable in their timing and duration, some new weekday commitments that make a heavy demand on my body, and financial contraints. Any one (or even two) of these factors could have been worked around, but not all three. I would have ended up taking a roster position on the Knights and not being able to make an indeterminate number of games. Not very good, considering my circumstances prevent my from practice and training in any event. So, to be fair to myself and to my team I let it slide for this season.
I didn't realise how much I would be affected by my withdrawal from the team. On the night the team lists were released I found myself extremely maudlin, moping around the house looking at a grey world. It's the closest I've been to being depressed for years and I didn't like it. The next day a friend observed that this showed how much I enjoyed the game and all that goes with it. He was right, over the past few years my commitment to the sport has been one of the constants in my life and my personal identity. No wonder I felt aimless.
Not for long, however, because I have put in place a 'Plan B'. I will aim at returning to the ice NEXT summer, and have even put my name down for a new Knights Jersey and number allocation to make this a 'real' possibility. In the meantime, realising that I will have to keep myself in touch with skating skills and fitness, I will get out my inline skates and put in some concentrated work this summer on my own. I know enough about the sport to be able to work myself up a program that works on individual skills and conditioning. Then, come winter, I will aim at playing inline hockey at Gawler for a season. Probably Division 2, considering that I won't have played hockey for over a year by then and won't be able to make team practice. The aim of the inline games will be to satisfy the craving for competitive hockey, build up match fitness, and work on the team aspects in my development program.
It might not be as good as playing in the coming campaign, but at least it's a plan.
Now pardon my while I go away and have a good cry...
Fridge
Saturday 29 September 2018
Monday 5 March 2018
Knights Summer Season Premiers 2017/18 - Summary
The Knights had a great 17/18 summer season, finally going down 0-5 against the Blades in the third game of their semi final playoff series on March 1. We had previously finished the regular season on top of the ladder with an impressive record of 13/3/2 (including 2 shootout wins). We had the lowest number of shots on goal against (319, next was 355), second lowest number of goals against (36, best was 32), third highest +/- (22, best was 41), fourth highest penalty minutes (90, highest was 134) and assists (61, highest was 110), and fifth for shots on goal (412, highest was 525) and goals (58, highest was 90). We won second most number of games in regular time and lost the least. There were ten teams in the league, the most ever for summer.
Our roster had a goalie and sixteen skaters from about half way through the season (had been fifteen skaters previously). Six of us played every game. The lowest number of skaters we played with was 12 for one game, apart from that we were never less than fourteen skaters. Our highest goal scorer (Jay) was third in the league with 20 goals in 16 games. He also led us by coming in thirteenth for assists (8) and fifth on overall individual points (28). He was third for overall points per game. Dathan, with 22 PIMS, was fifth worst/best in the league on that measure. In the mid-season draft we were the only team from whom no one was picked (albeit only two Knights put up their hand). Every team in the league had a roster at least as full as ours, though few had such a dependable turnout every week.
We had three rookies at the start of the season (Laura, Hayley and Dan) with another (Brad) joining just before Christmas. All other players were returnees except for Jay, our star Canadian who had obviously played in the past. This was my fifth season, four played their second season, three their third, it was Tommy's fifth, and the core remained Fox, Jones and Bacon (I was regarded as a veteran by the coach).
My personal season was pretty successful, albeit I didn't score or earn any points. I ended up playing all 18 regular season and 3 playoff games. I took 8 penalty minutes (an 'illegal hit', 2 trips and a holding opponent's stick penalty), all in the regular season. I was evens on my +/- for the regular season, -2 in the playoffs. No major injuries, worst were a bruised ankle (not twisted) and sprained finger, besides the usual complement of upper body bruising and soreness from week to week. The ankle compromised my skating for the next game but that was about it as far as injuries went.
Our defensive corps benefited greatly from the full roster. Most games we played with a full complement of six players, there were about three games with five and only one with four. Defensive pairs were stable through the first fifteen or so games during which time Jonesy was my partner. After a pre-playoff reshuffle I found myself with Ash, with whom I played out the post-season. We generally had our coach managing the D gate/bench during games (while one or more of his assistants managed the forwards). As a collective we did quite well defensively, reflected in our team having the lowest number of shots against in the league.
Our roster had a goalie and sixteen skaters from about half way through the season (had been fifteen skaters previously). Six of us played every game. The lowest number of skaters we played with was 12 for one game, apart from that we were never less than fourteen skaters. Our highest goal scorer (Jay) was third in the league with 20 goals in 16 games. He also led us by coming in thirteenth for assists (8) and fifth on overall individual points (28). He was third for overall points per game. Dathan, with 22 PIMS, was fifth worst/best in the league on that measure. In the mid-season draft we were the only team from whom no one was picked (albeit only two Knights put up their hand). Every team in the league had a roster at least as full as ours, though few had such a dependable turnout every week.
