Tales from the beer league part 2

[Luc SkyBomba]

Looks like many of us love playing the D!



It's all fun and games until the forward thinks they are playing in the NHL playoffs and slashes you two or three times in the legs and thighs...happened to me last week.

When I played in my youth, and then into my 20's I enjoyed the battles in front of the net. Now, I just let the mofo camp on top of the crease and I'll stand in front of him, or to the side. Its easy enough to just lift their stick when a pass or shot comes towards the net.

When I'm on forward, if the goalie is slashing my legs then I know I'm doing a good job haha. Actually this is why the captain moved me to forward.

[beedee]

When I'm on forward, if the goalie is slashing my legs then I know I'm doing a good job haha. Actually this is why the captain moved me to forward.

Sounds like you are the sacrificial forward! :nuts:

[xLAxKingsx]

I wish people played a little more competitive but i get it. Its rookie league there's a few players that play with a little edge but everyone ends up being to nice. I'm sure it ll be different if i move up to Tin.

[beedee]

I wish people played a little more competitive but i get it. Its rookie league there's a few players that play with a little edge but everyone ends up being to nice. I'm sure it ll be different if i move up to Tin.

Based on my experience, the Rookie League has the most hacks/try-hards in it, people that think they are real hockey players now and act like complete tools. Granted, it is more or less the same at every level, but it is just pure comedy to watch some d'bags in Rookie try to act tough. I'm actually a little hesitant to watch my wife's games because I'm sure some d'bag on the other team is going to do something and piss me off. And then I won't be able to talk **** because I'll have my daughters with me, lmfao!

The worst was a few years ago when The Rinks was allowing 2nd, 3rd, 4th year teams stay in Rookie, talk about a great way to build up animosity. That is why they recently developed the TIN league, so people that were too skurred to leave the safe confines of smashing actual rookie level teams in ROOKIE were forced to move up.

[xLAxKingsx]

Based on my experience, the Rookie League has the most hacks/try-hards in it, people that think they are real hockey players now and act like complete tools. Granted, it is more or less the same at every level, but it is just pure comedy to watch some d'bags in Rookie try to act tough. I'm actually a little hesitant to watch my wife's games because I'm sure some d'bag on the other team is going to do something and piss me off. And then I won't be able to talk **** because I'll have my daughters with me, lmfao!

The worst was a few years ago when The Rinks was allowing 2nd, 3rd, 4th year teams stay in Rookie, talk about a great way to build up animosity. That is why they recently developed the TIN league, so people that were too skurred to leave the safe confines of smashing actual rookie level teams in ROOKIE were forced to move up.

Bee... If something happens in your wifes rookie game and you dont report back that you ran onto the ice and beat someones ass ill be disappointed! My wife takes my daughter to my games age 9 and i enjoy her screaming "DAD HIT HIM!!!!!!!!" haha!

But you are right about the rinks finally doing something about it. First time i played a few years ago the competition at rookie was ridiculous full pre made teams of players that should have moved up. Its a bit better now but team we played Saturday about 6 of them had custom jerseys from a team they must have formed. Guess Tin was to much they dropped down and still lost :violin:

[beedee]

Well, with all the D talk lately, I actually played LW last night. We had 5 of us that typically play D, I used to play LW, so I volunteered to play up.

It was a bit more skating, so I was feeling gassed quicker than usual, especially since we were on the Olympic sized rink. But I had a blast, I had at least one shot on each shift, sometimes two or three! I probably had around 10-12 shots total! Sadly, none went in, but it was really fun to get so many shots. I did have two apples. One of which ironically came from a shot-pass when I was covering the point for our D who was down low. We started off with a 1-0 lead going into the 2nd, but then they were up 3-1 halfway through the 3rd. We scored late in the third, pulled the goalie with 1:30 left to go in the game and tied it with :45 to go! We eventually lost in the shootout, but it was a great game! We had 51 shots on goal, yes 51! Their goalie stood on his head, that is for sure! I think they had 30 shots or so?

[xLAxKingsx]

Well, with all the D talk lately, I actually played LW last night. We had 5 of us that typically play D, I used to play LW, so I volunteered to play up.

It was a bit more skating, so I was feeling gassed quicker than usual, especially since we were on the Olympic sized rink. But I had a blast, I had at least one shot on each shift, sometimes two or three! I probably had around 10-12 shots total! Sadly, none went in, but it was really fun to get so many shots. I did have two apples. One of which ironically came from a shot-pass when I was covering the point for our D who was down low. We started off with a 1-0 lead going into the 2nd, but then they were up 3-1 halfway through the 3rd. We scored late in the third, pulled the goalie with 1:30 left to go in the game and tied it with :45 to go! We eventually lost in the shootout, but it was a great game! We had 51 shots on goal, yes 51! Their goalie stood on his head, that is for sure! I think they had 30 shots or so?

That come back must have been nice! Ive only been in 1 and its a rush when you tie it late. I really enjoy the more space on Olympic while playing forward.

[jammer06]

It's not more skating at forward, it's more stopping and starting that kills you. Or at least when I'm more effective that's what I'm doing.

[beedee]

It's not more skating at forward, it's more stopping and starting that kills you. Or at least when I'm more effective that's what I'm doing.

Yup, you are 100%!

One second you are breaking out of your zone, and then two seconds later a neutral zone turnover and you are stopping and/or turning back the other way towards your zone!

[xLAxKingsx]

Last week was another win! I haven’t had a season with more than 1 win in about 3 years ��.

Played D again and felt good. Haven’t had a goal scored while I’m on the ice so I figure that’s good.

I did try beedees tip of using my skate for rim around the boards and that worked great! Was able to angle my skate so puck would end up in front of me. Had a few shots on net as well so that was fun. I def need to work on my shot. Took a few slap shots during warm up but still felt a bit wobbly so in game I chickened out.

Game tomorrow is against the other team that’s looking good so we shall see how good we really are. I’m excited for some better hockey. It really boggles my mind how teams can enjoy playing down and running thru lesser teams. I find it a bit boring at times.

[beedee]

I didn't play this week due to a cold. But we played the same team as last week, and it was tied 3-3 at the end of the game (like last week) and we won in the shootout (unlike last week).

[beedee]

Last week was another win! I haven’t had a season with more than 1 win in about 3 years ��.

Played D again and felt good. Haven’t had a goal scored while I’m on the ice so I figure that’s good.

I did try beedees tip of using my skate for rim around the boards and that worked great! Was able to angle my skate so puck would end up in front of me. Had a few shots on net as well so that was fun. I def need to work on my shot. Took a few slap shots during warm up but still felt a bit wobbly so in game I chickened out.

Game tomorrow is against the other team that’s looking good so we shall see how good we really are. I’m excited for some better hockey. It really boggles my mind how teams can enjoy playing down and running thru lesser teams. I find it a bit boring at times.
Glad my suggestion worked out for you.

Regarding the sandbagging, douchebagging teams. It really is off-putting, even more so when the league acknowledges it and does NOTHING about it.

[beedee]

Yesterday Lil Beedee and I attended a Stick Time and it was our first time on the ice together, it pretty amazing to say the least! We just did some simple passing, shooting and stick-handling stuff off and on for the hour session. I just wanted to have fun out there with her and we did achieve that! We played tag, and follow the leader also. Bonus points for us was when some of the Long Beach Shredders came on the ice to practice (our local USPHL team coached by Emerson Etem), including their goalie. So she was really excited for that because we just watched them play on Saturday night. There was also a goalie out there that looked to be her age (5 to 6) and Lil Beedee got to take her first shots ever on a real goalie!

Wifey had her first game in Rookie last night and I guess they took an L, 9-2. She said the other team had a gal that was skating circles around them and potted 4 or 5 goals...not surprised to see a sandbagger in Rookie.

[xLAxKingsx]

Beedee thats awesome as ****! Im getting my daughter to give it another go at age 9 now. She tried it at 6 and didn't like ice skating so she didnt enjoy the Lil Kings.:sad: But shes signed up for the upcoming sessions.

I missed my game this weekend against the better team. We still won but did hear they where at least a bit more competitive then other teams.


I do have this bonus surprise! Guess Anaheim Rinks has this "live barn" video feed of all games played. Well someone on team paid for subscription and uploaded some of our games to youtube.

So here ya go! Game below we ran 3 lines at D im #33 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=33) . Enjoy our slowwwwwwwwww game.


https://youtu.be/Y8NraTfddH4

[xLAxKingsx]

Been a few games now still undefeated.

I scored 2 goals yall!!!!

But they were own goals...

https://media1.giphy.com/media/26uf0gJKCcp0ebMek/200w.webp?cid=ecf05e47ry86d6h6ohnxy3ta3hg4thvswl2d fke0mzad6zn6&rid=200w.webp&ct=g

Not sure if my positioning was bad but while playing in front of the goalie had 1 go off my skate and not even 3 mins later another shot same positioning it went off my shin.

https://media2.giphy.com/media/BxWTWalKTUAdq/200.webp?cid=ecf05e477tc5axw6qqm8e0fjy1bopyxf49oj3 eatdlgm2l57&rid=200.webp&ct=g

This was my first game where i felt i was chasing the puck on D the whole time bad passes out the zone same with clears. Didnt help our forwards kept crashing our net so their D was collecting any attempts at clearing. We survived but barely. But damn did this game kick my ass.

[beedee]

I haven't played in like 5 weeks, told the Captain I'm done for the season. I paid for half the season at the beginning (and have only played in 3 games), and told him I'm just not feeling it. I've been sick off and on from October through November, and missed too many games. Done wasting money on it.

Last night I watched my wife's Rookie game. They lost 4-0, but it was closer than the score indicated. Other team had a couple d'bag sandbaggers that shouldn't be in Rookie. Her team had a guy playing D that plays Bronze North, his g/f plays on the team. They just needed bodies so he hung back on D and played uber conservatively, feeding wingers passes and crap. Wife did good, it was the first time I've seen her play since she was doing Learn To Play.

I guess the ringer chick on one of the Rookie teams got called out by the league director and said if he catches her skating out, the game will be an automatic forfeit. I will give the guy credit, he is very active in communicating with the teams, but he recently took 4 players from my wife's team and put two and two on other teams. ::shrug::

Anyhow, I guess im having the beer league blues since I've been sick. But I feel like its just not worth the money anymore. I'd rather do some Pick-Up games here and there, and some of the regular weekly clinics with scrimmages at the end. Committing to a full season at nearly $500 is not appealing to me at all now.

[notbob]

We just had our annual iron man Thanksgiving weekend tourney. Ended up playing 5 x 12 minute games with no bench or subs. This was all over the course of about 3 hours. My team got off to a rocky start. I scored a shorty in the first few minutes of game 1 because one of our guys showed up late, but he did show up and we ended up winning that game. I managed a hatty in game 3 mainly due to the fact the other team was pretty gassed at that point. Made it to the championship game where it was just a slog to finish. We won 1-0. Over all a really fun and evenly matched tourney. I expected a team with ringers to show up but that never happened.

https://i.postimg.cc/Bqy1zkff/Resized-Resized-20211127-114839.jpg

[jammer06]

Been a few games now still undefeated.

I scored 2 goals yall!!!!

But they were own goals...

https://media1.giphy.com/media/26uf0gJKCcp0ebMek/200w.webp?cid=ecf05e47ry86d6h6ohnxy3ta3hg4thvswl2d fke0mzad6zn6&rid=200w.webp&ct=g

Not sure if my positioning was bad but while playing in front of the goalie had 1 go off my skate and not even 3 mins later another shot same positioning it went off my shin.

https://media2.giphy.com/media/BxWTWalKTUAdq/200.webp?cid=ecf05e477tc5axw6qqm8e0fjy1bopyxf49oj3 eatdlgm2l57&rid=200.webp&ct=g

This was my first game where i felt i was chasing the puck on D the whole time bad passes out the zone same with clears. Didnt help our forwards kept crashing our net so their D was collecting any attempts at clearing. We survived but barely. But damn did this game kick my ass.

Those nights suck. Sometimes though if you know your guys are crashing down you just have to eat the puck or turn it back down. If you can buy enough time they might wake up and move to a position where you can get it to them instead of feelling like you're Kopitar out there feeding the point all night.

[jammer06]

Last league game I played with an impending cold. I didn't feel great going out there, watching the video I looked even worse. We ended up winning 2-1 in ot and our line was even but man was it a burn the tape kinda game. Finally mostly over this cold so hoping my weds night skate will be fun. I totally feel beedee though. This fall has been rough on the desire to get out there for the team.

[jammer06]

Ok so last nights adventure began with me listening to the kings game and going on autopilot to the wrong damn rink. So after I took in the Xmas lights as I took the shortcut through the neighborhoods I managed to get to the correct rink where thankfully they were behind. This allowed me to get dressed to the point that I noted I'd left my gloves at home. Thankfully another player left his helmet so I pilfered the gloves from the guy who was lending his helmet from the game before. Finally on the ice right as they're blowing whistles I drop my extra stick at the bench to find out I'm starting on D. Miraculously I got through the first shift without major incident.
First period progresses and things are going well. I've got an assist on the first goal. Pass to the point (hey an actual point pass!) but it came in at a bad angle to my feet. I stopped it and saw the forward coming at me straight up so I shovel shot it wide since I saw our center driving behind the goal line towards the net. The puck died flat on the boards and he swooped to collect it and right around the net to an uncontested wrap goal. Love it when a plan comes together.

We see they've only got 10 and we've got 13 so we proceed to try to skate them into the ground. It's working beautifully through the second as we build a 4-1 lead. I even get a couple more assists, one just a pass to a cutting forward through the center off a D-D regroup where we catch them flat footed and he goes down the pipe to score. The second was a cross ice swing from our blue line to theirs where the waiting winger tipped the puck across to our center coming with speed. He again caught the D flat footed and rifled one from the dot.

Then the shenanigans start with whatever it is I'm trying to do on D. Three shift in a row they score a goal (we get one in between while i'm sulking). The first wasn't terrible, they cycle'd a guy through the slot and I had to cover him as my partner had lost inside position on the forward at the boards and I had to tie this guy up as he moved. Their backside D dropped in right behind me though for the back door goal. The second goal I got caught in no mans land going to the corner to pick up my guy, they cycled and next thing I know I'm trying to get my stick in front of a guy cutting from the corner through above the dot on his forehand. I ramped his shot beautifully top corner right off my stick. Third goal was the worst though. Scramble in front of the net. Our goalie lays out to get a puck, except he's missed it, I go to get it as he picks his glove up to hungry hippo that mofo and he puts it right down on my stick and the puck. So now I've just pulled the puck out from under his glove but I'm already moving to get out from in front and i've left the puck behind me for their forward to just push it into the net.

So the disaster of a second behind me we go to the third and things settle for a bit. They did get one more on me but it was honestly a nice shot from outside the dot. He pushed the puck to make me a screen and got off a quick slapper that the goalie didn't pick up. That brought them back to 6-5 but we got the empty netter to end it.

In all I felt a lot better out there, and good thing because even with 10 they were a good team that moved a lot. Not a lot of individual skill with dangles but they knew how to make the puck do all the hard work. Was a good win for us, just wish I didn't have that series where every time I went out there the puck ended up in our net.

[xLAxKingsx]

We'll we finally took a L this season.

2nd week in a row im struggling on D. I didnt get any own goals this time at least ha! But we chased the puck around a lot in our zone. We couldnt break out at all had same problem as last week. Our forwards chase puck drop down on D as much as i appreciate the help it makes it hard to get out. Team we played was very smart and kept their wingers on board and kept the puck in for heavy pressure. I had 2 goals scored on me but i couldnt do much dude had wheels and would expose me when i couldnt keep up.

Im also on 8 games with no sharpening i felt the lack of that this game. Fell down twice like a fool :laugh: tripped myself but luckily didnt lead to a goal.

