Leaderboard

Just read this thread from start to finish, and it's like going back 2 years to when I started. Learned to skate at 35 (Australia doesn't give you much ice to work with), first competitive game at 36. I'm two seasons down. First ended with a 0.770SV% 4.31GAA, finished the second season with a championship, a 0.928SV% 1.07GAA. I went through all the same issues you guys have talked about, going into my first year with no experience, and no goal coaching other than players shooting as hard as they could on me. During the off season joined a group that were significantly better than me for 3 on 3 sessions on a small sheet of ice, and did some coaching clinics with the local national league goalie (Australian Ice Hockey League - had an import goalie from the UK). The combination of somebody finally telling me "this is what went wrong, and here's what you need to change to fix it", as well as playing guys above my level made the world of difference. Watch as much video as you can of not only the best in the world, but any footage you can see of yourself. The GoPro footage posted earlier is awesome, and if I had more of me early, it would've made the world of difference. Work on the flexibility (I love Maria Mountain's program!), and watch your game improve. Only dwell on the goals against long enough to remember how it beat you, and how to possibly get it next time, then move on. Keeping it in mind the rest of the session won't get the goal out of the net, but it might distract you long enough for the next shot on goal to be the next one in the net.

Up and down relationship with the nearby rink where I play adult hockey. We have a great hockey community, get along well with the figure skaters and Junior team, and are big partners with the youth hockey association. (I'm actually on the board at the other rink, but both are important. Kids and I play at both rinks). The local Parks board wanted to cut the season back from 10.5-11 months to 6 with an allowable extension of only +2 months to make it 8. Without 11 month ice, the figure skating association and Junior team would go away, and everyone else's rates would skyrocket. There was a tense city council meeting last night attended by a lot of decision-makers from our various groups. One of our 12 year-old 14U players stole the show, though, when she approached the mic and rationally, eloquently, and emphatically supported the rink and its programs. Barely a dry eye in the house. This young lady only started Fall of '13 with my daughter, and was on the 14u state championship team with her. It's pretty awesome to see our girls becoming good hockey players. It's even more rewarding to see their passion for hockey leading them to confront adults about issues that concern them, and to see them becoming great people.

A buddy picked up a twig for me from the same sale: