Tales from the beer league part 2

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.

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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.

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!

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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/1/00...g?v=1557964102

And the last years Vapor x2.9
https://media.purehockey.com/images/...-skates-senior

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Originally Posted by beedee

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/1/00...g?v=1557964102

And the last years Vapor x2.9
https://media.purehockey.com/images/...-skates-senior

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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.

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Originally Posted by Luc SkyBomba

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.

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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?

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Originally Posted by beedee

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?

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Fit 2 should be closer to an E I think

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??