Tales from the beer league part 2

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!

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!

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.

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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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

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**** these are sweet 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.

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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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!!

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.
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