My enjoyment of playing D has gone down a bit now that i see the struggles our forwards face. We get no sustained pressure on their end as no one go's after the puck or puts any pressure. Ive counted if anything 4 shots from our D in past 2 games cause we have no offense time. Only reason we winning and scoring is from our better skaters taking the puck in and beating the goalies.

I guess with it being rookie i cant complain wish it was a bit more structured but we are a bunch of randoms playing together in rookie. So i can only be so bummed out about my performance.

[Luc SkyBomba]

We'll we finally took a L this season.

2nd week in a row im struggling on D. I didnt get any own goals this time at least ha! But we chased the puck around a lot in our zone. We couldnt break out at all had same problem as last week. Our forwards chase puck drop down on D as much as i appreciate the help it makes it hard to get out. Team we played was very smart and kept their wingers on board and kept the puck in for heavy pressure. I had 2 goals scored on me but i couldnt do much dude had wheels and would expose me when i couldnt keep up.

Im also on 8 games with no sharpening i felt the lack of that this game. Fell down twice like a fool :laugh: tripped myself but luckily didnt lead to a goal.

My enjoyment of playing D has gone down a bit now that i see the struggles our forwards face. We get no sustained pressure on their end as no one go's after the puck or puts any pressure. Ive counted if anything 4 shots from our D in past 2 games cause we have no offense time. Only reason we winning and scoring is from our better skaters taking the puck in and beating the goalies.

I guess with it being rookie i cant complain wish it was a bit more structured but we are a bunch of randoms playing together in rookie. So i can only be so bummed out about my performance.


Ah yes, the problems with new teams. Once you guys figure each other out, it gets better. I notice every time I join a brand new team of free agents, the forwards seem to hang low and think they're helping the D. Like you said, hard to break out playing like that.

[beedee]

I finally played last night for the first time in maybe 5 weeks? I subbed on my buddies team, our daughters are in the Little Ducks Hockey Initiation program together. It was the Bronze South division, which is the lower of the two Bronze levels, my team I was playing on is in Bronze North. Anyhow, as expected, I felt pretty awkward out there. Having not played in so long, and not really exerting myself in any other form of athletic endeavors, I took it rather easy to try to reduce being overly gassed. First period I was sucking wind a bit, but then around halfway through the second I wasn't hurting quite as bad. The game was good, we won 4-2, and got off to an early 2-0 lead. I didn't register any SOG from the point (I played D), I did have one shot from the high slot when I activated on a pass to me to the point and I had room, so I went for it. Other than that, nothing else to really report. My legs and arms felt rather noodley for most of the game, its a terrible feeling. Each team took a couple penalties, including myself. It was a BS call for tripping, even the guy that fell down told me he fell on his own and it had nothing to do with my poke-check as he flew by through the neutral zone. They had one guy on their team who was such a little bitch, whining about nearly every call or "early" whistle. He didn't even shake our hands after the game, I guess he did that the last time they played this team too. Imagine being so sour after a meaningless beer league game that you can't shake someones hand after a game, LMFAO!

[beedee]

Subbed again last night on what will be my new team next season. I felt much, much better this week compared to last week. No more noodle legs, wasn't huffin'n'puffin' as much either. We lost 4-2, the game was back and forth all night. Our goalie got a flat tire on the way to the game so we stalled as long as we couldn't during warmies. And once the game started, we took a time out, and then once our time out was done, the other team used theirs, which was super cool of them. And our goalie made it out on the ice right after their timeout, so that was good. The comedy thing was, I guess he had a dryer sheet stuck to the bottom of his skate, and as soon as he took his second stride on the ice, he ate crap! Was pretty serendipitous being that he was late, and then had that happen to him.

On to the game. It was a fun game, no chippiness between the two teams at all, I think there was maybe one minor penalty for hooking on our team? Although I got hooked in the hands as I was coming around our net with speed to lead a rush out of our zone, no call...booo! The other team certainly seemed to have the momentum most of the game, I attribute that to them being younger than us. They did a great job moving the puck through the neutral zone after the initial break-out pass from their zone....something that our team just couldn't link together at all last night. They kept their feet moving and always had someone open in the open space whether it was the neutral zone, or high slot, so kudos to them. The scorekeeper wasn't keeping track of SOG, but they probably outshot us by 2 to 1 maybe? Our goalie was clutch. As for myself, I felt much better and had three rushes from our zone in which I got shots off in the high slot, nothing went in though. But my stick-handling felt much more crisp, and I had a couple toe-drags as well, which always feels good to pull those off and not get stripped of the puck. I did have one apple late in the third on our second goal. I carried the puck in from center ice as I was activating the second half of the third period to try to generate more offense. I came in along the left side and fed my buddy who was in the low slot, on the back door for an easy Kathryn Tap'in. I also had a few snap shots and two clappers from the point that got through, but the goalie made the saves. I love when you get a slap shot off of the sweet spot of the blade and it feels effortless as the stick does all the work, I wish I could do that more often!

I'm not sure if we skate next week since Christmas is approaching, but I feel like I have snapped out of the beer league blues and am excited to play again. There is a chance I might sub tonight, a gal on my wife's team has a boyfriend who plays Bronze at Anaheim Ice and asked if I wanted to sub. The game is at 9:45pm though, and its about a 25 minute drive....oooof.

Oh yeah, Lil Beedee skated on Monday night at another rink (EastWest Ice) to try out their youth program and had so much fun! She skated with her friend that she has been doing the Little Ducks program with and we were all very impressed with the program. Even more so than the Ducks program. There was so much activity going on, and they got to using pucks after maybe 10 minutes of loose warm-ups and only one skating drill. We could tell that she and her friend were having waaaay more fun than they do on Sundays. And the last 15 minutes is a cross-ice scrimmage amongst their group (6U). It was so cool to see them all getting after it, and they never give up! So she wants to stick with that program too, I think we have 3 more sessions for Little Ducks Hockey Initiation 2 and then it will be over and she will just being doing the California Wave program at EastWest, which is a 12 week program, but they are already 3 weeks in.

[SloMo26]

That East West Rink is one of the few affiliated with the Kings on this side of town. Jr did his Little Kings program there and played one season after that. I believe that was Michelle Kwan's home rink too. The only thing that sucks about that rink is the parking in almost non existent. When the tiny lot fills up you gotta park on the street and hike your gear to the rink. The guy who runs the Waves program was very cool but Jr just lost interest in hockey after that one season.

[beedee]

That East West Rink is one of the few affiliated with the Kings on this side of town. Jr did his Little Kings program there and played one season after that. I believe that was Michelle Kwan's home rink too. The only thing that sucks about that rink is the parking in almost non existent. When the tiny lot fills up you gotta park on the street and hike your gear to the rink. The guy who runs the Waves program was very cool but Jr just lost interest in hockey after that one season.

You are right about the parking, the lot is small, and the spaces are tight! Knock-on-wood, I've been fortunate enough to always find a spot. I'm not sure if its Michelle's cousin, Ron Kwan, but he runs the adult league there. Super cool guy!

By the way, anyone ever buy new skates even though you don't really need them? My Vapor x500's are probably almost 5 years old, but only have maybe 3 years of use on them. The boots are fine, just the typical blade Knicks here and there, same with the holders and steel. Just puck scuffs and some stick tape marks on the holders, but plenty of life left I'd say. Pure Hockey is clearing out last years models and the x2.9 is on sale, looks like a great intermediate level skate, similar to what my x500's were at their time of release. I was in Pure Hockey last night picking up some hockey related stocking stuffers for Lil Beedee and Mrs. Beedee and tried on the Vapor 2X which next model up from the Vapor x2.9 and was impressed with how well it fit right out of the box! No awkward hot spots or pain at all, the Fit 2 felt perfect (The Bauer Foot Scanner recommended Fit 2)! I did try on a Fit 3 for the heck of it to see the difference, and did notice it has a bit more volume than the Fit 2. Debating on doing it, treating myself!

My old Vapor x500's:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0059/2504/4293/products/bladeworx-ice-hockey-skates-9-5-ee-yes-initial-sharpen-preferred-radius-bauer-vapor-x500-senior-ice-hockey-skate-2015-5180341747781_555x.png?v=1557964102

And the last years Vapor x2.9
https://media.purehockey.com/images/q_auto,f_auto,fl_lossy,c_lpad,b_auto,w_400,h_400/products/37310/41/125793/bauer-vapor-x2-9-ice-hockey-skates-senior

[Luc SkyBomba]

You are right about the parking, the lot is small, and the spaces are tight! Knock-on-wood, I've been fortunate enough to always find a spot. I'm not sure if its Michelle's cousin, Ron Kwan, but he runs the adult league there. Super cool guy!

By the way, anyone ever buy new skates even though you don't really need them? My Vapor x500's are probably almost 5 years old, but only have maybe 3 years of use on them. The boots are fine, just the typical blade Knicks here and there, same with the holders and steel. Just puck scuffs and some stick tape marks on the holders, but plenty of life left I'd say. Pure Hockey is clearing out last years models and the x2.9 is on sale, looks like a great intermediate level skate, similar to what my x500's were at their time of release. I was in Pure Hockey last night picking up some hockey related stocking stuffers for Lil Beedee and Mrs. Beedee and tried on the Vapor 2X which next model up from the Vapor x2.9 and was impressed with how well it fit right out of the box! No awkward hot spots or pain at all, the Fit 2 felt perfect (The Bauer Foot Scanner recommended Fit 2)! I did try on a Fit 3 for the heck of it to see the difference, and did notice it has a bit more volume than the Fit 2. Debating on doing it, treating myself!

My old Vapor x500's:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0059/2504/4293/products/bladeworx-ice-hockey-skates-9-5-ee-yes-initial-sharpen-preferred-radius-bauer-vapor-x500-senior-ice-hockey-skate-2015-5180341747781_555x.png?v=1557964102

And the last years Vapor x2.9
https://media.purehockey.com/images/q_auto,f_auto,fl_lossy,c_lpad,b_auto,w_400,h_400/products/37310/41/125793/bauer-vapor-x2-9-ice-hockey-skates-senior


x2.9 was my 1st ice boot and I love em! I got fat foot Fit 3 and it fits better than another boot I tried in EE width.

[beedee]

x2.9 was my 1st ice boot and I love em! I got fat foot Fit 3 and it fits better than another boot I tried in EE width.

Sweet! You touched on an interesting point, my x500's are 7EE, and feel more snug than the 7 Fit 2 did. But the 2X felt really good. Wonder if the Fit 2 is slightly wider/more volume than an EE?

[Luc SkyBomba]

Sweet! You touched on an interesting point, my x500's are 7EE, and feel more snug than the 7 Fit 2 did. But the 2X felt really good. Wonder if the Fit 2 is slightly wider/more volume than an EE?

Fit 2 should be closer to an E I think

[Nyssa42]

waahhhh....Pure Hockey is out of my size in the Vapor 2.9 online. I really need some new skates and I'm hard to fit because I'm a 6 very, very wide. Might have to drive down to the actual store to see what they have for me.

My team is doing somewhat well this season. We're middle of the pack. I have even scored my once-a-season goal - whoo hoo! I think only top 4 are going to the playoffs this time, so hopefully we can hang on to that 4th spot (out of 6 teams)

I've been switching up between D and forward....ugh...forward is so hard!! Why do people like playing forward better than D??

[jammer06]

So we had our Puck Norris academy on Friday night which was a good skate. Got a few apples and a goal to end the night. Good to see the crew after the holidays. After I cleaned up and headed out the door though it dawned on me as I was in my flip flops that it was really freaking cold. So cold in fact that my hair froze in the 30-45 seconds it took to walk to my car and toss my back in. Chicago winters man

Last night we had a league game and it was a pretty good show. All of us were skating hard and working the other team pretty well, but they had a guy who just wanted to cause trouble. He started coming across the middle and definitely tried to Scott Stevens me on a pass through the slot. Got a lot of my head and I wasn't too happy about it. Refs didn't call anything. Later in the same period though he full on cross checked a linemate in his chest and laid him out flat in the crease. Ref's decided to send em both for roughing on that one. The oaf even had the temerity to argue with the ref on the call, and then the scorekeeper. Fast forward to the second period and he gets undressed by a sneaking in D man and proceeds to drop his stick and just grab him by the head as he's going by. Of course he's mouthing off when the whistle blows trying to get a retaliation and the Ref starts yelling at him that he's done. So finally the guy gets off the ice and the ref comes to the scorekeeper and says #40 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=40) GFO! So we're all confused that there's not even a PP but at least the jackwagon is gone. After a few more shifts the ref is over by our bench and I calmly asked him what a GFO is and the ref says "Get the **** Out". Anyway we tied up the game late for a 3-3 tie and it was a good skate otherwise.

[beedee]

Not much to report on my end, I think we have a consolation playoff game this Thursday, then the new season starts in a week or two? I'm trying to get in permanently on a mid-week pick-up game so I can get an extra skate in, I find it really helps with the stamina and what skills I have left.

Lil beedee is still chugging along with her two different hockey programs. We thought her final Ducks one was on this past Sunday, but I guess they have one more? Oh, and I finally was able to get her to wear some Kings socks!!!

Lately I've been on a quest for new skates. So far I've tried the CCM FT485 (regular), got them baked, used them twice, but the pinky-toe area is just bugging. Plus, I think they are a smidge too long. My Bauer Vapor x2.9 Fit 2's arrived on Saturday, the toe cap area is much better, no rubbing or pinching at all! Feels just like my previous Vapor x500's (which I sold over the weekend). However, I'm a little concerned they might be too long also, once baked and broken in. I'm going to try out at Supreme 3s in a Fit 2 as well, Hockey Monkey didn't have them in stock in my size when I went there on Saturday. I also tried on a True TF7, CCM RibCore, CCM SuperTacks, CCMFT485 (in wide)....which was way too wide. True's felt so/so, but I hear they do feel like the until you get them baked. RibCore's weren't too bad, its their "wide" skate, similar to the Nexus. The SuperTacks felt pretty good, no toe cap rubbing at all, a nice and snug all around fit, wider than the CCM FT485. I imagine the Supreme 3s will fit similar to the SuperTacks. CCM has a 90 guarantee trial period, Bauer doesn't, however Pure Hockey says you can try Bauer for up to 30 days and return if they don't work for you. Hoping to make a decision this evening, as I'm really tired of the search (and driving to Pure Hockey).

[xLAxKingsx]

Missed a few games past couple of weeks. But my team made it to finals. 13-1.

Im gonna be gassed but playing D has been fun and its forcing me to skate better. Might skip a season and work on my skating as i want to keep playing D!

Beedee update us when you find some good skates. Im in the market for some skates as well currently have CCMs and they fit good had to size down 2 sizes.

[beedee]

Missed a few games past couple of weeks. But my team made it to finals. 13-1.

Im gonna be gassed but playing D has been fun :yourock: and its forcing me to skate better. Might skip a season and work on my skating as i want to keep playing D! :8smile:

Beedee update us when you find some good skates. Im in the market for some skates as well currently have CCMs and they fit good had to size down 2 sizes. FWIW, my street shoe is a 9, I wear a 7 in Bauer and CCM.

I skated pick-up at Lakewood on Sunday afternoon. The game was nuts, as there were some kids from the Long Beach State hockey team playing, and we only had 6 skaters per side, so we went 4 v 4 in order to have two subs! Those kids were flying, and then toned it down a bit to give us old fogey's a chance! I wore my brand new last years model Bauer Vapor x2.9's. They felt great, no pain at all. This may sound silly, but Im kind of bummed they fit so good because I wanted to try something else...these are basically my old Vapors, but 4 model years newer. Which isn't a bad thing, but I still may try the CCM SUPERTACKS 9380's, they felt pretty good in the store, and would break-in nicely I imagine. BUTTTT, they are $120 more than the x2.9's (which fit fine).

