Tales from the beer league part 2

[jammer06]

So I ended up playing in one of the 2 games this weekend. The friday game had 15 guys and they still asked me to come out. I was like dude I'm a sub and you already have 15 guys.
The second game had 9 and 3 of the guys had to leave in the third period to go play in another game. I came out for that one.
Pace was really good for an exhibition game. The other team had won the championship the previous season and had been together for a bit. They got up early 3-0 and sadly the first 2 were just horrible reads at the blue line on my part. They sent a guy to fly the zone and I simply wrote checks my ass didn't cash and hung my goalie out to dry on both of them. The second period we battled back, I even managed to start things off with an end to end rush where I cut the middle, used the d-man as a screen and surprised the goalie with a shot right over his shoulder. That gave the boys some life and a second goal soon followed off a nice 2-2 entry where the first forward pushed wide and got the centering pass to land and the second forward simply beat the other D for a tip in home. By the end of the second we had tied it up and then the third happened. We had started the game with 9 skaters and now we were down to 6. We struck early to put it to 4-3 on a great individual effort wrap around by one of our guys. They tied it back up on a PP goal where I'll take the blame again. I hopped on the ice and the puck was genuinely in my feet, I looked to be sure my man had gotten off before playing it and their guy pushed it passed me to another man with speed and all the sudden it was a 2-1 with speed and our D flat footed. We cycled for another go ahead goal and then they tied it up again on us. All in all tie was probably deserved, we should have won if I hadn't had me head up me arse but then again I know I had some occasional passes that got the puck down the other end. The third period was probably a huge success considering our sub situation.

In any case it was a fun one and looks like the division will be competitive again.

 

[beedee]

Stood on my head Saturday night and got the L, 3-0. Both teams were scoreless after 1 period, they got their first goal on a 2 on 0 in the 2nd period. Goals 2 and 3 game late in the third, one was a two on one, and the third was a wide open guy on the back door. I felt like I possibly could have had the second goal, I just didn't get all the way over in time. I knew he was going to pass, but just didn't get the push I needed. No chance for me to save the third goal though.

I'm finding that I need to change my mindset. Coming down from Gold to Rookie, then Copper has been tough. I have false expectations of the players in front of me whom just aren't at the level that I am used to. I have accepted it, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating. I have an offer to play Bronze at Anaheim Ice, it is twice as far, and mid-week I believe, but I might have to take the plunge.

 

[xLAxKingsx]

Ill be playing my first league games come May when i sign up for Beginner League at Anahiem Ice. I expect to be the worst out there but I just need to do it. Not sure what to expect as far as level of play. Kinda nervous but ready.

 

[Luc SkyBomba]

Ill be playing my first league games come May when i sign up for Beginner League at Anahiem Ice. I expect to be the worst out there but I just need to do it. Not sure what to expect as far as level of play. Kinda nervous but ready.

awesome! just remember to have fun out there

 

[xLAxKingsx]

awesome! just remember to have fun out there

Thats all ill be doing. Ive been beating myself up not having enough time to be this awesome great amazing 2nd coming of mcdavid player. But then i realized screw it i rather just have fun and learn to play at my pace and enjoy the game more than anything. Ive had fun playing with lgk at a few pick up games when i was super green. This should be fun!

 

[beedee]

We lost 6-2, one of those craptastic nights where they scored 2 power play goals on the back door, and another one went off my defenseman leg from the top of the crease and in. Our forwards aren't producing and our centers are being lazy AF on the back checks. I am continuously making first initial saves only to have rebounds (that aren't even that far away) banged in because no one is there to cover the open guy on top of the crease or on the back door. / My defense has been great though and have been doing a great job of tying up their man when needing to do so. They are feeling frustrated as well, there rarely is a winger on the near side boards when they are looking for a break out pass, and the center is no where to be seen in the high slot or not circling back down low.

Oh well. My defense and I had a good talk after the game and it was refreshing to hear we shared the same frustrations. In the past they had brought it up to the team, but nothing really changed. I have decided that the only way to keep my sanity is to not let those goals get to me. I can only do so much, and talking to the team about what they need to do isn't going to change anything. Really hoping to get on a higher level team for next season.

xLAxKingsx, have fun man. Expect it to be like Keystone Cops out there, lots of falling down and basically just batting the puck when it comes to people. Have fun though, that is how you learn!

 

[xLAxKingsx]

We lost 6-2, one of those craptastic nights where they scored 2 power play goals on the back door, and another one went off my defenseman leg from the top of the crease and in. Our forwards aren't producing and our centers are being lazy AF on the back checks. I am continuously making first initial saves only to have rebounds (that aren't even that far away) banged in because no one is there to cover the open guy on top of the crease or on the back door. / My defense has been great though and have been doing a great job of tying up their man when needing to do so. They are feeling frustrated as well, there rarely is a winger on the near side boards when they are looking for a break out pass, and the center is no where to be seen in the high slot or not circling back down low.

