magnets

You ok mate?

Here's where the confused Australian comes in to make sure he knows what we're talking about (forgive my lack of knowledge). I always thought the dashers were the ledge at the top of the boards, but in the context with Ktang, I'm now assuming it's the small bit at the bottom of the boards that I always referred to as a kick plate. Both are present in our rink, a timber ledge at the top of the boards, and a yellow kick plate at the bottom of the boards, but the bottom edge is currently covered by the liner sheet sticking up from the edge of the ice. This liner will be trimmed back when the ice is complete, revealing the bottom edge (the same edge as you can see behind me in my profile picture just below my catcher). I'm told that we are expecting the boards to be replaced late this year, as a continuing part of our rink upgrade. However getting a usable ice surface in the short term was the most immediate goal.

Not missing, but there is a black plastic liner sheet that is coming up the side of the ice. Once the ice is complete, it will be cut back.

So our ice is delayed a few more days, but I managed to get a shot from our new crease. Can't wait to protect it.

My rink are finally on the home straight! Base ice has been built, and the paint is starting to go down. We're meant to be skating on it this weekend :)

After two and a half months of my state's only full size rink being closed, we finally have new refrigeration pipes down, with the coolant system being turned on today, and the new ice starting to be made... Let's hope they don't screw it up, and our new season can begin soon...

Trust me, I know the feeling of needing ice and the rink being closed. Ours closed almost two months ago now after the spectacular failure of the refrigeration system... Fortunately, they have secured government funding, and plan on reopening in two weeks - I got there last night for a meeting though, and noticed that the work hasn't started yet... I'm hoping it's quick...

Don't beat yourself up about that mate, you actually did a great job for most of that video. What I saw was a goalie stopping some amazingly unbalanced contests for a long time until you seemed to realise it was you against the whole other team. Your team gave you no backup, no support, nothing. The worst bit was at 2:45 where two guys had five shots in a row on you with no white jerseys to be seen for miles.

Thanks for the sympathy guys. The group that are building the new rink have announced that they're investigating options for a temporary rink, so all hope is not completely lost. I've got a seat at the next association board meeting where they will be talking about their options, so hopefully some good news might come from it. The A and B Grade league was supposed to start this weekend, and the national league starts early next month, so hopefully something comes out of it...

So a terrible situation here. The one ice rink big enough to play hockey in my state is now out of action. The refrigeration pipes under the slab have been leaking for some time. They closed the rink for a week to repair the leaks, and after two weeks of closure, they've now announced that the leaks were way worse than thought, and they have failed every pressure test, and the Dept of Environment have ruled they are not allowed to refill the refrigerant. The only way they can reopen is to replace the entire refrigeration system. Ice sports in Australia are not a big money thing, so we're hoping the government can help out to save the sport here. If they can get government funding to help replace the refrigeration unit, we are without a rink for a minimum of two months. There are plans for a new rink to be built, but that's not expected to be complete until the end of 2017. These plans may make the government seriously consider whether funding to an old broken rink is feasible. Who knows when we'll be able to play again :(

That trophy is amazing! Not to mention the insane belt! My team uses a plastic viking helmet for MVP.

Had the championship series on the weekend (best of three) Game one, went in feeling fantastic. Haven't felt that comfortable in the crease all year. Our opponents best player, has a favourite shot, deep toward the corner, my left side, curls in and almost always pulls the puck across the crease, then back behind the goalie who bites. Less than five minutes into the game, I saw him coming in deep on the breakaway, so pulled out a poke check he didn't see coming, defender finally got to the puck, took it to the other end for a goal. Every time he crossed the blue line after that, you could see it in his eyes that he had no idea where to go :) Let one in the third period, that came off a teammates deflection, just grazed my shoulder and in. Won the first game 4-1. Game two, feeling a little less comfortable, but my team were aggressive and attacking. 34 shots on goal to 17 on me, another win 4-1, and we take back to back championships :)

Game three of the semis last night, with a win 7-2 getting us into our second consecutive championship series. The two that went in - first was a cross crease drag, dropped through my five hole - clearly a weakness of mine and I need to work on keeping the stick down as I slide right to left apparently. Second was a flurry of shots inside my crease, fourth shot went in. Games one and two next weekend for an attempt to take back to back championships :)

Well we played game two last night. Let in a shocker in the first period that I obviously left one side wide open. Clean for the rest of the game though, until I was pulled in the last minute, where they scored an empty netter. Lost 2-0, so back for the game three decider today.