I'm on the fence again if I want to commit to a full season. I subbed with these guys for the last 4 games of the season and while its fun because my buddy plays left wing, a couple of the D that I play with bug. One is always complaining about everyone else's play, but never his own. And the other D thinks he is better than he is, and is constantly turning the puck over in the neutral zone when he tries to get too fancy. Just dump the damn puck, or pass it. And then he also gripes about people taking long ass shifts and says he is going to take the next guy off the ice, when in fact it would be me whom is next up. Oh yeah, the last three games the goalie hasn't shown up and its been a scramble trying to recruit one from a previous game that is going on the other sheet of ice, or our sheet 10 minutes before our game! #annoyingAF (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=annoyingAF)

I have found a couple of private midweek, recurring pick-up games that I am now in the inner-circle of! I might just stick to those and subbing. Less stressful if I have to miss a game since I'm not committed and paying up front (like a full season), and less drama. One of the games actually implements the buzzer at the two-minute mark for line changes. Both are $25 a pop, 90 minute sessions, v.s. $35'ish a pop for league play, plus the priceless drama and never knowing if your goalie is going to show.

Lil Beedee allegedly had her last Hockey Initiation 2 session on Sunday, but when I login to the DASH account, it shows they have one more this Sunday. #shrug (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=shrug) The lack of consistent communication has been driving us nuts. Plus, her session last night was cancelled, but we didn't know because the coach didn't communicate to us that he was coaching a tourney for his 10u team...glad we checked the rink schedule to make sure it was or wasn't on due to the holiday!

And, Mrs. Beedee had her first ever playoff game last night. They are the #4 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=4) seed (a team of true rookies), played the #1 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1) seed (team with sandbaggers) and were down 2-0 until the third period where they scored 3 unanswered goals and won! So happy for her and her team, even better since the other team had some sandbagging clowns on it!

[xLAxKingsx]

I skated pick-up at Lakewood on Sunday afternoon. The game was nuts, as there were some kids from the Long Beach State hockey team playing, and we only had 6 skaters per side, so we went 4 v 4 in order to have two subs! Those kids were flying, and then toned it down a bit to give us old fogey's a chance! I wore my brand new last years model Bauer Vapor x2.9's. They felt great, no pain at all. This may sound silly, but Im kind of bummed they fit so good because I wanted to try something else...these are basically my old Vapors, but 4 model years newer. Which isn't a bad thing, but I still may try the CCM SUPERTACKS 9380's, they felt pretty good in the store, and would break-in nicely I imagine. BUTTTT, they are $120 more than the x2.9's (which fit fine).

I'm on the fence again if I want to commit to a full season. I subbed with these guys for the last 4 games of the season and while its fun because my buddy plays left wing, a couple of the D that I play with bug. One is always complaining about everyone else's play, but never his own. And the other D thinks he is better than he is, and is constantly turning the puck over in the neutral zone when he tries to get too fancy. Just dump the damn puck, or pass it. And then he also gripes about people taking long ass shifts and says he is going to take the next guy off the ice, when in fact it would be me whom is next up. Oh yeah, the last three games the goalie hasn't shown up and its been a scramble trying to recruit one from a previous game that is going on the other sheet of ice, or our sheet 10 minutes before our game! #annoyingAF (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=annoyingAF)

I have found a couple of private midweek, recurring pick-up games that I am now in the inner-circle of! I might just stick to those and subbing. Less stressful if I have to miss a game since I'm not committed and paying up front (like a full season), and less drama. One of the games actually implements the buzzer at the two-minute mark for line changes. Both are $25 a pop, 90 minute sessions, v.s. $35'ish a pop for league play, plus the priceless drama and never knowing if your goalie is going to show.

Lil Beedee allegedly had her last Hockey Initiation 2 session on Sunday, but when I login to the DASH account, it shows they have one more this Sunday. #shrug (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=shrug) The lack of consistent communication has been driving us nuts. Plus, her session last night was cancelled, but we didn't know because the coach didn't communicate to us that he was coaching a tourney for his 10u team...glad we checked the rink schedule to make sure it was or wasn't on due to the holiday!

And, Mrs. Beedee had her first ever playoff game last night. They are the #4 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=4) seed (a team of true rookies), played the #1 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1) seed (team with sandbaggers) and were down 2-0 until the third period where they scored 3 unanswered goals and won! So happy for her and her team, even better since the other team had some sandbagging clowns on it!

Thats awesome to hear the Mrs heading to final! Wish her the best of luck on getting the W and chip!

Your experience with pick up game being loaded is what scares me away from going to them. I had 1 pick up game years ago and this was before I could even skate and i felt intimidated to play and kept passing up getting ice time. Only time i had a decent time with pick up was playing with the group here that use to play every once in awhile. Everyone was super helpful and let you play the puck.

I wish they had those vapors in my size! Is there really any upgrade from mid grade skates to top? Is there any advantage or is it really only worth it once you're a better skater?

[beedee]

Thats awesome to hear the Mrs heading to final! Wish her the best of luck on getting the W and chip!

Your experience with pick up game being loaded is what scares me away from going to them. I had 1 pick up game years ago and this was before I could even skate and i felt intimidated to play and kept passing up getting ice time. Only time i had a decent time with pick up was playing with the group here that use to play every once in awhile. Everyone was super helpful and let you play the puck.

I wish they had those vapors in my size! Is there really any upgrade from mid grade skates to top? Is there any advantage or is it really only worth it once you're a better skater?

I understand your concerns with playing pick-up. You really never know what you are going to get. This one had a bit of everything, a couple of rookie/tin looking players, then some more solid intermediate guys, then a couple really good guys in their 30's-50's that seemed to never tire, and the Long Beach State kids. Everyone kind of feels the room out and gives people a chance to carry the puck and make plays. Its not like the college guys were stick-checking the rookie/tin guys and taking the puck. If anything, it will kind of help your game to a degree playing with better players. My main issue was skating non-stop for almost 1.5 hours due to only having two subs. :rip_1:

Mid-grade to top level skates. Well, the top level will be stiffer, have better materials, overall the skates will be lighter too and that's about it. The top level skates won't break down as fast due to being stiffer, and the better steel holds edges longer, and glides better. All of which I'm sure I'd benefit from if I skated 4 times a week. Also, with Bauer, at the mid-intermediate level skate you are able to get a skate with their Fit System (which I'm sure you've heard of). CCM also has a three-fit system, but based off my recent research, the price point in which those are available are over the $400 mark. The CCM SUPERTACKS 9380 are only available in D and EE (regular and wide), same with the CCM JETSPEED FT485, and those retail for $359 and $379. With the Bauer, you can get into a Fit System skate with starting with the Supreme 3s ($359). Another brand to consider is True. True makes a great skate for $329, their TF7. Their TF9 is the next model up, $599. Hockey Monkey has them, Pure Hockey doesn't. They fit/size a bit weird, and you would probably have to go 2.5 sizes down from your street shoe. But most people say they are amazing once baked. I tried them on and they fit a bit wide in the forefoot area for me, and that was their "regular/d" fit.

Some people like to have the best, but I don't. I've never been one to get top of the line stuff in life, I always would find myself getting the mid-level option. Try on as many as you can in your price point, drive yourself crazy like I did trying to make a decision. Its hard to put brand biased aside, but out of all the skates I tried (lost track of how many), the Vapor x2.9 just felt the best. I guess if the Vapor aint broke (for me), don't fix it. :26smile:

[beedee]

We had our first game of the season last night, and in typical fashion as I pointed out above, our goalie was a no-show. :47smile: After a few phone calls, we weren't able to find a goalie to play on 20 minutes notice, so we skated with 6 skaters. Bless our Captains heart, he is pushing 60 years old and volunteered to be the slot/net minder skater. This was my former team we were up against, and really there was only one player to really watch, and he was douchin' it up, shooting from the red line and blue line right off the bat. One shot got away from him (so he says) and plugged our C in the gut. We were pissed and chirped the guy all night long. It was 3-1 them after the first period. But in the second period things started coming together for us, we had a TON of offense and I received a pass across the blue line from my D partner to which I one-timed (and really got a hold of it) a clapper past the tendie, just inside the glove side post. wavey: It was 6-3 at the end of the second, but we were firing on all cylinders and were getting a ton of shots from everywhere! Third period was more of the same, they were actually trying to be more cool about not shooting from outside and making passes to get the puck in the net from the slot area, which was cool. I had a couple end to end rushes that felt really good as I shoulder-faked a couple of their forecheckers in our end and the neutral zone, goalie made a great save on a high blocker writer I let fly from the high-slot on my of my rushes. We still had a lot of chances in the third but couldn't bury rebounds. And their douchey player scored one more goal on a shot from the top of the circles with 8 seconds left in the game. I proceeded to get the puck out of the net and gently tossed it to him and congratulated him on his hat trick....in a friendly manner, we both laughed about it.

The x2.9 skates felt good, finally went back to my old way of lacing them which I don't use the top eyelet. For some reason I was lacing them all the way up the last few times out and it was driving me crazy since I couldn't get the forward flex I was used to. The only bummer is the right blade/holder clicks when I walk. It is super annoying, the left one is fine. I know its not a huge deal, but its enough to make me want to swap them out for another pair...but I'd have to order them online. I want to give the SuperTack 9380 a try anyways, so I'll give those a shot and see how they feel.

Mrs. Beedee has her Championship game this Sunday evening and I think Lil Beedee finally has her last Hockey Initiation 2 class this Sunday as well?

Here is a pic of my new skate(s), don't mind Lil Beedee's art in the background on the front door.
https://i.imgur.com/m3DHaVe.jpg

[Luc SkyBomba]

came for the skates, stayed for the art

Oh hey, those are the skates I got!

[SirJW]

I wish I could find a pair of skates that fit out of the box.

[beedee]

So I just finished a public session on some brands new CCM SuperTacks 9380’s. Man, they feel pretty different from the Vapors. I feel like they put me on my heels, felt very flat footed. The foot beds are terrible, completely flat with zero arch support…and I have flat arches. Will try them a few more times but as I have mentioned before, the Vapors just fit like a glove, no thinking about anything regarding them when I wear them. With these SuperTacks I could feel my toes brushing the caps, which some people swear by, but I’ve never liked it. Arches were on fire the first 15 minutes or so and my feet feel a bit fatigued as I write this. And the front of my feet kind of hurt from being so flat-footed.

The good thing is, CCM has a 90 day guarantee, so you can try them and if they don’t work, return them to the place you bought them for a refund. :)

[xLAxKingsx]

Had our final game and it was rather fun. Got the W and champs for season.

Thought it was gonna be a blow out but the other team came to play. Didnt do much from the blue line on offense which i plan on working on since im taking a season off.

Defensively I did ok getting in lanes and made better attempts at clearing the puck. Started to use the glass more instead of rimming it around and having their D get the puck. Overall it was a fun season playing D every game. I wish i could have some offense to my game but its my first time trying it so im not to bummed out about it. I did feel more comfortable with my skating as season progressed. It really forces you to skate which is what i needed.

Now to learn to skate backwards and add some Offense to my game my shooting from so far out was really lacking smh.

[jammer06]

So two bits to report:
Friday night we had the parent kid skate at an outdoor rink ad it was a blast. Only 4 of us dads got our stuff on but we made it work, lots of siblings on the ice
I got to wear my kings retro and it was the coolest jersey out there. Props to one of the other dads who had a homemade Sweden that their team uses for beer league play. We goofed around for quite a while, I musta fed mini about 50 one timers and gassed him with it. He was having fun just pounding pucks. One of the other Dads had walked on at Michigan and gave him some pointers.
We ended the night with a 14 v 14 or so scrimmage light vs dark. Total chaos but hilarious with everyone on ice at once.
Had the league game last night against a team that had dropped down a division. We won 7-3 but it was 2-2 in the second. It was honestly one of those games where we got that third goal and then the other team got tired and down and we got to smelling blood in the water. Had they scored that third goal it could have been easily them that came out on top the same score. I played D and was managing my knee which decided it was pissed off about something so I didn't try too much on rush. Did get a nice point shot off that fell behind the goalie but the ref lost it and blew it dead right as our winger found it and tapped it in. Thems the breaks sometimes. The only other bit was their jerseys were the oddest combo of light and dark, we started in our darks but the colors were too close. So second period we switched to our lights and it was still confusing. I'll try to find a pic but it was a stripey uniform.

[Nyssa42]

whoo hoo!!! my 4th place team WON our playoff game 7-4 tonight against the #1 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1) team! And we were DOWN 3-0 at the end of the 1st period! Really helped that we finally had a full team. We have had 5 of our 12 guys out with Covid at various points in the season, 1 wedding and honeymoon, 1 engagement, 1 bad breakup (not of either of the 1st 2), and just the usual "can't make it tonight" stuff.

I played forward - didn't have any goals, but was only out for 1 of the goals against AND I played really well. Probably my best game ever at forward. Even the other team was complimenting me after the game because I was forechecking the heck out of them. Helped that we had 3 sets of forwards. (it's 4 on 4 - so we usually just have 8 or 9 skaters - or less - we had 10 tonight). I still suck at playing forward, but my line was mostly out there to kill time and play some defense so the other 2 lines could rest. I did have a couple of very weak shots on goal, though. Now....if only I could win a faceoff....

Next week we play the #3 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=3) seed for the championship. We have beaten them 3 out of 3 this season, so we are feeling very confident.

[beedee]

6-4 loss last night, and an overflowing bench.

Game 2 of the season last night, and for whatever reason we had I'm going to say, 15 people show up, including a former NHL'er that played for the Blues, Caps, Leafs, Ducks (and maybe more?), Terry Yake. Our team had enough of other teams bringing in ringers and no repercussions so we upped the ante. Well, the league director recognized who he was during warmies and said he couldn't play....boooo! Ironically, the other team only had two subs, so we sent three players to their team, including Terry. He was cool and while literally skating circles around us, never shot, and only set up his teammates. They got off to a 2-0 lead, and then I got us on the board with a clapper from the point, top-shelf, glove side! I feel like I'm finding my groove on my shots from the point, it felt great coming off the stick and zipped on by the tendie. A few minutes later my buddy from our daughters hockey programs tied it up. That was as close as we would get to winning. They went up 3-2, then 4-2, and we would score, then they would, so that was that. We did have our regular goalie back and he swore he is in for the rest of the season, which is great because he is pretty good! Our lines were a mess all night long, for half a period we had 5 D, but that didn't last long and they moved the 5th D back up to the forward lines. I have no idea how they were working their lines since I'm always sitting at the far end of the bench. I think one of our other "ringers" we brought in said he is in full-time, so that is awesome and he plays Center and provides some much needed offense!

[notbob]

6-4 loss last night, and an overflowing bench.

Game 2 of the season last night, and for whatever reason we had I'm going to say, 15 people show up, including a former NHL'er that played for the Blues, Caps, Leafs, Ducks (and maybe more?), Terry Yake. Our team had enough of other teams bringing in ringers and no repercussions so we upped the ante. Well, the league director recognized who he was during warmies and said he couldn't play....boooo! Ironically, the other team only had two subs, so we sent three players to their team, including Terry. He was cool and while literally skating circles around us, never shot, and only set up his teammates. They got off to a 2-0 lead, and then I got us on the board with a clapper from the point, top-shelf, glove side! I feel like I'm finding my groove on my shots from the point, it felt great coming off the stick and zipped on by the tendie. A few minutes later my buddy from our daughters hockey programs tied it up. That was as close as we would get to winning. They went up 3-2, then 4-2, and we would score, then they would, so that was that. We did have our regular goalie back and he swore he is in for the rest of the season, which is great because he is pretty good! Our lines were a mess all night long, for half a period we had 5 D, but that didn't last long and they moved the 5th D back up to the forward lines. I have no idea how they were working their lines since I'm always sitting at the far end of the bench. I think one of our other "ringers" we brought in said he is in full-time, so that is awesome and he plays Center and provides some much needed offense!