Oh well. My defense and I had a good talk after the game and it was refreshing to hear we shared the same frustrations. In the past they had brought it up to the team, but nothing really changed. I have decided that the only way to keep my sanity is to not let those goals get to me. I can only do so much, and talking to the team about what they need to do isn't going to change anything. Really hoping to get on a higher level team for next season.

xLAxKingsx, have fun man. Expect it to be like Keystone Cops out there, lots of falling down and basically just batting the puck when it comes to people. Have fun though, that is how you learn!

Thanks i think i see you play at lakewood ice? thats where i wanted to play but got scared and didnt sign up on time lol. Should i expect it to be like kids playing where everyone chases the puck? or is there atleast some structure?

 

[jamlo21]

Thanks i think i see you play at lakewood ice? thats where i wanted to play but got scared and didnt sign up on time lol. Should i expect it to be like kids playing where everyone chases the puck? or is there atleast some structure?

What division? I played in copper a while ago and thought the skill was fairly high at Lakewood. It definitely wasn't kids chasing the puck hockey. Most of the teams could get a decent cycle going on.

 

[xLAxKingsx]

What division? I played in copper a while ago and thought the skill was fairly high at Lakewood. It definitely wasn't kids chasing the puck hockey. Most of the teams could get a decent cycle going on.

Beginner! I hope there isnt to many sandbaggers playing my only worry it wouldnt make it fun to try and compete with others really advanced.

 

[beedee]

LAK, correct, I do play goalie in Copper West at Lakewood right now. When I skated out, I played Gold West.

My first season of goalie I played in Rookie at Lakewood. You can scroll back a bunch of pages and find my game reports to see my opinion. In a nutshell, our rookie team was compiled of ALL rookies, as in, no one had ever played on a team before (except me, but I was new to goalie). Not a problem at all, after all, it IS "rookie" league. The issue we (my team) had was that all three of the other teams in rookie, weren't rookie teams. They had people on them that were 3rd season players, which some of still showed signs of being new, but the others clearly had no business being in "rookie". Many rinks allow you to sign up for one level, and if you want to play on another team, you can do so, as long as it is only one level below. The real cherry on top of my final rookie season in goal was when we played a team last season that had two SILVER players on it! Silver East players, meaning they were 6 levels above Rookie! Talk about the ultimate in sand-bagging! We immediately brought it to the leagues attention and they were banned from Rookie right away.

From what I understand, Anaheim Ice does a better job at monitoring teams and their skill levels. We had a player that switched to Anaheim Ice after playing one season at Lakewood, he is currently halfway through his season there. From what he tells me, he enjoys it much more than Lakewood. YMMV.

 

[Nyssa42]

Ill be playing my first league games come May when i sign up for Beginner League at Anahiem Ice. I expect to be the worst out there but I just need to do it. Not sure what to expect as far as level of play. Kinda nervous but ready.

You won't be the worst, and everyone will be nervous, whether they say so or not.

 

[xLAxKingsx]

You won't be the worst, and everyone will be nervous, whether they say so or not.

Thanks for the confidence booster! I mean i did skate out to a lgk game when it was barely my 4th time ever on ice lol ive skated plenty of more times than that by now. Im excited non the less lets get here May!

 

[beedee]

Got lit up last night, 6-1. Same crap different night.

 

[jammer06]

I finally got back on the ice last night, almost a month between games due to travel mainly. Good thing I'm only paying to be a sub. Funny enough it was the exact same team we played in the exhibition game and the result was the same in the form of a tie 6-6 this time though. We tried something really different. We had 11 skaters but one was leaving mid game. Instead of going 4 D and juggling 7 forwards we went 3 D, 2 centers and 3 wing pairs. Strangely it worked really well. Our best skaters got on the ice the most and at the same time were changing regularly. The wingers where we hide our more suspect players may have had a few 2-3 minutes shifts at times but they mostly worked that out themselves. Once our extra forward left we were down to 10 and so dropped the extra wing back to D and carried on. If anyone ever wants to get crazy its a whole lot better to try this than to go with 3 centers where your better guys are sitting on the bench and your 2 wing pairs are eating up all your ice time with your worse off players.

 

[eddieshack23]

I agree.

You always want your best skaters on D.

 

[jammer06]

I agree.

You always want your best skaters on D.

It really helps, especially in a 3 man rotation guys are aware of the clock and know how important it is to get off and keep the rotation going. One long shift can bollox the whole thing. I don't play at a high enough level where everyone can play the whole game but I assume at those high levels they at least have respect for the fact that someone also was paying for ice time and they wouldn't bogart the hell out of it.

 

[LetTigerIn]

I finally got back on the ice last night, almost a month between games due to travel mainly. Good thing I'm only paying to be a sub. Funny enough it was the exact same team we played in the exhibition game and the result was the same in the form of a tie 6-6 this time though. We tried something really different. We had 11 skaters but one was leaving mid game. Instead of going 4 D and juggling 7 forwards we went 3 D, 2 centers and 3 wing pairs. Strangely it worked really well. Our best skaters got on the ice the most and at the same time were changing regularly. The wingers where we hide our more suspect players may have had a few 2-3 minutes shifts at times but they mostly worked that out themselves. Once our extra forward left we were down to 10 and so dropped the extra wing back to D and carried on. If anyone ever wants to get crazy its a whole lot better to try this than to go with 3 centers where your better guys are sitting on the bench and your 2 wing pairs are eating up all your ice time with your worse off players.