Playoff hockey has begun for us. Finished the regular season in second by a point. First game last night - semi final best of three. The game was definitely NOT won on goaltending, with a massive scoreline of 8-4 our way. The four that got past me were all cross crease movement with a shove through the five hole, so I clearly have to work on my stick placement while shuffling. Only a total of 17 shots on goal, including one penalty shot (that I stopped dead as they tried again to put it five hole once again), and about 14 1-0 breakaways. My team were aggressive as hell in the attacking zone, but regularly got beaten on the backcheck. Game two (and hopefully the decider) is tomorrow afternoon. Hoping not to have to come back Sunday.

Got the slump-buster tonight. Last game of the regular season, a 24 shot shutout, with my team winning 6-0. Two games being played on Sunday will decide our final position which is anywhere from first to third. Bring on the playoffs!

I hope so :) Wednesday night it is. Just going to forget everything and focus on the puck.

was only a few weeks. Nowhere near long enough to justify the slump IMO.

I've had four games since the end of year break, and they haven't been good. In fact, broke my personal worst game record. First game back, let in 5 goals from 15 shots, including four of the first six shots. The ice was terrible, with puddles that would stop the puck in it's tracks. First goal came from a stop like that behind the net, and while I swapped sides expecting it to come out the other side, it didn't, and was wrapped in. That broke me mentally, I didn't trust my judgement on where the puck was going and I just went downhill. I got control of things a bit though, and got a clean sheet in the third. Came back the next day, and let in 5 from 25 shots, but again with a clean sheet in the third. After these two games, I've been overthinking things and not playing my natural game. Let in 3 from 25 in the third game and 2 from 19 last night. Not helping is only having 7 skaters out though, so everyone's tired, and I'm facing way too many breakaways. One more game left before playoffs, and we've dropped from clear first to third. We have clinched a playoff spot, but now have a harder run in.

As am I. The thought of anything freezing over here is pure fantasy.

Ah yeah, been there and understand. Nothing worse than letting an easy goal in, because in your brain you wouldn't believe that a player would actually attempt something like that... Or worse still when your D sees an open net and instinctively puts it in... Anyhow, hope you all have a <<Insert happy adjective>> <<Insert late December event of choice>>, and a safe and happy new year. I leave you with a shot of me looking fabulous from a game a couple weeks ago.

My bad if I misunderstood... Is it the constant blaming of the goalie for the loss despite it being 50 shots to 5 against?

Our Division two C Grade is the lowest level of senior hockey in my state, so we do have some big blowouts. The bottom team in the league is mostly new players this season, and shots against are at 411 compared to 301 from second last and 178 from the top team. I have had a great time filling in for this team while their (also rookie) goalie has been injured. Even though they've been hammered in most games, they come off the ice smiling and supporting each other. I was there for their first win, and their 10th loss of the season, and the changeroom was just as positive for both. Everyone on the team is there because they love playing hockey, and the egos haven't taken over yet.

Our league finally got the stats updated for the season so far... We had a good site, but the national association changed over to a new one that isn't ready yet, so we had to put something together in the meantime. Division 2 (my normal division), I've played for 6 of the 9 teams, with 20 games, 15 wins, 5 losses, 42 GA from 365 shots, 0.885 SV%, 2.10GAA Division 1 (one level higher), I've played for 4 of the 5 teams, with 11 games, Only 3 wins, 3 shootout losses, 33 GA from 198 shots, 0.833 SV%, 3.00 GAA Bit of a step back from last season, but I think the standard of play has jumped a bit.

22 shot shutout with a 7-0 win tonight. Now for a three week break until the next game.