Tales from the beer league part 2
- Thread starter P. Diddy
- Start date
beedee
4th Line Rabble-Rouser
Yeah, my post a few posts back regarding the headshot in warmups two weeks in a row kind of was the nail in the coffin for me.
I wont be going to the Phoenix tourney, have fun!
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xLAxKingsx
Lurker
sucks to hear that experince has ruined it for you. Finally got update on the correct start date for analhiem ice beginner league! It will be june 5th def excited.
Subhuman15
Prospect
We'll be there to support my buddies team but not playing myself I didn't have a team. It will be great to get away for the weekend nonetheless.
Luc SkyBomba
I put the D in RICHARSON
said no one ever
i'd like to play D some day... but my skating sucks
beedee
4th Line Rabble-Rouser
Yeah man, ironic that it was almost a year to the date I started. The biggest issue for me was dropping down to Rookie and then moving up to Copper. I skated out in Gold for many years, so it was tough adjusting to the people in front of me lacking the experience, skills, and know-how. Sure it was a great workout, but I felt like I was always busting my ass for the team, while I would see people coasting, not back-checking, etc. Just about anything that could go wrong, did. I had a blast when I subbed in the upper Bronze level, but that was few and far between when sub opportunities presented themselves.
The mental aspect was also HUGE. While it is just rec hockey, it was tough to not hold on to a loss, even when you played your ass off....yet your team couldn't score one or two goals against a team that had a bad goalie. That drove me nuts, I know I can only control me, but it still sucked. As a player, it sucked to lose, but as a goalie, it was the next level of suck, at least for me it was. I'd get psyched up for games a couple days before hand, and carry some anxiety until stepping on the ice. As a skater, I never experienced that. It was more along the lines of "ok, ho-hum, i have a game at 6pm". But as a goalie, it was like "ok, crap, this team has this guy, that guy, and then this ringer that scored 4 on me last game". Another thing I struggled with was getting a decent warmup. Until you are a goalie, you don't really understand that trying to deke the goalie in warmups isn't cool, nor are headshots, or shooting when the goalie isn't facing you, or shooting when the goalie is putting the pegs in the net. I had a couple really cool defensemen that got "it". They were there for me and routinely communicated with me during games and the locker room.
Perhaps I expected too much? I suppose I didn't really know what to expect. What I do know is that it felt more frustrating than fun, and this season in particular, I wasn't looking forward to games. Winning isn't everything, but when you have a 4 game losing streak, that sucks. The team was 3-8 at the time of my departure. All in all, I'm very happy I took the plunge into goalie at the age of 40. I had played goalie growing up in street hockey and roller hockey and it was always a dream of mine to play it on ice.
I'm looking forward to skating out. My experience in goal certainly has made me a more well rounded player, that is for sure.
Have you left yet? Bring your gear there is always a team or two that needs a player. Contact the office asap if you want to play....
I'll be at the new place in Chandler, hit me up f you wanna get a soda...
Subhuman15
Prospect
Thanks for the info, I though about bringing my gear at the last minute and try to find a team with a need. We were lol be hanging out with the Riverside Yinzers. They are in the Grand Canyon division.
beedee
4th Line Rabble-Rouser
Did the draft skate up at Bay Harbor tonight at 6pm and had a blast. I hadn't skated out as a "player" in over a year, the last time I did was at an LGK Midnight PickUp Hockey game. At first it felt very awkward, because player skates are much different than goalie skates. My feet felt like stubs, due to the shorter blades and taller boots. After about 15 minutes or so I found my groove and felt kind of close to my old self. I played defense all night, we did a 50 minute scrimmage with the clock set to buzz every 2 minutes for line changes. It was crazy how fast two minutes went by when skating out there! I had a lot of fun, my D partner was pretty solid as well, we both netted a few end to end rushes with goals, but then just hung back and let the lesser skilled players carry the puck in to make plays.
The league directors were both there, and had a clipboard with everyones name, jersey color, and jersey number. They watched over the game pretty close, eveyrtime I looked up to see what they were doing, they were either watch the game, or jotting down notes. My first hour of experience at Bay Harbor has already been more organized than the last I don't even know how many years at Lakewood!!!
Devin said that I should know what team I will be on this week. It will be on Sundays, as I can't play on the Thursday night teams due to having to pick up our daughter from DayCare on Tues/Thurs.
The league directors were both there, and had a clipboard with everyones name, jersey color, and jersey number. They watched over the game pretty close, eveyrtime I looked up to see what they were doing, they were either watch the game, or jotting down notes. My first hour of experience at Bay Harbor has already been more organized than the last I don't even know how many years at Lakewood!!!
Devin said that I should know what team I will be on this week. It will be on Sundays, as I can't play on the Thursday night teams due to having to pick up our daughter from DayCare on Tues/Thurs.
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said no one ever
I love playing D!! Probably because I suck at skating with the puck so I am terrible at forward! Also, I think I actually skate better backwards than forwards....at least my figure skating days pay off there.
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xLAxKingsx
Lurker
Had my rookie draft skate at anahiem ice woo. It was fun let's us hit a 20 min warm up session. Which I tried my hardest to get feeling good and I burned myself out. Lol we had a 60 min scrimmage running 3 lines 5 in 5 out at 1 min intervals. After 40 mins I was gassed out its been a good while since I played a game. Talent was pretty good no overly to good players and it was looks like it will be spread out pretty good. I netted with goals and was decent on skating ability surprisingly. It's gonna be fun!
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xLAxKingsx
Lurker
Excuse my spelling it's 4am and I'm on 2 hours of sleep and have to be up at 5am for work smh
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LetTigerIn
Lurker
Think I just played my last game for my lower level team before the big move. Was great to see all the guys again and they deserved better than the 1-0 loss. Other team took a point shot that was trickling slowly in so I literally went to kick it, missed and it deflected off my skate passed the goalie. I felt really bad for him. I had a shot off the crossbar later trying to make up for it. To make things worse our goalie had his window busted out on his truck in the parking lot. I will not miss these late night games in Oakland.
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xLAxKingsx
Lurker
Had my first structured clinic ever and it went ok. We are having 1 more clinic before our first game. I got drafted into the Gulls FML only team i didnt want i got. Only 1 goalie showed up and it wasnt out team goalie so thats kinda worrisome. Instruction was pretty decent on the ice for 1.5 hours running skating drills and shooting/passing. Some people def need the clinic i was decent minus the skating (cant skate backwards worth a crap). Cant wait till a game though feels nice to hit the ice on a consistent basis.
beedee
4th Line Rabble-Rouser
Skating is paramount.
Is your goalie brand new? I know from experience, that playing goalie at clinics pretty much sucks. Nothing about a clinic ever caters to a goalie actually learning via instruction, all the attention/instruction is given to the players.
