Tales from the beer league part 2

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.

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.

whoo hoo!!! my 4th place team WON our playoff game 7-4 tonight against the #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 seed for the championship. We have beaten them 3 out of 3 this season, so we are feeling very confident.

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!

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Originally Posted by 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!

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.

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Lol upped the ante? You went nuclear

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Originally Posted by 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!

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.

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

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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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.

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

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Originally Posted by jammer06

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

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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).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by beedee

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

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

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Originally Posted by Luc SkyBomba

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

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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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by beedee

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).

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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 ...let me know if you want the model #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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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/LZ3Gw...cEZj/giphy.gif

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Originally Posted by 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/LZ3Gw...cEZj/giphy.gif

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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!

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 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 , but kept it close in game #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.

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Originally Posted by 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 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 , but kept it close in game #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.

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

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by beedee

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!

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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.

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!!

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.

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???

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!

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Originally Posted by 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!

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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.

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.

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Originally Posted by 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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!

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Originally Posted by 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!

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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!