We had three rookies at the start of the season (Laura, Hayley and Dan) with another (Brad) joining just before Christmas. All other players were returnees except for Jay, our star Canadian who had obviously played in the past. This was my fifth season, four played their second season, three their third, it was Tommy's fifth, and the core remained Fox, Jones and Bacon (I was regarded as a veteran by the coach).
My personal season was pretty successful, albeit I didn't score or earn any points. I ended up playing all 18 regular season and 3 playoff games. I took 8 penalty minutes (an 'illegal hit', 2 trips and a holding opponent's stick penalty), all in the regular season. I was evens on my +/- for the regular season, -2 in the playoffs. No major injuries, worst were a bruised ankle (not twisted) and sprained finger, besides the usual complement of upper body bruising and soreness from week to week. The ankle compromised my skating for the next game but that was about it as far as injuries went.
Our defensive corps benefited greatly from the full roster. Most games we played with a full complement of six players, there were about three games with five and only one with four. Defensive pairs were stable through the first fifteen or so games during which time Jonesy was my partner. After a pre-playoff reshuffle I found myself with Ash, with whom I played out the post-season. We generally had our coach managing the D gate/bench during games (while one or more of his assistants managed the forwards). As a collective we did quite well defensively, reflected in our team having the lowest number of shots against in the league.
Saturday 3 March 2018
I've let this blog slide for just over a year, only realised it had been that long when I reviewed it after the 17/18 Summer Season finished. Wow, time passes! I'll post up a season summary in near future of the season just past, but for now will complete the previous season results with an old post that never made it to the blog. Good to be back!
13/2/17 4-3 loss to Flyers. Refereeing was good except for one bad call, gave them a PP game winning goal. Sigh. Fun and tough game, at least half a dozen shot blocks on my part and a fair bit of goal front push and shove. Again, saw off two 5 on 3s, even got into a one man rush on one of them! Lots of battles on the blue lines, we played probably best positional hockey have done this year. I got credited with a goal from the point - was actually an assist as it was tipped in (barely) but I'll take the score either way. Probably my best all around defensive game, even though went -1 for the night. 1-0-1 -1 PIMS 0. End of season for us, will post up season tally soonish. Can't wait for next season.
12/2/17 4-1 loss to Rangers. Made an uncredited assist to foxy from the point with him in the slot. Played in 3 PKs, plus one 5 on 3 and a 4 on 4. They scored 5 on 5 once with me on the ice, triangle worked well around the slot with our puck chasing wingers getting in the way and confusing things. A not so enjoyable game, primarily due consistently bad refereeing and resultant agro between the teams (and some bad sportsmanship on their part). Despite all this I played okay, no-one got around me and I managed to defuse a number of rushes and ensured that no breakaways got going while I was out there. My first game with Dathon as D partner and we combined well. 0-0-0 -1 PIMS 0. Took me half the game to get the body functioning properly. One more game to go for the season.
6/2/17 1-4 v Kings. Good strong game. 4 D. 2PKs, both turned into 5 on 3s (they scored on one of these). I seemed to be on the ice and scrambling for the puck as often as not, relied on 'the crazy' in these situations to cause havoc for their puck retrievers. My direct opponent in first game against Kings this season had the edge on me, I neutralised him this time round. Despite the scoreline we enjoyed ourselves and played reasonably good. My highest VO2. 0-0-0 +/- even PIMS 0
29/1/17 Tough gig, went down to Blades 6-0. They had a line of superstars, we had two part time centres. Sigh. Pleased with my own game, lots of grind in front of our net, some nice checks into the board (stick not body as target), containing very agile young skaters around back of our zone by keeping the inside track and body position. Saw off two PKs. The goals against while I was on the ice both happened from close in. On the first, their net front attacker was occupying two of us while his centre swept in from the circle to score top shelf (saw it coming, at least), the second was a bit of a fluke accidental backhand of an unseen puck at his feet by a lucky winger. I was grinning through the game, holding the blue and even setting up a rush or two in the third. I guess it's a compliment that their bench was cursing me and their players scouling at me by then :) 0-0-0 -2 PIMS 0.