We do this for most games.

 

[beedee]

Well all be darned, we won 9-2 on Saturday night, against the Saturday Knights. lol

Our team dominated the first period and we were up 4-0 at the end of it. I'm not too certain that it was because we had great shots, but rather their goalie wasn't at his best. He usually plays way better, and he let in the first shot he saw. As a goalie, that crap is impossible to get out of your head! Their first goal on me came in the 2nd period, I joked with my defenseman that he got the assist AND the goal on it. After one blind, backhand clearing attempt up the middle, I stopped a shot and steered the rebound to the left corner, this time the other defenseman did the ol' blind backhand up the middle, right to the opponents stick. The guy ripped a clapper that was going high glove, but the same defensemen redirected it downwards and into the net from about the mid-slot. It was a beauty of a redirect, lol!!! That was it for the scoring in the 2nd. In the third we came alive again, scoring 5 goals. Their next goal came late in the 3rd, our left d'man got beat around the corner and the guy was coming in from just outside the face-off dot, moving from his right to left. I had him squared up but cheated a bit anticipating a backhander from across the crease....however he stayed forehand and squeaked it in between my pad and the post. Oh well.

Their ringer that was routinely scoring 3+ goals for them last season isn't playing with them this season, and it is hurting them. They are in the basement with us, sitting at 3-6 on the season so far. I felt like I played well, stopped a few breakaways from their ringer "sub" that was filling in for them. The score sheet says I stopped 15 of 17, I hate to say it, but I think that was fairly accurate, as I really didn't see a whole lot of action. Nonetheless, it felt great to break a 4 game losing streak!!!

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I got an assist on our last goal of the game! I was in reverse vh along the right post, their forward tried to throw it to the slot from below the goal line, in which I broke up the pass with the paddle of my stick, it went right to our star center, whom took it coast-to-coast and buried it for the 9th goal and my first assist of this season.

 

[beedee]

We lost this weekend, but let me back up to warm-ups (even to last weeks warm ups).

Last week in warm-ups, the team formed the semi-circle as they usually do and began to fire shots. The first three consecutive shots were headshots (inadvertent, but headshots nonetheless). So after the third one I got out of my crease and was done with taking shots. During the week I kindly reminded the team in our Facebook group that warmups are meant for the goalie to get the feel for the puck (medium shots, into the pads, glove, blocker), not for you guys to take headshots. I was able to see that the entire team saw the post, but no one commented....

Lets fast forward or back to this most recent Friday. With the prior weeks warmups still fresh in my head, I was very hesitant to get back in the net for warm-ups. So I took most of the 5 minute warmup time to stretch, skate, stretch. And with under a minute left, I thought to myself, what the heck, i'll take a few shots. So the team gets in a semi-circle and I quickly square up to the shooter on the very left of it, not even a split second after I squat into my stance to I get tagged in the base of my neck!!! WTF!?!?!? I am livid, the shot came from a player two people down from the guy I was squared up to. I managed to play the first 8 minutes of the game, but had to pull myself because my neck/sternum/clavicle was throbbing. It made it very difficult to breathe and focus.

 

[xLAxKingsx]

We lost this weekend, but let me back up to warm-ups (even to last weeks warm ups).

Last week in warm-ups, the team formed the semi-circle as they usually do and began to fire shots. The first three consecutive shots were headshots (inadvertent, but headshots nonetheless). So after the third one I got out of my crease and was done with taking shots. During the week I kindly reminded the team in our Facebook group that warmups are meant for the goalie to get the feel for the puck (medium shots, into the pads, glove, blocker), not for you guys to take headshots. I was able to see that the entire team saw the post, but no one commented....

Lets fast forward or back to this most recent Friday. With the prior weeks warmups still fresh in my head, I was very hesitant to get back in the net for warm-ups. So I took most of the 5 minute warmup time to stretch, skate, stretch. And with under a minute left, I thought to myself, what the heck, i'll take a few shots. So the team gets in a semi-circle and I quickly square up to the shooter on the very left of it, not even a split second after I squat into my stance to I get tagged in the base of my neck!!! WTF!?!?!? I am livid, the shot came from a player two people down from the guy I was squared up to. I managed to play the first 8 minutes of the game, but had to pull myself because my neck/sternum/clavicle was throbbing. It made it very difficult to breathe and focus.

holy crap thats terrible i always feel bad when ive played or had a goalie during stick times and hes warming up and my shot goes high. I apologize not trying to be a prick. Did anyone from your team say anything? or did everyone just kinda meh and moved along?


Edit:

Only 2 more weeks till me league play starts woot!