My CCM SuperTacks felt pretty good, it was my second time using them. However, I'm thinking I should have gone a 1/2 size up, my toes were pressing against the caps more than I liked when standing up and skating. Enough so that it was on my mind more than it should be. Not sure if I'll order a 7.5 SuperTack, or just say screw it and keep the Vapors, since they work great as is. The SuperTacks are really stiff and I'm not sure if I can tie the lower eyelets tighter without causing pain in my feet. I may give that a shot to see if that allows my foot a few extra millimeters up front. As of now, my foot feels locked in, but its just a smidge too short up front.

Lol upped the ante? You went nuclear

[Luc SkyBomba]

6-4 loss last night, and an overflowing bench.

Game 2 of the season last night, and for whatever reason we had I'm going to say, 15 people show up, including a former NHL'er that played for the Blues, Caps, Leafs, Ducks (and maybe more?), Terry Yake. Our team had enough of other teams bringing in ringers and no repercussions so we upped the ante. Well, the league director recognized who he was during warmies and said he couldn't play....boooo! Ironically, the other team only had two subs, so we sent three players to their team, including Terry. He was cool and while literally skating circles around us, never shot, and only set up his teammates. They got off to a 2-0 lead, and then I got us on the board with a clapper from the point, top-shelf, glove side! I feel like I'm finding my groove on my shots from the point, it felt great coming off the stick and zipped on by the tendie. A few minutes later my buddy from our daughters hockey programs tied it up. That was as close as we would get to winning. They went up 3-2, then 4-2, and we would score, then they would, so that was that. We did have our regular goalie back and he swore he is in for the rest of the season, which is great because he is pretty good! Our lines were a mess all night long, for half a period we had 5 D, but that didn't last long and they moved the 5th D back up to the forward lines. I have no idea how they were working their lines since I'm always sitting at the far end of the bench. I think one of our other "ringers" we brought in said he is in full-time, so that is awesome and he plays Center and provides some much needed offense!

My CCM SuperTacks felt pretty good, it was my second time using them. However, I'm thinking I should have gone a 1/2 size up, my toes were pressing against the caps more than I liked when standing up and skating. Enough so that it was on my mind more than it should be. Not sure if I'll order a 7.5 SuperTack, or just say screw it and keep the Vapors, since they work great as is. The SuperTacks are really stiff and I'm not sure if I can tie the lower eyelets tighter without causing pain in my feet. I may give that a shot to see if that allows my foot a few extra millimeters up front. As of now, my foot feels locked in, but its just a smidge too short up front.

That's awesome. One time I asked Darryl Evans if he'd play on my roller team and he just laughed.

[beedee]

It's game day! We have the late slot tonight, 8:45pm :) I know y'all can't wait for my write-up tomorrow!

Btw, I didn't play last week, wasn't feeling good. But I guess our goalie had to work late, no one could find a goalie so we skated with 6 guys. My friend said we used a couple more mobile players to hang back and play more of a "rover" type of position so that we were almost on a PP all game. Ended up losing 8-2, but he said our team was clicking and played great. The other team was being lame and shooting from far outside.

P.S. I really need new gloves, I have some old Nexus 800's with multiple holes in the palms/thumb area patched up with cloth tape and duct tape. Im waiting til our jerseys arrive though so I can try to match up the red/white/blue of our old school Capitals jerseys.

[jammer06]

It's game day! We have the late slot tonight, 8:45pm :) I know y'all can't wait for my write-up tomorrow!

Btw, I didn't play last week, wasn't feeling good. But I guess our goalie had to work late, no one could find a goalie so we skated with 6 guys. My friend said we used a couple more mobile players to hang back and play more of a "rover" type of position so that we were almost on a PP all game. Ended up losing 8-2, but he said our team was clicking and played great. The other team was being lame and shooting from far outside.

P.S. I really need new gloves, I have some old Nexus 800's with multiple holes in the palms/thumb area patched up with cloth tape and duct tape. Im waiting til our jerseys arrive though so I can try to match up the red/white/blue of our old school Capitals jerseys.

Shoe repair guys can replace the leather if you like the glove otherwise

[beedee]

Shoe repair guys can replace the leather if you like the glove otherwise

Thanks. They are a classic 4-Roll style, I do like them, but often wonder if I'd like a more snug fit? Plus, I'm sure the cost of the repair wouldn't be that far off from a new low to mid end pair?

The Vapor feels good in the fingers but then gets really wide open in the hand/cuff area. Supreme fits more snug all around. On the CCM side, the JetSpeed fits similar to the Vapor and the Tacks to the Supreme. Pure Hockey has a much better variety than Hockey Monkey does (in my area).

[jammer06]

Thanks. They are a classic 4-Roll style, I do like them, but often wonder if I'd like a more snug fit? Plus, I'm sure the cost of the repair wouldn't be that far off from a new low to mid end pair?

The Vapor feels good in the fingers but then gets really wide open in the hand/cuff area. Supreme fits more snug all around. On the CCM side, the JetSpeed fits similar to the Vapor and the Tacks to the Supreme. Pure Hockey has a much better variety than Hockey Monkey does (in my area).

https://i.imgur.com/pnDYz7B.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dzKDcM9.jpg

I had a guy get mine done for $25 about 5 years ago...

[Nyssa42]

That's awesome. One time I asked Darryl Evans if he'd play on my roller team and he just laughed.

I asked Dave Taylor to come help out my team!!! (he was busy)


Speaking of my team....we lost last night in our second game of a best-of-three playoffs. First time we've ever had a best-of-three playoffs (4x4 league at Pano). We lost 6-1 last week - the makeup of the team we played had changed a lot since the beginning of the season. Let's just say, while they didn't bring in Terry Yake, they did have some players who don't belong in our division. Last night we had a 4-4 tie going with about 3 minutes left, but then Mr. Ringer turned up the juice and they took a 5-4 lead. Despite a valiant effort with our goalie pulled in the last 1:30ish, we just couldn't put another one away against Three Levels Up Goalie and they got an empty netter with about :20 left. Oh well...at least we get a week off before the new season starts. And my whole team seems to be returning, so we should do well if everyone can stay healthy this season.

[Nyssa42]

Thanks. They are a classic 4-Roll style, I do like them, but often wonder if I'd like a more snug fit? Plus, I'm sure the cost of the repair wouldn't be that far off from a new low to mid end pair?

The Vapor feels good in the fingers but then gets really wide open in the hand/cuff area. Supreme fits more snug all around. On the CCM side, the JetSpeed fits similar to the Vapor and the Tacks to the Supreme. Pure Hockey has a much better variety than Hockey Monkey does (in my area).


I use Warrior gloves and love them!! I have giant man-hands (seriously....my hands are almost as big as my husband's were!). I have 2 different pairs, but they are out in the car so I don't know the model #s (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=s) ...let me know if you want the model #s (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=s) . I actually have 1 pair that I don't really use if you want to try them, I can send them to you. I think they are only 13", though.

[beedee]

Game 4: 3-2 loss, now 0-4 on the season.

Maybe we should consider dropping down to Copper? I think we won 2 games last season, maybe 3?

Anyhow, I digress. On to the game. First period was a sloppy mess for us, for whatever reason no one on our team could get anything together. Our team definitely lacks structure, and anything that resembles a slight form of "system" or game plan. Not that many BHL teams do have one, but I've noticed that quite a few do seem to be more structured than ours. Sloppy passes, being stuck in our zone, you name it, it happened in the first period. That said, we were only down 1-0 at the end of it! Second period was a bit better, we tied it pretty quickly, and then went on to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. Nothing really eventful to report.

britt: Oh wait, one of the refs called a phantom penalty on me for "high-sticking". I was 110% baffled as my stick was never raised up past the top of the boards as I battled for the puck with their winger. The ref (im guessing was new) admitted that he didn't have a clear view as he was at the redline, and had their right defenseman partially blocking his view, as well as our winger. Me and the guy were battling along the half-wall boards adjacent to the face-off circle in our end. In fact, when he blew the whistle everyone was kind of standing around and asking what happened. I went as far as asking the guy I was battling with if I got him up high, he wasn't hesitant to say "no" for the obvious, but came up to me after the game and we shared a laugh about it as he said my stick was nowhere near being high. He actually lifted my stick as we both arrived at the puck at the same time, but again, it wasn't high. The ref actually reneged his call and we went on our merry way!

They ended up scoring about 2/3 the way through the third to tie it, and then scored another shortly after. Complete lapse on our end, with people standing around why their player skated through 4 out of 5 of us right to the crease and beat our rent-a-goalie 5 Hole. We pulled our goalie with a minute or so left and had some great chances with our extra attacker, we were in their zone that entire last minute of play. I had one final shot as the puck squirted out to me on my opposite side of the blue line (right D side), I fired off a slap-shot with 3 seconds left on the clock. It made it through the mass of humanity in the low slot area, but hit a skate and was redirected wide of the net. That was that, game over.

[jammer06]

We are off this week for the super bowl but we do have a game monday night. Our last game was a battle for first place and we ended up pulling out the win 6-4. The game was a spirited affair but nothing too crazy. Their team had one of the players kids in goal since their normal goalie got hurt. Normally that would be a death sentence but the kid had thought he was skating out and had his regular skates and borrowed gear on instead of goalie skates. We definitely took advantage of that.
My knee's been acting up lately so that was a bit of a bummer, could not get a proper knee bend playing D and consequently felt one legged out there at times. I did get one rush up the ice and although I had a 2-1 opportunity I saw the goalie catch his edge as he set for me so I fired it at the open short side. The damned kid got his glove down on it as he was falling over. Oh well.

You mentioned structure beedee, i'll say that this teams been together long enough that we have definite habits. I have certain players I know I can toss an area pass without looking and they'll go get it. It's so much faster hockey when you can get that little bit of rhythm. In any case its always a weird melding of trying to get your head up to read plays vs taking the easy way out when you're anticipating. I know I get myself in trouble when I've got something like my knee slowing me down and I'm trying to catch up to where mentally I'm betting people are.

One other note, I've got a mid week skate that I might get to go back to at the end of february, and possibly a friday lunch skate at the end of the month that we've been told has been waiting for the mask mandates to lift. That one was great.

[beedee]

Game 5: 3-1 Win!!!

You read that right folks, we actually won! I must say, things weren't looking good though in the lockeroom when 5 minutes before game time we only had 7 skaters and a goalie. I wish our captain would do a group team text instead of an email, that way we can know ahead of time if we will be short, might sway some guys into coming that were on the fence. Anyhow, during warmies I was looking over at the other team and counting their players, looks like they were short as well, but you never know as people do trickle in later. Low and behold, they also only had 7 guys! Woooohooo!

We got off to a quick two goal lead in the first period, nothing fancy, just your typical beer league goals. They scored about halfway through the first on a juicy rebound that our goalie deflected the initial shot with his blocker right into the slot and I wasn't able to slap it out to the boards as it bounced over my stick. They had a guy coming up the gut following up his shot and he was able to hammer it home. We bounced back rather quickly and got another goal a couple minutes later. I snapped a shot in from the point and the goalie made the save but the rebound went right to my buddy and he quickly put the biscuit in the basket and that was all for the scoring for the rest of the game.

Second and third periods were pretty uneventful, but the ice was certainly tilted in our favor all night long. Scorekeeper wasn't keep track of shots, but we really out shot them. I must have had at least 10 SOG's alone, most from the point, but a couple came on some end to high-slot rushes that I had. Their goalie was really good and kept the score closer than what the game showed. Only one penalty was called all night long, mid-way through the 3rd. It was a tripping penalty on them because I toe-picked when chasing the puck along the boards in front of one of their players. I felt bad because the guy didn't trip me, I acknowledged that to him, and even the ref but he said he couldn't take it back, oh well. Everyone on our team played solid and we were connecting in upwards of 3 consecutive passes many times throughout the game.

It was a fun game even though both teams were short on players. I found that I tend to pace myself better and actually was not as exhausted as I though I would be considering how much ice time we got, and how we only had two subs. Which usually means, you get to rest for about 1 minute before the next guy that is sucking wind comes off for a change.

[jammer06]

So we had a game on Monday night and I guess I'm over it enough to report how it went. We lost 4-3, against a team we'd previously beaten (the weird jerseys one) and while that game was weird as i'd mentioned this time they were just so bad, and we were even worse.
We started the game and it was a complete beer league **** show of people just one hacking pucks in any direction they could. No passing, just chip and no chase except for whoever was near where that puck went. Finally the puck came around me and I settled it down and started moving with it in the D zone for a breakout, I've got my head up and all I see are 3 slack jawed forwards wondering how I've invented stick handling and a wall of their team coming after me. I did get it out of the zone on that one and dumped it down there side for a change but I was getting hot already. We only had 4 D this game so I was out there again pretty quick and finally the game started to resemble something closer to not the bottom of the barrel beer league. We were still getting hemmed in a lot and not of traction on the offensive front but at least nothing seemed dangerous. Then their team started getting a little more confidence and all the sudden things were getting dangerous. Even when we were getting it out the other D pair was sagging so far back because of the other teams high floaters that the neutral zone was absolutely free. So it turned into rush after rush and by the end of the first we were down 3-0 and demoralized. I'm pretty sure we had like 2 shots on goal, one of which was me dumping the puck on the goalie on a rush trying to beat the dman to a rebound.

The second started and it was more of the same until I broke a puck out to a moving center (hallelujah) and they got a good zone entry but forced to the corner. The other team overpursued and he was able to move the puck up the boards to my point. I pulled the puck off the wall and glided back about 2 strides with if before taking a clapper and it hit one of their D on the way in for the old seeing eye shot. But hey we were on the board. This led to a little bit of giddy up and we finally started to tilt the ice back in on them even if we weren't getting great shots. I did manage to join our center on another rush 2-2, he threw one across ice behind me, I picked it up of the boards circling towards the blue and then the slot on my forehand and the center came across with a perfect pick, so I could free up and throw a wrister against the grain that popped the water bottle. Now it's 3-2 and we think we've got something going.

They did start taking a lot of deep shots to their high floaters though which backfired on them when one of them rimmed the puck in and around. I swooped from the other side with speed to catch their forechecker right as the puck came and was able to ramp it just over his stick and I was off with speed. Turned their last D man outside in and tried the same move across the slot but their goalie stayed patient and got their shoulder on it. So end of the second we're 3-2 but the team is getting some mojo.

Start of the third our first line finally wins a faceoff, they get in deep, work a low give and go to a pass across the crease and our winger buries it top corner short side on the goalie coming across on him. Great shot great goal. So now we got them on the ropes. We're finally playing well but we can't score. gets to be about 4 minutes left and they're coming in on me 2-2. No big deal, I'm pushing their winger wide, theres no danger to the slot. He throws one five hole looking to get the rebound to his backside winger who's tied up and I hear the dreaded sound of the puck hitting the padding in the back of the net and our goalie yell "****!". Their winger was astonished and yeah thats how it ended, 4-3 on a **** goal after coming back from 3-0.

[xLAxKingsx]

am i dumb af?

Im taking a season off but after playing D all season and enjoying that side of the game a lot... It has me wanting to try goalie.

Quick someone talk me out of it? Or... Should I just ****ing do it? Im 35 and have terrible flexablitly lol but i figure itll force me to get my **** together and work on myself. Maybe im just missing the game.

https://media0.giphy.com/media/LZ3Gw4M6YEnsOdcEZj/giphy.gif

[beedee]

am i dumb af?

Im taking a season off but after playing D all season and enjoying that side of the game a lot... It has me wanting to try goalie.

Quick someone talk me out of it? Or... Should I just ****ing do it? Im 35 and have terrible flexablitly lol but i figure itll force me to get my **** together and work on myself. Maybe im just missing the game.

https://media0.giphy.com/media/LZ3Gw4M6YEnsOdcEZj/giphy.gif

Can't remember if I shared my goalie stories here or not. But I was in a similar boat. But I was tired of playing wing, getting screwed on ice time whenever we had too many players, and then double screwed when someone took a penalty. I thought to myself, its kind of now or never if I want to try goalie on ice at the age of 41. Unlimited ice time, no one to share or rotate on a line with, it was just ME ME ME in the crease, ALLLLLL GAAAAMMMEEE LOOONG! I had played it off and on over the years when playing street hockey with friends, and in organized roller leagues. It had always been a dream (for lack of better words) for me to play it on ice. F it, I'm in!