15/1/17 2-0 loss to the Generals, but quite a game. Toe dragged around opponents for the first time ever, and stood up for my goalie when opposing forward kept hacking after the whistle (all good between me and the opponent but the ref went ape shit at me). They were too quick to cheat from defence, so satisfied myself with the one forecheck (!) and plenty of close in hipchecks below our circles. The festive season running paid off with my HR and recovery speeds, will need to keep it up (another fortnight to our next game). 0-0-0 +/- even PIMS 0.
22/12/16 Storm win 2-0. We had 3D. I played within myself, handled numerous 3 on 1s, used my head a lot and body only when I had to, kept them out of the box. Doubled shifted a couple times, killed off a whole penalty with no shots against. Satisfied. 0-0-0 -1 PIMS 0.
4/12/16 Rangers win 3-2. Still very pleased with my personal game. Only 3D, but was still hard when it had to be. The best bits were consistent poke checks (first time) and a valiant north to south one man rush ending with me sliding into the goals as my feet got away from me attempting to cross cut the goal at full speed (earned plaudits from ref and opponents alike), as well as a couple solid point shots and a neat assist from our blue. 0-1-1 +1 PIMS 0
27/11/16 1-2 loss to Flyers. Robbed by refs (in a sense, we didn't pot the goals) via several ridiculous penalty calls and loss of control over game by the end. Sigh. 0-0-0 +/- even PIMS 2 (holding, though he was holding me and himself got penalised for 'interference').
21/11/16 2-1 over the Blades. My fiftieth game. Had 3 or 4 one man rushes from the D :-) and tied up their star centre at the other end. Fun game. 0-0-0 +/- even PIMS 0 (and not even warned by the ref's this time).
17/11/16 0-5 loss to Predators. Active game, chaotic teamplay cost us. Played 3 PKs, including twice for full 2 mins. In one of those puck hit shaft 8(!) times, boots x3, body x2. Lots of crease clearing battles. Bruised ankle from puck. On for two goals, one off my stick (and through my legs), the other rebounded off my body in front of goal allowing shot and rebound for their goal (sigh). 0-0-0 -2 PIMS 0.
10/11/16 Knights 6 d Sharks 4 in return game. Another uncounted assist (bank pass to rushing centre). Activating as an 'offensive D man' and loving it! Our lines getting more disciplined with changes, leading to more and shorter shifts at lesser extremes on the HR (also, less time scrambling in our zone helps). They came back from 3-0 down to be 5-4 with minutes to go but we held it together and played simple hockey to get over the line. 0-0-0 PIMS 0 +4.
8/11/16 Sharks 7 d Knights 5. We were coming back to 6-5 with 3 mins left when penalties killed us off. I went -2 for the evening, got my first official assist. 0-1-1 PIMS 0. We lost from a 3-1 lead in a tough but fair game, 10 mins of chaos in the 2nd cost us the game. Especially having 8 skaters on the ice with 2 mins left (I won my first ever face off, filling in after infringement in our D zone).
6/11/16 Generals 3 d Knights 0. They got off to a quick start, arm wrestle 2nd period, we were taking upper hand through the 3rd. My most offensive game so far. Missed first shift on the HR watch, have put up the PTE .1 to account for it, and EPOC 6. 0-0-0 -3 PIMS 0
Season: 16 GP 1-2-3 (0-6-6) -9 PIMS 2
Career: 58 GP 3-5-8 (2-9-11)
13/2/17 4-3 loss to Flyers. Refereeing was good except for one bad call, gave them a PP game winning goal. Sigh. Fun and tough game, at least half a dozen shot blocks on my part and a fair bit of goal front push and shove. Again, saw off two 5 on 3s, even got into a one man rush on one of them! Lots of battles on the blue lines, we played probably best positional hockey have done this year. I got credited with a goal from the point - was actually an assist as it was tipped in (barely) but I'll take the score either way. Probably my best all around defensive game, even though went -1 for the night. 1-0-1 -1 PIMS 0. End of season for us, will post up season tally soonish. Can't wait for next season.
12/2/17 4-1 loss to Rangers. Made an uncredited assist to foxy from the point with him in the slot. Played in 3 PKs, plus one 5 on 3 and a 4 on 4. They scored 5 on 5 once with me on the ice, triangle worked well around the slot with our puck chasing wingers getting in the way and confusing things. A not so enjoyable game, primarily due consistently bad refereeing and resultant agro between the teams (and some bad sportsmanship on their part). Despite all this I played okay, no-one got around me and I managed to defuse a number of rushes and ensured that no breakaways got going while I was out there. My first game with Dathon as D partner and we combined well. 0-0-0 -1 PIMS 0. Took me half the game to get the body functioning properly. One more game to go for the season.