I acquired some of our goalies old gear (chestie, leg pads, blocker, glove), and was on my own for goalie pants, knee-guards, mask and skates. Luckily my buddy was a manager at Goalie Monkey, and he had a new pair of demo Graf Goalie Skates that were my size that he let me have for free, score! My training included creating an extensive YOUTUBE playlist on how to goalie. I then joined some skills clinics (for free) at Lakewood, as well as quite a few stick times with my friends. I brought my GoPro out and set it up in the low-slot to watch myself on video when I got home. Once I grew a sack, I started playing some pick-up, and then my friends rookie team needed a tendie. I took the plunge, it was tough because everyone was brand new, and I was a Silver level player, playing in ROOKIE. Talk about a mind-F!!! I was trying to help coach the team from the crease while I was learning a new position more or less. It was rough going to say the least. We were getting smoked, I'm going to toot my own horn, I was able to keep games respectable due to how many sandbaggers the other teams were carrying. I played two seasons of ROOKIE while subbing off and on in COPPER...eventually landing a full-time gig on a COPPER team at Lakewood. This lead me to some BRONZE subbing opportunities as well.

This position was great and not great all at the same time. It was really cool to make the "big save" and get props from everyone. It also sucked when the game was on the line and you let in a softie. It sucked when you bust your ass every game because you are the last resort, but your D and F were half-ass back-checking, or not even getting back at all. I can't tell you how many 2 on 0's I faced, it was insane! Another rough part was, if you weren't feeling good, you couldn't keep your shifts short and relax on the bench. Last but not least, IT IS AN INSANE WORKOUT if your team sucks. Being that you are in ROOKIE, expect to face a ton of shots! At one point in my early ROOKIE games, I had to call a time-out because I thought I was going to puke right there in the crease, that is how hard I was working.

All in all, it was tough. The mental aspect got to me, I was getting frustrated more than I was having fun. The nail in the coffin for me was the Richard-head that hit me in the collar bone during warm ups from the right side of the semi-circle as I was facing the far left shooter. Imagine your own teammate basically taking you out of the game before it even starts?!?! Crazy huh, but it happened. People are f'ing dumbasses and don't look up before shooting at the goal. There are quite a few beer league hockey goalie warm-up memes floating around that are all accurate as F! I decided after that game when I got plugged in warmies that I was done. I had fun, but I don't know, the pressure that I put on myself was rough, and it was hard for me not to get pissed at my team for giving up so many outnumbered attacks on me.

One last note, you really should be a great skater too. Don't think that you are just standing there all game, next time you watch an NHL game, focus solely on the goalies and how active they really care, it is insane!

[Nyssa42]

Aren't there enough of us getting up there in years that we could have a legit "over 40" league in SoCal. Or over 50?? or an "I'm never getting any better" league??

My team lost our 1st game of the season 7-2 on Tuesday to a team we should be able to beat. Goal #7 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=7) was my fault....I didn't cover my guy, let him walk in from the point with 2 seconds left in the game and he scored. Played OK the rest of the game at forward. Had 2 good chances on goal at least.
Stayed after to watch the new "rookie" team in our division....which appears to be made up of Greek Gods who know how to skate really, really well. My male teammates are all terrified to play them next week. Seriously, every guy on this team is over 6'. And they are definitely NOT beginners.

We did take 2nd in the division, though, for last season. Had a bad loss in playoff game #1 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1) , but kept it close in game #2 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=2) - I think we lost 6-4. It was a best of 3. So, at least I got to go to the Drew Doughty 1,000th game ceremony last week instead of having to play a 3rd game.

[Luc SkyBomba]

Aren't there enough of us getting up there in years that we could have a legit "over 40" league in SoCal. Or over 50?? or an "I'm never getting any better" league??

My team lost our 1st game of the season 7-2 on Tuesday to a team we should be able to beat. Goal #7 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=7) was my fault....I didn't cover my guy, let him walk in from the point with 2 seconds left in the game and he scored. Played OK the rest of the game at forward. Had 2 good chances on goal at least.
Stayed after to watch the new "rookie" team in our division....which appears to be made up of Greek Gods who know how to skate really, really well. My male teammates are all terrified to play them next week. Seriously, every guy on this team is over 6'. And they are definitely NOT beginners.

We did take 2nd in the division, though, for last season. Had a bad loss in playoff game #1 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1) , but kept it close in game #2 (https://letsgokings.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=2) - I think we lost 6-4. It was a best of 3. So, at least I got to go to the Drew Doughty 1,000th game ceremony last week instead of having to play a 3rd game.

Count me in for 40 plus and never getting better! Hell I need to get back in. Been like over two years now...

[beedee]

I'd be down for an LGK team! I think the hard part would bet finding a rink that is central to us, we are pretty spread out. I'm in Long Beach.

We lost 2-1 on Wednesday night. We are now 1-5 on the season.

It was a fun game, had a full bench, got plenty of shots off from the blue line. I also was more active than I've ever been, had a handful of give'and'goes with my buddy resulting in a few SOG's, nothing went in. Their goalie was giving up rebounds galore, but no one on our team could capitalize on them. I was trying everything, normal clappers, shot-passes, rebounds given, but no one to bury them. The game was 0-0 halfway through the 2nd when they finally scored their first goal. Then we traded goals early in the third and that was a wrap. I think we just lack two solid lines, our first line is great, our second line, not so much. However, its nice to see that chemistry is starting to be established between our first line and myself. jammer06 mentioned it in a previous post, that it takes time and then stuff starts clicking. That was the case this past game, and I'm looking forward to more scoring chances with this first line. Now that we have some flow and know what each other are looking to do, we can hopeful start converting those chances into goals. They know that I'm going to look for that quick seem in the mid-top face off circle area and will pinch in to fill that gap and they can hit me with a quick pass for a one-timer from that area. That is how we worked a few give'and'goes, they cycled it back to me up the boards to the point. I'd wait for the forward to start skating my way before sending it back down the half-wall to the LW and then I'd immediate make my way diagonally toward the mid-slot area and they'd feed me for a quick shot.

[jammer06]

When I'm in town I can sub in on the over 40 team!

Oh and we won our last game 5-2, my D partner had all the luck scoring 2 goals. Plays just went to him instead of me. Felt good most of the game until I tweaked my knee a bit in the third. Thankfully it didn't act up really bad and this week I was able to hit the gym 4 of 5 days to work on rehabbing it. Next game on monday night against the other top team. Will let you know how it goes.

[xLAxKingsx]

Can't remember if I shared my goalie stories here or not. But I was in a similar boat. But I was tired of playing wing, getting screwed on ice time whenever we had too many players, and then double screwed when someone took a penalty. I thought to myself, its kind of now or never if I want to try goalie on ice at the age of 41. Unlimited ice time, no one to share or rotate on a line with, it was just ME ME ME in the crease, ALLLLLL GAAAAMMMEEE LOOONG! I had played it off and on over the years when playing street hockey with friends, and in organized roller leagues. It had always been a dream (for lack of better words) for me to play it on ice. F it, I'm in!

I acquired some of our goalies old gear (chestie, leg pads, blocker, glove), and was on my own for goalie pants, knee-guards, mask and skates. Luckily my buddy was a manager at Goalie Monkey, and he had a new pair of demo Graf Goalie Skates that were my size that he let me have for free, score! My training included creating an extensive YOUTUBE playlist on how to goalie. I then joined some skills clinics (for free) at Lakewood, as well as quite a few stick times with my friends. I brought my GoPro out and set it up in the low-slot to watch myself on video when I got home. Once I grew a sack, I started playing some pick-up, and then my friends rookie team needed a tendie. I took the plunge, it was tough because everyone was brand new, and I was a Silver level player, playing in ROOKIE. Talk about a mind-F!!! I was trying to help coach the team from the crease while I was learning a new position more or less. It was rough going to say the least. We were getting smoked, I'm going to toot my own horn, I was able to keep games respectable due to how many sandbaggers the other teams were carrying. I played two seasons of ROOKIE while subbing off and on in COPPER...eventually landing a full-time gig on a COPPER team at Lakewood. This lead me to some BRONZE subbing opportunities as well.

This position was great and not great all at the same time. It was really cool to make the "big save" and get props from everyone. It also sucked when the game was on the line and you let in a softie. It sucked when you bust your ass every game because you are the last resort, but your D and F were half-ass back-checking, or not even getting back at all. I can't tell you how many 2 on 0's I faced, it was insane! Another rough part was, if you weren't feeling good, you couldn't keep your shifts short and relax on the bench. Last but not least, IT IS AN INSANE WORKOUT if your team sucks. Being that you are in ROOKIE, expect to face a ton of shots! At one point in my early ROOKIE games, I had to call a time-out because I thought I was going to puke right there in the crease, that is how hard I was working.

All in all, it was tough. The mental aspect got to me, I was getting frustrated more than I was having fun. The nail in the coffin for me was the Richard-head that hit me in the collar bone during warm ups from the right side of the semi-circle as I was facing the far left shooter. Imagine your own teammate basically taking you out of the game before it even starts?!?! Crazy huh, but it happened. People are f'ing dumbasses and don't look up before shooting at the goal. There are quite a few beer league hockey goalie warm-up memes floating around that are all accurate as F! I decided after that game when I got plugged in warmies that I was done. I had fun, but I don't know, the pressure that I put on myself was rough, and it was hard for me not to get pissed at my team for giving up so many outnumbered attacks on me.

One last note, you really should be a great skater too. Don't think that you are just standing there all game, next time you watch an NHL game, focus solely on the goalies and how active they really care, it is insane!

Thanks for this in depth goalie review! Haha

I have a feeling id be on the same boat of getting frustrated with my play especially with it being on the line. Id be my worst critic and would probably bum me out. It does seem fun to try and learn something new sorta how playing D felt this season. If i come across cheap goalie gear i might give it a go. But im currently working on my skating and shooting so i can try and be a more effective D player.

[Nyssa42]

OK, so my team lost our 2nd game of the season 7-4 to the new team in our league, but the score is not really reflective of how well my team played. New Team was not nearly as intimidating as they seemed last week when I was watching them from the sidelines. I even won about 5 faceoffs! I never win faceoffs! AND, my team was without our 2 top scorers.
We gave up 3 goals in the first 2 minutes - before I ever even touched the ice - I'll have to watch the Live Barn replay to see exactly what happened. We were down 4-0 after the 1st period, but we kept our chins up, our goalie got his act together, and we just kept wearing them down and got a few great chances - and it was 6-4 after the 2nd. New Team is pretty fast, so we were getting a bit tired in the 3rd period, but still held them to just the 1 additional goal. They seemed to be running out of gas a bit, too.
We had some chances, but just couldn't put the biscuit in the basket. One guy hit a post so hard you could have heard it in the 300s at Staples - darn. I had a couple of blown chances, too, but was just sucking too much wind. I'm still not used to playing forward with only 2 lines....gotta work on my cardio and leg strength before Kings fantasy camp later this month!!

[jammer06]

Our game monday night got cancelled due to delays in a weekend tournament. The real bummer was I got to watch the debacle at crypto. In any case next monday we are back on the ice. I'm not sure if I'm skating in our academy skate this friday yet. Kids want to have another family night.

[beedee]

I subbed in a lower division (Copper) game on Saturday afternoon, wasn't sure if I'd make it in time since Lil Beedee had her Softball Opening Day Ceremony that same day. I can see the appeal of playing down a level, it gives you a bit more time to take an extra, extra look out there. I played D and had fun making stretch passes and being the set-up guy on the occasional rush. There were a couple pretty good guys that I enjoyed playing with, we had pretty good chemistry off the bat. One of them fed me on the point from the half-boards to where I received the pass, wound up for a snapper all in one motion and beat the tendie glove side, above the left pad! That put us on the board, 1-0. After that we went up 2-0, then traded goals and ended up winning 4-2. Great group of guys with a similar mix of skilled/not-so-skilled players (similar to my Bronze team). The captain asked if I could be a regular sub, so I obliged. Will be nice to get a weekend skate in, as well as my Wednesday night games. The funny thing was, I saw a game on the rink next to us, also Copper that had a few players that I played with before in Silver, lmao!

Tonight we have the 9pm slot, looking forward to playing! Will be my second time on my Bauer Vapor 3x skates, I returned the RibCor's over the weekend. After this two month long experiment, nothing fit me like the Vapor, so I'm glad that saga is finally officially over! I wore the 3x's on Saturday for the game, first time wearing them and they were great! Felt good have some forward lean again and not feel like I was on my heels like I did in the CCM's! Will report tomorrow on how tonights game goes. I remember this team from the end of last season, or was it early this season? They were pretty solid overall, had two ringers though. Curious if they'll be there tonight???

[beedee]

5-3 W last night!

Their ringer was there, we did a great job of getting under his skin, resulting in a couple retaliatory penalties by him. :) The league director was watching as the game became very chippy, 12 penalties total! Our captain pointed out the ringer to the director and he said, "oh yeah, he subs every now and then". Cappy then said, that comes to an end tonight or I'm bring Terry Yake back out!!! They had another not quite as good as the ringer, ringer. He was a 19-20 year old kid I'd say, pretty fast, but very predictable as he always tried to dangle with the same inside-out move. I caught on very early to this and ended up taking a penalty on him as he tried the move again. All I did was body him up as he tried to cut back outside and he went down like a freakin' feather. Anyhow, we had the lead all game and it felt great! I didn't have too many shots thought, but 3 or 4 got through, so that was good. Also had an apple on a textbook shot-pass from the left point to my buddy how was a few feet out from the far post. Center won the face-off back to me and I took a look and was about to let a snapper go when my buddy called my name. So I just kind of no-look adjusted my "shot" and kept it hard and low (thats what she said) right to his stick for the easy Kathryn Tappin. Nothing extra to report other than the not quite the ringer, ringer took my feet out behind our goal as we were both chasing the puck down, I ate crap on my right butt-cheek more or less and for whatever reason my pants padding wasn't cover that area, so it really hurt last night and is pretty sore today still. Also, the ringer took a shot from around the face-off dot as I forced him wide and it hit me right above the ankle bone, that hurt like a mo-fo as he could really get some velocity on his shots! Foot felt numb for a short bit as I hobbled around for the remainder of my shift. Got to the bench and walked it off when I wasn't on the ice. Today it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would, so thats good!

Not sure if I'm going to sub with that team again on Saturday. They are a great bunch, but they upped the sub fee to $40, which feels too steep for my liking. I'd rather go play pick-up for $19 and get way more ice time!

[jammer06]

5-3 W last night!

Their ringer was there, we did a great job of getting under his skin, resulting in a couple retaliatory penalties by him. :) The league director was watching as the game became very chippy, 12 penalties total! Our captain pointed out the ringer to the director and he said, "oh yeah, he subs every now and then". Cappy then said, that comes to an end tonight or I'm bring Terry Yake back out!!! They had another not quite as good as the ringer, ringer. He was a 19-20 year old kid I'd say, pretty fast, but very predictable as he always tried to dangle with the same inside-out move. I caught on very early to this and ended up taking a penalty on him as he tried the move again. All I did was body him up as he tried to cut back outside and he went down like a freakin' feather. Anyhow, we had the lead all game and it felt great! I didn't have too many shots thought, but 3 or 4 got through, so that was good. Also had an apple on a textbook shot-pass from the left point to my buddy how was a few feet out from the far post. Center won the face-off back to me and I took a look and was about to let a snapper go when my buddy called my name. So I just kind of no-look adjusted my "shot" and kept it hard and low (thats what she said) right to his stick for the easy Kathryn Tappin. Nothing extra to report other than the not quite the ringer, ringer took my feet out behind our goal as we were both chasing the puck down, I ate crap on my right butt-cheek more or less and for whatever reason my pants padding wasn't cover that area, so it really hurt last night and is pretty sore today still. Also, the ringer took a shot from around the face-off dot as I forced him wide and it hit me right above the ankle bone, that hurt like a mo-fo as he could really get some velocity on his shots! Foot felt numb for a short bit as I hobbled around for the remainder of my shift. Got to the bench and walked it off when I wasn't on the ice. Today it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would, so thats good!