6/2/17 1-4 v Kings. Good strong game. 4 D. 2PKs, both turned into 5 on 3s (they scored on one of these). I seemed to be on the ice and scrambling for the puck as often as not, relied on 'the crazy' in these situations to cause havoc for their puck retrievers. My direct opponent in first game against Kings this season had the edge on me, I neutralised him this time round. Despite the scoreline we enjoyed ourselves and played reasonably good. My highest VO2. 0-0-0 +/- even PIMS 0
29/1/17 Tough gig, went down to Blades 6-0. They had a line of superstars, we had two part time centres. Sigh. Pleased with my own game, lots of grind in front of our net, some nice checks into the board (stick not body as target), containing very agile young skaters around back of our zone by keeping the inside track and body position. Saw off two PKs. The goals against while I was on the ice both happened from close in. On the first, their net front attacker was occupying two of us while his centre swept in from the circle to score top shelf (saw it coming, at least), the second was a bit of a fluke accidental backhand of an unseen puck at his feet by a lucky winger. I was grinning through the game, holding the blue and even setting up a rush or two in the third. I guess it's a compliment that their bench was cursing me and their players scouling at me by then :) 0-0-0 -2 PIMS 0.
15/1/17 2-0 loss to the Generals, but quite a game. Toe dragged around opponents for the first time ever, and stood up for my goalie when opposing forward kept hacking after the whistle (all good between me and the opponent but the ref went ape shit at me). They were too quick to cheat from defence, so satisfied myself with the one forecheck (!) and plenty of close in hipchecks below our circles. The festive season running paid off with my HR and recovery speeds, will need to keep it up (another fortnight to our next game). 0-0-0 +/- even PIMS 0.
22/12/16 Storm win 2-0. We had 3D. I played within myself, handled numerous 3 on 1s, used my head a lot and body only when I had to, kept them out of the box. Doubled shifted a couple times, killed off a whole penalty with no shots against. Satisfied. 0-0-0 -1 PIMS 0.
4/12/16 Rangers win 3-2. Still very pleased with my personal game. Only 3D, but was still hard when it had to be. The best bits were consistent poke checks (first time) and a valiant north to south one man rush ending with me sliding into the goals as my feet got away from me attempting to cross cut the goal at full speed (earned plaudits from ref and opponents alike), as well as a couple solid point shots and a neat assist from our blue. 0-1-1 +1 PIMS 0
27/11/16 1-2 loss to Flyers. Robbed by refs (in a sense, we didn't pot the goals) via several ridiculous penalty calls and loss of control over game by the end. Sigh. 0-0-0 +/- even PIMS 2 (holding, though he was holding me and himself got penalised for 'interference').
21/11/16 2-1 over the Blades. My fiftieth game. Had 3 or 4 one man rushes from the D :-) and tied up their star centre at the other end. Fun game. 0-0-0 +/- even PIMS 0 (and not even warned by the ref's this time).
17/11/16 0-5 loss to Predators. Active game, chaotic teamplay cost us. Played 3 PKs, including twice for full 2 mins. In one of those puck hit shaft 8(!) times, boots x3, body x2. Lots of crease clearing battles. Bruised ankle from puck. On for two goals, one off my stick (and through my legs), the other rebounded off my body in front of goal allowing shot and rebound for their goal (sigh). 0-0-0 -2 PIMS 0.
10/11/16 Knights 6 d Sharks 4 in return game. Another uncounted assist (bank pass to rushing centre). Activating as an 'offensive D man' and loving it! Our lines getting more disciplined with changes, leading to more and shorter shifts at lesser extremes on the HR (also, less time scrambling in our zone helps). They came back from 3-0 down to be 5-4 with minutes to go but we held it together and played simple hockey to get over the line. 0-0-0 PIMS 0 +4.
8/11/16 Sharks 7 d Knights 5. We were coming back to 6-5 with 3 mins left when penalties killed us off. I went -2 for the evening, got my first official assist. 0-1-1 PIMS 0. We lost from a 3-1 lead in a tough but fair game, 10 mins of chaos in the 2nd cost us the game. Especially having 8 skaters on the ice with 2 mins left (I won my first ever face off, filling in after infringement in our D zone).
6/11/16 Generals 3 d Knights 0. They got off to a quick start, arm wrestle 2nd period, we were taking upper hand through the 3rd. My most offensive game so far. Missed first shift on the HR watch, have put up the PTE .1 to account for it, and EPOC 6. 0-0-0 -3 PIMS 0
Season: 16 GP 1-2-3 (0-6-6) -9 PIMS 2
Career: 58 GP 3-5-8 (2-9-11)
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