Not sure if I'm going to sub with that team again on Saturday. They are a great bunch, but they upped the sub fee to $40, which feels too steep for my liking. I'd rather go play pick-up for $19 and get way more ice time!

I feel like any time the sub fee is over $20 I'm not interested. Seems like it should always be in line with a case of not the cheapest beer on earth.

[jammer06]

So we had a rematch with the team that beat us last time on the brutal tweener shot. 3 full lines and 2 d pairs. I centered our 3rd line. Game started off poorly as our top line got scored on about 45 seconds in (BOOOOO). The second line went out and scored on a nifty back door pass about 40 seconds later (YAAAAAY). Our line went out after one more whistle for a D-zone draw. I managed to win it pretty cleanly and we worked our way out of the zone ok, but we muffed the entry and they turned it back on us. We spent the rest of the shift just trying to survive our own zone. But we didn't give up a goal, we left that to the first line guys who went out after us and I guess they figured the easiest way to get to the neutral zone was to let them score off the draw.
Things went downhill for a bit there from then, they scored on all of our lines in succession to put us down 4-1 (although by virtue of a terrible change I technically wouldn't have been assigned the minus). We battled back and got it to 2-4, they pushed it to 5-2 on a crap goal where they pushed our goalie in the net. It was about this time that it dawned on everyone that the refs weren't calling crap in a 10:20 start time game and it started getting pretty physical. Nothing outright dirty, just a lot of body contact, heavy sticks on sticks and occasionally people not giving up their right of way as they moved through the neutral zone. Some spectacular collisions later and a pattern was emerging, we could cut the lead to two goals, but we couldn't get it to one. 5-3, 6-4, 7/8-5 and then the final 8-6. About 10 mins to go in the third we went to 2 centers and dropped me back to D. It worked out for us in that I was able to spell our guys as two of them had played a game right before. I did manage quite a few shots from the point that their goalie didn't see, but it hit her or I missed the net. The worst part of it was the last three goals they scored were all seeing eye flukes. One even came on a pass from behind the goal line, off two of our D skates and neatly around our goalie. It was one of those games that wasn't meant to be. Back on the ice next Sunday, we'll see how that goes.

[Luc SkyBomba]

So we had a rematch with the team that beat us last time on the brutal tweener shot. 3 full lines and 2 d pairs. I centered our 3rd line. Game started off poorly as our top line got scored on about 45 seconds in (BOOOOO). The second line went out and scored on a nifty back door pass about 40 seconds later (YAAAAAY). Our line went out after one more whistle for a D-zone draw. I managed to win it pretty cleanly and we worked our way out of the zone ok, but we muffed the entry and they turned it back on us. We spent the rest of the shift just trying to survive our own zone. But we didn't give up a goal, we left that to the first line guys who went out after us and I guess they figured the easiest way to get to the neutral zone was to let them score off the draw.
Things went downhill for a bit there from then, they scored on all of our lines in succession to put us down 4-1 (although by virtue of a terrible change I technically wouldn't have been assigned the minus). We battled back and got it to 2-4, they pushed it to 5-2 on a crap goal where they pushed our goalie in the net. It was about this time that it dawned on everyone that the refs weren't calling crap in a 10:20 start time game and it started getting pretty physical. Nothing outright dirty, just a lot of body contact, heavy sticks on sticks and occasionally people not giving up their right of way as they moved through the neutral zone. Some spectacular collisions later and a pattern was emerging, we could cut the lead to two goals, but we couldn't get it to one. 5-3, 6-4, 7/8-5 and then the final 8-6. About 10 mins to go in the third we went to 2 centers and dropped me back to D. It worked out for us in that I was able to spell our guys as two of them had played a game right before. I did manage quite a few shots from the point that their goalie didn't see, but it hit her or I missed the net. The worst part of it was the last three goals they scored were all seeing eye flukes. One even came on a pass from behind the goal line, off two of our D skates and neatly around our goalie. It was one of those games that wasn't meant to be. Back on the ice next Sunday, we'll see how that goes.

man that sounds fun as hell, minus the flukey stuff I mean

[jammer06]

Last nights game was a 6-2 win for the good guys (us). Both benches were short but they were shorter. We had 11 and they had 9. Played center and its a good thing I've been hitting the gym cuz by the third we actually took the timeout before they did. The other center and I accounted for 5 of our goals, which sounds way cooler than I scored a goal. I do take credit for three of his though. In the second period three shifts in a row I'd get of the ice, he'd walk into the zone and out the puck would pop to him right in the slot and so he scored. My goal was neat, a broken 2-1 where there other D was just higher and so I split them. Our D man on the rush flipped the puck over the defenders stick between us but to get it to me he had to throw it at my skates. I angled it up off the blade to my stick and popped it right over the goalie who was going full Stauber when he saw where the pass was coming and charging me. Thankfully no collision and Kudos all around. The only other notable thing was there was one guy on the other team that late in the third (5-6 mins left) with us up 5-2 went after a puck covered by a goalie. The first time it was close to the whistle and our goalie looked at the ref and the ref shrugged as if to say "hey he was already poking before I blew my whistle". The second time though the ref told him to cut it out and the player said something. All the sudden the ref's giving him an unsportsmanlike, well grumpy says something else and now it's a 10 minute and he's gone. I don't think the guy was going to go rogue but the ref wasn't having it and honestly I kinda appreciated it even though if I was on that side I'd be kvetching. Still there was no bloodshed. We ended up scoring on the pp and at that it was a pass it around, but we actually did it so well that there was an absolutely empty net that we passed it into with the goalie down and out. In any case go us, fighting for first and a spot in a Toronto tourney where they will mop the floor with us.

[jammer06]

Haven't posted an update in a bit, we lost a couple weeks back in a 3-2 affair against the first place team that we will meet in the playoffs. I did not play well in that one. On the ice for all three goals against. 1 was a 3-1 where I was damned if I did or didn't and they just executed. The other two however, one I still cant figure out. Goalie made the save, my partner dumped the forward in front and in that scuffle they hit the goalie. Ref blows the whistle and sure as **** the puck is sitting in the net off to the side. We think it just fell out of his pad and rolled in during the ruckus but none of us saw it. The other one was a heartbreaker though. 2-2 late in the third I angled the oncoming wing out to the dot, he throws a bad angle shot at the goalie, it hits him and is in front of him, he dives out to cover and ends up pushing the puck out instead. The winger cut around me and picked up the gift wrapped puck and slid it home. I know the goalie shoulda covered it but I should have ridden that winger all the way past the goal line instead of turning off him.

Last nights affair I was battling again, sometimes you just feel like JMFJ out there. We got up 1-0 in what was obviously a night where both teams were well matched. Fluky goal from the face off dot aided by a dman screen. Goalie didn't see it and it floated into the upper corner over his blocker shoulder. They pushed back hard on us and in the second they were rewarded when a pass through the slot to a cutting forward was coming in, I lifted the guys stick and then turned to go chase the puck into the corner. Only to watch it slide right off the post and in, our goalie having played the cutting winger and sliding to the other post. We both looked at each other like, "how the hell did that happen". In any case I spent the rest of the game getting outworked along the boards which was pissing me off. Part of it was I was playing my off wing side, but part of it was I just couldn't get good leverage on these guys and they were moving the puck pretty well so we couldn't tie up. Finally late in the third I did get some success taking pucks off guys by getting into them earlier. We sprung a 2-1 where our guys worked three passes back and forth in from the blue line and the goalie was toast. Thankfully they just put it into the net. The last 90 seconds where hairy as they hit back to back posts off a turnover in our D zone but we got out of it with the 2 points and locked in 2nd place to end the season. One more game before the playoffs which is another preview against the first place team next Monday.

[jammer06]

So last night it was the playoff preview. Us vs the first place team, we are 14 deep which means 5 D, they are 9 deep which means 3 D, but they also only have all their good skaters so we know it's not in the bag at all. Game started out and you could tell it was going to be one of those nights. They were spacing out and making the puck work for them, concentrating on possessing the puck and with our extra guys we were happy chase them around instead of getting in lanes and making them skate. Predictably they were controlling the puck and our guys were getting frustrated which wasn't helping anything. They ended up catching us twice in our zone with back door passes where their D dropped into the play and I have no idea where our wingers were.

We got to the second and we finally penned them in for a couple of shifts and snuck a D down to give them a taste of their own back door medicine to bring it to 2-1. It didn't last long though as a few shifts later they won a draw clean in our zone and the point shot beat our goalie clean. He was just too deep in his net and when he went to butterfly he only pushed the puck into the corner of the net. That took the wind out of our sails and we went full idiot mode and gave up another the shift after I got off the ice. I came back on and our first line was out there and we got the puck in deep for a face off draw. I crept in on the strong side hoping for a clean win, it wasn't clean. Contested and our winger on the hash marks (I was in the middle of the ice) couldn't tap the puck back to me, nor could he tie up his man. Knowing I was in no mans land I started to try and get my legs moving to back out of the play and I caught a rut in the ice on my cross over and twisted up my knee. I did get up and get back into the play but I knew I'd done something and thankfully our guys cleared it back out so I could get to the bench. Sucked watching the second half of the game, but when I went out it was 4-1 and considering the final was 7-3 maybe we were better off without me since we finished 3-2. In any case I don't think I messed it up too bad but going to take it easy for a few days swimming and on the bike and we'll see how it feels Sunday. I really hope I don't have to put the brace back on it.

[beedee]

Had our "consolation game" last night, to see who was the best of the worst, turns out we were since the other team forfeited due to not having enough players. We had 11 and a goalie so we did some half ice, 4 on 4 scrimmage. Then worked on Power Plays, Shoot Outs and then just played around. Turns out the game after us also suffered the same fate, but one team was full, other team only had 4 or 5, so 4 of our guys stuck around to play a period.

We had our tradition end of season BBQ at my buddies house and one guy that hunts grilled up some venison burgers, they were bomb!

New season doesn't start until May 18, so I'll need to try to find some pick-up games or stick-times to attend to keep the rink-rust at bay.

[notbob]

I think I can get a few more seasons out of these Beedee

https://i.postimg.cc/prwSGPhB/20220428-181308.jpg

[jammer06]

So we had a friendly with the first place team that we will meet in the playoffs last night. Last game of the season kinda deal. Playoffs on Monday. We had a pretty deep bench and they again were short on skaters but all their best ones. This time we learned from last times mistakes but they still controlled the puck for much of the game. The difference was while they were getting shots off passes, we were keeping those chances pretty far outside. Not to say our goalie wasn't phenomenal, but this time he had a chance to make the saves and he did. They did finally break through on a Powerplay goal in the third. We came back right on the next shift and with a nice rush from our D found a trailer who snuck it home 5 hole and the tie. The game stayed tight and there were some shenanigan's with the usual characters. Eventually the ref got tired of throwing us in the box and started tossing them into the box with about 4 mins to go. They took two interference penalties. The first ended with about a minute to go, I had 3 quick point shots in succession but although we got the rebounds we couldn't convert. Then for some inexplicable reason with 14 seconds one of their guys dropped one of our guys in their zone. I think he didn't think there was OT. They called it. So we finished out the 14 seconds and took the PP to OT. Our boys set it up and this time a pass into the bumper (first time that worked all season) created a rebound to the side and our guy jumped on it to seal the win.
We ended the season 4-4 against these guys so who knows how the playoffs will go. Best of three coming up.

[jammer06]

I guess I should post the playoff results. We lost 2 games. The first one I wasn't there for due to allergies that were so bad I legit thought I was coming down with Covid. I might have had a cold on top of them or something. The boys lost a close one 2-0 giving up an empty netter to close it out. The second game I was back for and in general played well. We had a full bench with 6 D. We played it tight through one, ended up down 2-0 in the second but managed to come back to even and then get the go ahead 3-2 at the start of the third. Our top center was working a natural hat trick at this point and their guys were chirping even though there was a guy on their team we hadn't seen all season and he was dominant too. We spent the next few shifts just repelling rush after rush by him and predictably one of our guys took a penalty. My D partner and I went out for the ensuing PK and we were doing ok boxing it out and keeping their shots from the point but we couldn't clear the zone. Eventually they got a point shot where the rebound came to the uncovered back door and the guy put it home. In a fit of hubris my partner and I stayed out there and proceeded to give up a goal on the very next shift. It wasn't terrible play by us but we should have changed. That made it 4-3 and the clock started to work against us. One shift later and the next D pair made a terrible pass up the middle that was intercepted and the guy went bar down to put them to 5-3. We managed to get out there with about 2 minutes to go and I pulled us back to 5-4 on a point wrister with our center screening. I could see the goalie peak around him the wrong side just after I'd let fly and he never saw it. Gave me half the net to get it into. The next faceoff we almost got them again on the same play with a little pass back to me on the point and I let fly but this time I hit the outside of the goal. Was a shame, we ended up pulling the goalie and they got the en to win the championship with a 6-4 final. We were invited to Toronto to play in a tourney there but with all the covid rules the guys backed out. I'm not sure how many are or aren't vaxxed but enough of them were recent positives that the whole thing was more than our captain wanted to go through. Taking the summer off and will be back at it in the fall.

[beedee]

My new mitts arrived today, Warrior Alpha LX30's. (found brand new for a steal from a Warrior "plug" on eBay) Kind of a step backwards as far as the tier trim level from my Alpha FR PRO's, but really only the palms feel marginally less broken in than my FR's...and because they are brand new, lol. But I like the overall fit, a bit more snug in the fingers and back of the hand, then tapered at the cuff. IMHO, they tie-in beautifully with our sweaters.

https://i.imgur.com/CYVU7uE.jpg

[xLAxKingsx]

Looking good beede!

Took a step back from playing current season but im ready for the next. My skating still sucks haven't had any ice time since my last game. Im really the only one holding myself back from being a better skater smh.

Getting a bit burned out of playing Rookie league random teams every season isnt as fun as having the same team. I just couldn't do the hours for Tin and my skating needs work.

Hope everyone is having a good season if you guys are playing!

[beedee]

Looking good beede!

Took a step back from playing current season but im ready for the next. My skating still sucks haven't had any ice time since my last game. Im really the only one holding myself back from being a better skater smh.

Getting a bit burned out of playing Rookie league random teams every season isnt as fun as having the same team. I just couldn't do the hours for Tin and my skating needs work.

Hope everyone is having a good season if you guys are playing!

Thanks for checking in! My offer still stands, if you ever want to get together for a Stick-Time to work on some stuff, let me know!

We have a game tonight against the last place team, whom hasn't won a game yet. Hopefully we win! We are in sole possession of 2nd place right now, because two teams are tied for first, haha. But our season has been fun so far, with a 9-5 win last week!

[beedee]

It wasn't pretty but we pulled out the W last night, in a shootout, with your compadre scoring the only goal....in the 5th round!

We jumped out to a very, very early 1-0 lead on the first shot of the game! From there we were outshooting them by a lot, not quite a 2-1 margin, but close. I was stoked to be playing with another solid D partner, we passed well and knew where each other would be and would cover for each other in situations that called for it. This made for a fun time since we didnt have to worry about one of us (a la another D on our team) randomly jumping into plays and getting stuck on the forecheck deep in the O'zone, WTF?!!. They eventually tied it early in the 2nd, then we went up 2-1 late in the 2nd. Their goalie was coming up big as we kept the shots coming, just weren't able to bury rebounds. Things were looking good until 4 seconds left in the game when the slowest dribbler rolled in during a scramble in our crease. I was on the bench so I couldn't really see the details, other than it was beyond frustrating! That lead us to the shootout. I have never participated in one since usually they are settled by the time the 3rd shooter (they are always set for 3 rounds in our league). Welp, after our top 4 guys (forwards and centers) went I said that I'd go. During warm-ups and at stick-times I practice a Datsyuk style breakaway move. It isn't overy fancy, but it worked for him a lot and I had been getting pretty proficient with it so I figured what the heck. I came in with a few wide stick handles and made my way to the left of center ice as I moderately tightened the width of my puck movement width, changing the angle, I moved towards the right post, pulling the goalie with me. Opened up the stick blade as if I was going to shoot to get her to drop and slide, pulled the puck back a bit on my back hand then lobbed in back towards her blocker side over the pad and in! All the boys were really stoked and said that it looked silky-smooth! Then said I had to shoot first in the next shoot out, lol!

That win put us in first temporarily with 11, as there are games to be played tonight, with two of the teams having 10 points.

[beedee]

Just wanted to check-in here to see how everyone is doing in the BHL.

My main team, Bronze Division (Wednesday nights) has playoffs tomorrow night, we finished in 4th (out of 8) for the regular season. The team we play tomorrow has a few really good young guys that have played together for awhile, and they are quick lil bastards! Even with my head on a swivel, they still are over my right shoulder one second, then I look again and they are gone! Last week we only had 7 guys, so I skated almost the entire game, had one break per period. My D partner iron-manned it, no breaks!

I've been subbing (playing D) pretty regularly on a team one level below in the Copper Division (mainly Saturday evenings) and that has been pretty fun. The level of play is a little slower, but there are a couple teams that could easily be in Bronze. It's been nice to get on the ice twice a week, or in some cases just once with this team if I missed my Wednesday night games. The captain is really cool and I'm only paying $20 to play, so its way better than paying the $40 that the rink charges (if the team didnt pay the team fee).

Mrs. Beedee's team has been killing it and is in 1st place in the Tin South division. She had her first goal and multi-point game last week (1 goal, 2 assists) she was stoked to say the least!

[jammer06]

Just skating in our friday night skates and dropping in on wednesdays this summer. The guy who runs it has been cool and let me bring Mini a couple of times when we were short. Did a Father Son camp with Mini. It was amazing. They even had some daughters there. Hockey and Sons Camp (http://www.hockeyandsons.com/) Was great but grueling. 3 ice sessions per day from sunday through tuesday and then weds morning was the kids vs parents. Mini is a bantam now and it's pretty much the only "competitive" game if the dads really want to push it. By the time they're midgets the dads are getting slaughtered. One of the dads in the mite game was a former college player and actually pulled a lacrosse goal from behind the net. Still it was so much fun. There was one dad there that flew in his 4 kids from Florida for it. The rules for the dads are that you can have all the fun you want, but you are expected on the ice with your kid. They also had the college training room open for ice and treatment. I was living in that thing. Great experience. Coach Constantine told great stories about Jagr and what he was like to a coaching staff, along with stories about Ian Moran who was his bottom pair team guy. Kids were eating it up. In any case tryouts for mini are in three weeks and my beer league starts back up in Oct.

[jammer06]

I also didnt know this but they have a camp for dads and daughters too http://www.hockeyanddaughters.com/

[Nyssa42]

I also didnt know this but they have a camp for dads and daughters too http://www.hockeyanddaughters.com/

dang....I'm gonna be pretty old before I can do the "grandma & granddaughter camp"....might not make it.


My team is off to a better start than last season (2-3 so far....we went 1-14 last season). Got a couple more good players this time....let's see how we fare tonight against a team we should be able to beat.

[beedee]

Our team finished 4th out of 8 this season and last night was our first playoff game. We knocked off the first place team in our first playoff game last night, we were seeded 4th. Score was 6-1, everyone played great and we actually played with some structure for once! It feels good to be heading to the championship game (can't even remember the last time I was on a team that played for it).

League sent out the email about next season, of course it went up another $20. When dividing it by 13 full-time players, it is now $498 for 15 games. :pfft:

[beedee]

We lost in the championship game, 2-0. I didnt play though, unfortunately my surfers ear was acting up, causing me to feel "off" and a little nauseous.

Decided to take this season off and get in on some organized pick-ups here and there. I just don't find any value in a $500 season at this point.

[jammer06]

So I just ponied up my $500 for next season, 20 games plus playoffs. Really hoping I get to play at all. I have a drs appt on Friday to get cleared for an MRI. Been doing physical therapy for the last 6 weeks and while those guys have been great at giving me exercises that show just how out of balance my legs are and getting it more even, they also have discovered my range of motion that my body won't do. The easiest way to to describe what hurts is I can't step up a staircase sideways on my right side. The leg can't bear the weight to load like that. Basically when I'm turning right on the ice, I can only load my left leg which is a problem in competitive skates. The PT guys are also concerned that its only a matter of time before I blow my left knee out from the strain its taking to hide what's wrong with the right.
True to form right after my drs appt on friday I'll be going to a lunch skate because hockey.

[jammer06]

So I've played 2 of the 3 games to start our season. Both games against C2 teams (we play C3) and they were tough. The first game we didn't have a scorekeeper so it was running clock. We were down a goal late, pulled the goalie with about 1:45 to go. The ref whistles us for too many men, then realizes we don't have a goalie. Clock is running the whole time and we don't get the puck drop until 30 seconds to go, half our team still arguing to put time on the clock (it was a 9:30pm start time, I was like fat chance guys). Anyway the knee held up but oh man was I sore after in my glutes and calf trying to compensate for my knee.

Game 2 was last night at 1030 start time but we had a scorekeeper. 10 skaters and they needed me at center which I tried. It's hard to take faceoffs when you can't bend your knee. Anyway had a couple breakaway opportunities but their goalie got me. End of the game I stole a puck behind the net and made a pass to the front while tangled up and went down hard on my knee. It SUCKED. I could barely get off the ice to the bench. Sat out the last 4 minutes. After about 20 mins I could put weight on it again but i'm pretty convinced this is my meniscus and cant wait for my MRI next week (insurance has been postponing me). On the plus side the rest of me is not nearly as sore.

[beedee]

How ironic that you posted an update! Glad to see you back on the ice JamDawg! Hopefully your knee isn't feeling too wrecked this week!!!

I played for the first time in a couple months yesterday afternoon. The team I sub on from time to time needed the D, so I got a text mid-morning asking if I could play. Since we didnt have anything going on as a family, said F it, and played.

Little bit of rink-rust, but not nearly as bad as I anticipated. We only had 3 D, but we all managed our shifts accordingly and were too overly gassed, sans the 2nd period with the long change. I got a few shots on goal from the point, and also had a few blocked shots, luckily they hit me square in the shins, and one glanced off the mid-foot area skate eyelets, outer shell so no pain felt! I was feeling it though cardio-wise after making a rush from the top of our circles deep into their zone for a decent shot on goal. Told myself Im not doing that crap for the rest of the game!

We were up 3-1 in the third and they found their mojo, scoring 3 goals in the final 4 minutes of the game! One came on a result of me turning the puck over as I got hooked at our blue line and pulled down to the ice, no call!!! Anyhow, it was fun to be back out there and I had to renew my USA Hockey membership so that means I'll be subbing for the rest of the season on my normal team, including this Weds at 9:30pm!

[Nyssa42]

I dropped out of my beer league for this season....too much going on for me in the next few months, and the 2-13 and 4-11 seasons we just finished were disheartening. 2 guys having babies in the next few weeks, so they're out for a bit, and a couple other guys who had said they were in for the full season last season but never showed up. So, it was becoming very frustrating to be the team captain.

I'll still be doing clinics - there is an awesome adult clinic at Pano now on Mondays - and then my ladies pickup on Tuesdays at Simi.

Gotta keep skating so I don't turn "old"!!

[Luc SkyBomba]

I dropped out of my beer league for this season....too much going on for me in the next few months, and the 2-13 and 4-11 seasons we just finished were disheartening. 2 guys having babies in the next few weeks, so they're out for a bit, and a couple other guys who had said they were in for the full season last season but never showed up. So, it was becoming very frustrating to be the team captain.

I'll still be doing clinics - there is an awesome adult clinic at Pano now on Mondays - and then my ladies pickup on Tuesdays at Simi.

Gotta keep skating so I don't turn "old"!!

I remember those days when only like 3 people would show up... it's rough. That said, I gotta get back into it haha.

[beedee]

Subbed last night on my full-time team from last year. We didnt have a goalie, and the other team was the first place team. They were cool though and took it easy and did a lot of passing before finally putting the puck in the net. I think the final score was 6-2? It was a fun game though, kind of a good way for me to ease back into the swing of things. The game had a very low-key feel to it, which was good, but then also kind of bad because I found that I didnt really care as much as I would have if we had a goalie....guessing most felt that way.

[jammer06]

Subbed last night on my full-time team from last year. We didnt have a goalie, and the other team was the first place team. They were cool though and took it easy and did a lot of passing before finally putting the puck in the net. I think the final score was 6-2? It was a fun game though, kind of a good way for me to ease back into the swing of things. The game had a very low-key feel to it, which was good, but then also kind of bad because I found that I didnt really care as much as I would have if we had a goalie....guessing most felt that way.

Those games are always the worst when you're on the other side. I mean there's no honest way to play the game, but you still want to have the win. So you risk getting it testy by pumping in a few quick ones to build a margin? Take it easy thinking you can turn it on? Even just holding possession is rubbing it in the other teams face. I wouldn't read too much into the emotions, there's competitive beer hockey, and then there's too competitive for your own good if you thought being on the other side of one of those games said anything about your competitiveness.

[beedee]

So last week we were the team WITH the goalie, and the other team didnt have one. They started with 6 and we took it easy, tried to make that extra, extra pass before putting the puck in the net. That didnt work out all that well and I think we were tied 1-1 after the first period. However, we decided to let our goalie play for them in the second so we could shoot on a goalie. This was a lot of fun actually, we had one shift where we kept them hemmed in their zone for what felt like two minutes (clock was on the wall behind me), no joke, I must have had at least 5 shots from the point on that one, including another two shot passes. I managed to fire a nice one-timer from my left point to the far post area in which our goalie made an amazing blocker save, pretty much fully stretched out (he is "full-right", a la Cal Peterson). I gave him crap for making that save! :ouch: I forget what the score was, but we kept leap frogging each other. For some reason some guys on our team thought that they had forfeited since they didnt have a goalie, thus pretty much just messing around the entire game with the goalie switch, etc. The ref came over late in the 2nd period and told us that it was a "real" game, d'oh. Granted, it was the first consolation playoff game of two for us, and they were the last place team, and we were second to last. As you can see, the F's were not really given my us, we just wanted to go out and have some fun. Third period roles around, and someone decides to have our goalie get back in net for us, we were bummed. Prior to that, the other team started shooting on the empty net from just inside the blue line (classy move) and scored a few on us. At that point we didnt want to douche it up and decided to try to just play keep away from them and work on passing, which was fun.

So we took the L, but even they said they had a lot of fun with playing the game in the fashion that we did. Next game is tomorrow night at 9:30, then the new season starts up after the new year I think? I'll be back full-time.

Oh yeah, over the weekend I got my skates profiled. I had never had that done before. Basically I wanted them to take some steel off the toe, since I found myself toe-picking still (taller steel). They recommended I go with a "Zuperior S" profile (my skates are a size 7), so I did. I public skated Sunday afternoon on them and there certainly is more forward pitch than before. I got used to it, but then it was reminding me of why I wanted to get out of my Grafs many years back because I didnt care for the forward lean of those...even after 3 years, it still bugged me. So we will see how it goes tomorrow night, but since I play D and am skating backwards a good amount of the game, I'm not so sure that I want to be on my toes quite as much as this profile puts me on them.

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6df59112abd97a0576f1d0/1607708699116-OU9R8YKB6W5IEFQN423F/our_most_popular_profiles_61cmx91cm_4thversionvers ion.jpg

[jammer06]

I loved the pitch of my grafs, but yeah its a workout playing D with them. Gotta really squat. That ellipse profile looks like you better have your skates sharpened at all times or you're going to need it with no margin for error.

I'll be on the shelf for a while, got the results back from the MRI and they are not good. First things first have to calm down the bone bruise in the knee. Then its off to Mexico where they will shoot shark piss up my nose or something.

[beedee]

Welp, we finished the season with a bang, 7-3 win! The game was back and forth up until late in the second when we blew it open. It was a fun one, not chippy at all and we could tell the refs just wanted to get the hell out of Dodge. Many icings waived off, etc. Our goalie had three friends that joined/subbed this season that I'm hoping return for next season, as they do add the punch that this team is missing. They all play pretty high-level ball hockey together, and have played ice hockey as well. It is obvious by watching them that they have chemistry out there together, so next season should be exciting. They also did a great job at feeding me at the left point many times throughout the game, which meant more shots for me! (selfish I know, hehe). No goals for me, but plenty of shots of all varieties. Two apples though, both secondary assists on the breakout and/or stretch pass from our zone. Gosh it feels great when the team can connect two or three consecutive passes and finish with a goal!

Now regarding my steel. Granted this was only the second time I've skated on them since getting them profiled, but I'm not so sure I'm liking it. As my other post mentioned, I'm a bit more pitched forward and it has forced my toes a bit more forward in the boot too. Causing them to slightly more than feather the toe-caps. A feeling that I don't like. Not only that, I felt myself consciously noticing that I needed to be leaning back a bit more on my heels or I felt off balance, too far forward. Sharp turns felt a bit better since I could lean on my heels a bit more when apexing a turn without feeling like I'd loop out backwards. But other than that, blah. No toe-picks happened though!

I think the new season starts next week. :drunk:

[beedee]

Game 1 of the Winter BHL Season is in the books, 2-1 win for the good guys!

We got off to a quick start, our younger "ringer" scored on the first shift of the game, sweet! Not much longer after we scored again, were I was given the second assist. The final score definitely didn't reflect the effort and amount of SOG's we had. Their goalie was solid, a big guy who knew the position well. Granted we didnt have much traffic in front for many of our shots from the point, and our forwards weren't able to finish a handful of golden opportunities. It was a really fun game in which we controlled most of the play. Again I was able to get quite a few shots off, our new guys are really good about controlling the puck and keeping their heads up so they fed me many pucks, including a few where I was able to cut in from the point towards the high slot for a quick feed and shot. Unfortunately none went in, but we had a good thing going.

Late in the third I was squaring up to block/challenge a shot towards the middle of the circle and I m use have barely turned or the D changed the angle and I took a lazy writer right off the inside of my right knee. The area of the shinguard still has plastic with padding there, but not as much as taking one square. My knee instantly went numb and I immediately fell to the ice. It was almost like getting hit in the "funny bone", but in the knee. Refs blew the play dead and after about a minute or so I was able to skate to the bench under my own power. There was about 5 minutes left, I took one shift and it wasn't too bad, but since we were only up by one goal I didnt want to be a liability out there and just sat the rest of the game out. I got home and iced it off and on for an hour, and luckily this morning it doesn't feel too bad, just a bruise!

And my steel felt much better to me since I got them re-profiled. They no longer feel too pitched forward and I dig it!

[beedee]

We won last week, 9-0, but I didnt play since my knee was still jacked from the shot I took to it the previous week.

More importantly I just scored some Bauer Nexus Pro-Stock Washington Capitals pants! These things are tanks, the padding is ridonkulous, especially the thigh pads! Can't wait to wear them Thursday night! I'll hand down my Bauer S29's to my wife. Hopefully someone on my team will want the Caps pant shell I wore.

https://i.imgur.com/AAzYQXZ.png
https://i.imgur.com/tlSvLBw.png
https://i.imgur.com/XDT477U.png
https://i.imgur.com/I2bnnyu.png

[beedee]

......

[beedee]

Caps win, 5-0!

Wow, what a game we had last night. The final score finally indicated how well we were playing all game long, but we didnt blow it open until the third period. It was 1-0 after one, then 2-0 after two. We came out of the gate hot, firing on all cylinders. Our first shift was dominated by us pinning them in their zone for close to two minutes. Their goalie was hot, and made at least 5 saves during our barrage, I was able to get 3 off from the point, two through traffic. Our goalie was equally as hot and we even though we had a full bench, we rotated 3 D, which was fun. I did get gassed a couple times but managed to pull through. They had a couple quick guys including two brothers that play extremely well together. I will say they are both predictable with their toe-drags as they try to cut to the middle upon zone entry. I did go fishing once, but still managed to stop the puck with my feet. It felt great to shut those guys down all game.

No goals for me but I did pick up an apple. And I have no idea what has happened to my slap shot, it is muffin city! My buddy fed me a beautiful pass for a one-timer as I pinched diagonally from the right point to the high slot, he was near the lower left face off dot, so it was prime since I'm a lefty. I'm not sure if I'm not holding my bottom hand firm enough or what, but I feel like my blade is opening up upon contact and I shot the most classic knuckle-puck you have ever seen. Fluttered about crossbar height and I guess they can be tricky, but the goalie saved it easily, we all had a laugh. But I need to work on it, I have zero confidence with it. My snaps and wrist-shots are decent enough though, much more reliable to say the least!

I think that takes us to 3-2 on the Winter season. Two teams up top have 8 points, third team has 7, and we have 6. So, maybe we are in 3rd, or is it 4th?

P.S. The pro stock Caps pants have been amazing!

[Luc SkyBomba]

Getting ready to get back in the game! Didn't think I would be getting back for this season because my company wanted to start a basketball team. That's likely not happening so back to the NoHo rink for me!

[beedee]

We won, 2-0 last night, two shut outs in a row! It was a fun game, tad chippy but nothing crazy. Feel like I started coming down with a little cold or something last night. Had that weird scratchy feeling on one side of my throat when I swallow, ugh. Did a test to be sure no 'rona was present, all good. But just didnt feel my best out there on the ice, kind of head'in'the'clouds type of feeling. We rotated 3 D again, which was fine, at first I was dreading it but then just took it easy out there, no end to end rushes and only pinched once or twice. Our sub goalie was a buddy of our regular goalie and did fantastic, shots were fairly even throughout the game, their goalie did great too. Scoring didnt come until mid way through the third. I managed to thread a stretch pass from our goal line to the neutral zone to our newly acquired "ringer" whom split their D and went top corns. I did take two penalties, one in the first period, a half-ass slash on a guys stick as he went behind our net, nothing malicious, but just lazy on my end. And then one with :24 left on the clock in the third, it was the softest "cross-check" ever, guy took a total dive and I didnt even have two hands on my stick. I more or less gave him the Matt Greene forearm shove on the lower back to move him out of the crease and he went down. Dude had about 6" on me, he was soft. It was the same guy that held me a couple minutes earlier in the period as I took the puck into their zone and was cutting across the slot. It was a blatant hold and our bench was all like WTF was that?!? I politely asked the ref why a call wasn't made and his rationale was; well, its a 1-0 game, it really didnt take you out of the play, and you didnt fall down, even though he held you, and due to the game circumstances I didnt want to put them down on a call that could have gone either way. So I next time I guess I'll have to make sure to fall when I get held, SMH! But he had the audacity to call me for the cross-check a minute or so later. :ummmmm: And for the record, I never go off on refs, im always sure to talk to them like an adult, in a calm manner.

Anyhow, it was a fun game, hoping this stuffiness I now feel passes soon. Been drinking a lot of water and taking the ol' vitamins.

[xLAxKingsx]

Well im back on the ice! Well will be tomorrow. Im already sore thinking about it but excited. Its been awhile. Still over at The Rinks cause they have saturday schedule which is the only day i can play.

[xLAxKingsx]

We won last week, 9-0, but I didnt play since my knee was still jacked from the shot I took to it the previous week.

More importantly I just scored some Bauer Nexus Pro-Stock Washington Capitals pants! These things are tanks, the padding is ridonkulous, especially the thigh pads! Can't wait to wear them Thursday night! I'll hand down my Bauer S29's to my wife. Hopefully someone on my team will want the Caps pant shell I wore.

https://i.imgur.com/AAzYQXZ.png
https://i.imgur.com/tlSvLBw.png
https://i.imgur.com/XDT477U.png
https://i.imgur.com/I2bnnyu.png

**** these are sweet Beedee!

[beedee]

8-0 win for the Caps last night, we now have a 3 game shutout streak, crazy!

Fun game, had a very full bench though. So full that we had 5 D on rotation, meh. We kept our shifts pretty short so it wasn't too bad, but still, meh. Felt out of the groove per say. I was using my new stick, and I weighed it back to back against my CCM Jetspeed FT3 Pro P90TM and it was about 70grams heavier. Believe it or not, that extra weight made a big difference when maneuvering it with one had, was much more difficult and took more effort. Poke checks and other stuff just were cumbersome. I took as many shots as I could in warm-ups with it to see how it was, at first I was pushing my shots wide, I left the stick an inch longer than my others, and it is a low kick-point stick, my other CCM's are a Hybrid Kick. Anyhow, I eventually adjusted and my shots started getting better as the game went on. I had a ton of shots, I feel like the puck was zinging off the blade faster with this new stick, the low kick-point and it being stiffer (since I cut 6" off, putting it around 80flex from its original 65flex) may have had something to do with it. Hopefully the more I use it, the less I'll notice the extra weight of it. NO goals for me, but two assists and one at the end which was almost a goal, I carried the puck in along the left wing boards and took a good wrister from just inside the circle, above the pad, beneath the blocker and it squirted through his equipment and our center was there to tap the rebound in.

Today I cut the stick down to match the exact height as my other sticks, I felt handcuffed a few times in the game last night since it was an inch longer, pretty sure the lie of it is different too, so that may have affected things as well.

[xLAxKingsx]

Had my first game this weekend. It went alright won and have a decent team. What I dont like is having 3 full lines and shifts came to about 2-3 a period. By time I got back on the ice it felt like forever.

Im back playing forward this season as we had some skaters that play D pretty good. Played wing and I was having a hard time with the puck. As soon as i got the puck on my stick to break out any pressure i got i instantly looked for the pass. I lost the mental battle everytime. Id over think and wouldnt push the puck up myself. I dont feel like im capable of getting around defenders and honestly dont know what to do in those situations.

Any suggestions on what to work at for puck protection and breaking out from my zone with the puck? I need to let the play develop just a bit before freaking out and looking for the pass which i did into bad situations that lead to turnovers.

[beedee]

Had my first game this weekend. It went alright won and have a decent team. What I dont like is having 3 full lines and shifts came to about 2-3 a period. By time I got back on the ice it felt like forever.

Im back playing forward this season as we had some skaters that play D pretty good. Played wing and I was having a hard time with the puck. As soon as i got the puck on my stick to break out any pressure i got i instantly looked for the pass. I lost the mental battle everytime. Id over think and wouldnt push the puck up myself. I dont feel like im capable of getting around defenders and honestly dont know what to do in those situations.

Any suggestions on what to work at for puck protection and breaking out from my zone with the puck? I need to let the play develop just a bit before freaking out and looking for the pass which i did into bad situations that lead to turnovers.

Congrats on the W! Bummer about then full bench, it is hard as hell to stay in the game when you are sitting so long.

Regarding your questions. Only real thing to help remain calm is to get more experience through more ice time. Pick-Up games, Stick-Times with a buddy, etc. You have more time than you think. Before the puck gets to you, take a look around and see where your team mates are. If you are waiting for the pass along the boards in your end, hopefully you can count on your center hooking back from the slot and heading towards the neutral zone, and you can hit him/her with a pass and then move on down the ice. Also, if you are waiting for pass along the boards, be pro-active and skate to it if you can. I can't tell you how many times I am able to step in front of a lazy forward along the boards and intercept a breakout pass because they stood there waiting, and their D telegraphed the pass.

If you do get a nice clean breakout and you have time and can skate it down the ice a bit, at the very minimum you can make the red line and if you have pressure coming, dump in down deep along the boards, or even better a shot towards the goal. Try to focus on moving north/south. If someone is right in front of you as you are moving north/south, bank it off the boards around them, step inside (assuming they give you the inside) and get the puck and enjoy the unobstructed lane to their zone for a bit.

Another thing you can try is to start by waiting with your butt against the boards, and as your defenseman starts to look for a play, you can then push off and get some movement going to give your defensemen a moving target to hit. When I played winger it sucked waiting flat footed for a pass, and then once you get the pass you have to turn and start going, often times with a defensemen right there.

Puck protection. Watch the pro's, they usually have their arms fully extended with the puck out as far away from them as possible while still being able to have control with their body/arms angled to where the opponent can't reach them. Use your body to lean into the opponent, keep your feet moving (if attacking). If along the boards, same thing, use your butt to keep them away from you, keep your head on a swivel to look for support. Use the boards to chip the puck up and out of the zone, or down low towards the other teams goal if in the offensive zone.

I'm just a BHL schlub, but maybe others here can offer more advice?

[Nyssa42]

Had my first game this weekend. It went alright won and have a decent team. What I dont like is having 3 full lines and shifts came to about 2-3 a period. By time I got back on the ice it felt like forever.

Im back playing forward this season as we had some skaters that play D pretty good. Played wing and I was having a hard time with the puck. As soon as i got the puck on my stick to break out any pressure i got i instantly looked for the pass. I lost the mental battle everytime. Id over think and wouldnt push the puck up myself. I dont feel like im capable of getting around defenders and honestly dont know what to do in those situations.

Any suggestions on what to work at for puck protection and breaking out from my zone with the puck? I need to let the play develop just a bit before freaking out and looking for the pass which i did into bad situations that lead to turnovers.

story of my hockey life right here, buddy....I feel your pain. I have started to learn to just keep skating and the D will usually back off. I have a teammate whose job it is to yell at me on the bench to keep moving my feet and to get mad at me when I get back to the bench if I don't - like in a mean way (I can take it...need the motivation....we have an unspoken agreement about this)

side note: when I play against other women I don't have the same issue because am usually on the "larger" side of players in those games so I don't feel as much pressure from the D, BUT - I'm pretty sure it's all just in my head....you have to convince your brain that you are double your actual size!!

[xLAxKingsx]

Thanks Nyssa and Beedee for the pointers! Ya'll hit the nail on the head for my problems. I def stop skating instead of keeping my feet moving. Which is part of what causes me to panic since im stopped going against someone thats coming towards me. Ill try beedees pointers on having my ass on the boards and using them to push off and keep skating. That is exactly what frustrated me during my game. Id be waiting for the puck facing the corner and would struggle to turn around when i felt the Dman coming down on me.
https://media0.giphy.com/media/hXPKMxaQSJzid3uA2Z/giphy.webp?cid=ecf05e47ih46te3svgsjor33btj5sz1f46n ivv2vph4cpfda&rid=giphy.webp&ct=g

[xLAxKingsx]

So yalls advice worked...

Didnt score a goal but I got a few shots on goal. Anytime I got the puck off the boards my first thoughts were get to the puck dont wait and never stop skating. What a ****ing difference that made. While skating to the puck it made it so much easier to turn and take off on the Dman. It helped so much to create some space and time to let winger and center catch up to get some support. Felt great after the game with my performance. We did lose in a shoot out but it was a fun back and forth game. Pumped for this weeks game.

[xLAxKingsx]

came across some old pics my first 2 times ever playing after maybe a month of learning how to skate. Anyone still post here from these pics? I know i met nyssa42 at pasadena one of these times.

not sure why they show up small should expand when you click on em.

https://i.postimg.cc/jnXjKtSW/lgk.jpg (https://postimg.cc/jnXjKtSW)

https://i.postimg.cc/z31SJ7f5/lgk2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/z31SJ7f5)

[beedee]

Championship game tonight!

[xLAxKingsx]

Championship game tonight!

Good luck!

Team this season is pretty good 5-1!

[jammer06]

I recognize a few people from that TSC skate, I thought i skated with you once one of the times i was there but it mught have been later

[xLAxKingsx]

I recognize a few people from that TSC skate, I thought i skated with you once one of the times i was there but it mught have been later

I believe i went to 2 TSC games i remember it being a midnight game. Thats when i learned adult hockey is usually at terrible times and days haha.

[jammer06]

Yep, was definitely midnight skate, i think it was one of the ladies that we had to pay for those. Cant remember the username.

[jammer06]

Oh wait that is me in my gang greene jersey, green G

[Nyssa42]

came across some old pics my first 2 times ever playing after maybe a month of learning how to skate. Anyone still post here from these pics? I know i met nyssa42 at pasadena one of these times.

not sure why they show up small should expand when you click on em.

https://i.postimg.cc/jnXjKtSW/lgk.jpg (https://postimg.cc/jnXjKtSW)

https://i.postimg.cc/z31SJ7f5/lgk2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/z31SJ7f5)

I'm the furthest to the right in the Canadiens jersey (it was an old beer league team jersey) in the top pic. Don't think I'm in the 2nd pic.

[xLAxKingsx]

I'm the furthest to the right in the Canadiens jersey (it was an old beer league team jersey) in the top pic. Don't think I'm in the 2nd pic.

I think you're in the 2nd picture but this screen shot was from before Instagram allowed you to post pics other than the predetermined size so a few got cut out on the left. Wish i had the original. BOOOOOO

[beedee]

We did it, we are le Champs! We dominated the game, it was 4-0 for most of the game, final score was 6-2!

[beedee]

First game of our new BHL season is tonight. We didnt even get a week off, pfffft!
Aaaaand, our goalie has to leave early, this should be interesting!

[beedee]

We won last night, first game of the new season, 10-4.....without a goalie for the entire 3rd period. :101smile:

It was 5-0 after two periods, then our goalie had to leave (he plays in a band). The other team wasted no time taking long range shots, they were taking hard shots from way outside. I get it, but at the same time its kind of douchey to rip elevated shots from just inside the blue line when we only have a "regular" player standing in front of the goal. It felt good to smash them after one guy really ripped a hard shot that went bar down and celebrated. Our "goalie" literally ducked and got out of the way, no one could blame him.

Our team is really gelling, great passing all around and we finally are clicking on all fronts. Lots of shots from the points last night, with many redirections and deflections in front. There were a handful of nice one-time goals from our forwards too, it was awesome! No goals for me last night but had a bunch of SOG from the point at least 3 or 4 apples. We only had 3 D, so lots of ice time and I (and the other two D) played the entire 3rd period. We were rotating our 3 D more or less into the goalie spot, although I never stayed back, always stayed on the left side D. I also switched back to my CCM JetSpeed FT3pro P90tm curve stick from my most recent stick purchase, the Warrior Covert QR5T W02 "Lidstrom". The CCM is just so much lighter and really makes a big difference when using one hand for pokes, etc..

Thanks for reading. :yo:

[xLAxKingsx]

Good **** beedee! Glad you stomped them even though they were being dicks. What stick flex do you use? I moved down to a 75 from 85 and felt i had a easier time getting a flex. If i go down to 70 on a higher end stick would it be to whippy for my size? 6'2 230. Always read the bigger you are the higher flex you should use. But i dont knee bend down enough to get a good flex on stick so i was struggling.

Ive also gone and got myself some skating lessons! No more let me see a youtube video and see if i can replicate it LOL. Small group too 5 skaters so got plenty of help and 1 on 1 instruction. I struggled a bit with some skating drills (crossovers, skating backwards and backwards crossovers) but i actually went ahead and tried to learn. I can barely move backwards but got a mini crossover by the end of first lesson. Got me pumped up to continue taking lessons and actually work on my skating seriously. Im gonna be a BHL lifer but want to atleast move on from Rookie eventually.

Team is 5-3 lost last weekend and season is coming to a end. We have a good rivalry going on with a few teams so its been fun. I do have 4 points this season so better than 0.