psulion22

No. No it doesn't. It's extra nice because I had a shutout going until 18 seconds left last time we played them. The puck dropped before I was ready on a faceoff in our zone. To add insult to injury, we ended up losing in the shootout. So this one really felt good.

Damn, getting a shutout feels good. It's been a very long time since I got one. Who cares that I probably saw 8 shots all game (I did have to make 3 good saves)? Who cares that I got saved by two posts and a crossbar? I sure as hell don't.

FML. We were winning 1-0 last night with 19 seconds to go. Faceoff in our zone to my right, empty net on the other end. I was getting my wing lined up making sure they were there to get out to the extra attacker who was lined up behind the center high on the circle for the shot. He was their best shooter and needed to be accounted for. As I'm telling the board side wing to switch over and go straight to the shooter no matter where the puck goes, the ref drops the puck. I wasn't ready. The puck gets bounced around and goes right to the wing on the inside hash mark. He takes a backhand swat at it and it loops up, bounces, and goes post in to the far side. If I was set, it's an easy save. But I didn't see what was happening until the puck bounced towards the net. I reached with my stick, but it hopped over. Game tied 1-1. Then the refs screw the pooch in OT. Running clock, and coincidental minors occur. They sort if out and send the guys in the box and their team goes nuts. Their captain just argues and yells, while the clock is running the whole time. Eventually he gets angry, and when my captain goes over to get the game moving, he punches him. Double minor. By the time they get that sorted out, there's less than 2 minutes left in the 5 minute 3v3 OT. We get the 4 on 3 PP for that time but don't score. The refs should have either stopped the clock while they were arguing, or told him to shut up and sit down while the clock was running. To make it worse, for some reason they started the coincidentals from when they went into the box, not when the puck was finally dropped. The result was that the other team's best player who was in the box, came out right away because their captain had argued more than 2 minutes off the clock. The guys literally never served a penalty, they sat inthe box for two minutes while the captain screamed and then came out at the first whistle. This is problematic because after the OT, we go to a shootout. The puck had finally dropped at 1:58 left in OT. That should have meant the coincidentals were still active when it ended. And that would have meant their best player couldn't shoot in the shootout. We lose 2-1 in the shootout on 5 shots. I'm normally money in shootouts. But this time I was awful. Their best player goes first, dekes the hell out of me, but luckily missed the net. That happened later too. I had one that I did read and stop go off the inside of my elbow and in. And the winner I had the whole way. I kept with him and got over quick when he deked, and stopped the puck with my pad. But the puck spun and rolled under me, and trickled 1'2" over the line. On 5 shots, I made 1 save, got beat twice and got lucky, and allowed 2 goals to go through me. Just awful.

There is an absolutely fantastic example of this at the NHL level. Go find the game footage from the Winter Classic between Washington and Chicago a few years back. Jonathan Toews takes a hooking penalty late in the game, and Washington scores the winning goal on the ensuing PP. I'm sure most people remember it. On tv, it looked like possibly the softest call in the history of the NHL. The commentators went off on it. The guys in the studio after the game went off on it. It was a tied game, and it didn't even look like Toews touched the Caps player (I forget who). It was awful, or so most non-Caps fans thought. But what was great was that the NHL had started releasing compilations of refs' helmet cam footage from the week. Go find that footage for the WC, this play is in it. It's a hook, clear as day. It's not even questionable from the ref's viewpoint. But none of could see that perspective. It comes down to what the ref sees, or doesn't see. And like you said, low level refs are often in a position where they don't have the best view of things. Most often, if the ref has an explanation for what he/she saw, and was in the proper position to see it, then it's just a judgement call, oh well. Usually this results in them missing something. Problems happen when the refs start to make calls they did or didn't see because they were out of position, or incorrectly apply the rules to what they did see.

That's always rough. But without seeing it, it's hard to say for sure that it couldn't have been interpreted as you initiating the contact, even though you were defending yourself. It shouldn't matter because he was going to make contact with you, but you got preempted it. In that situation, it's often whoever initiates the contact that gets called, whether right or worng. I've been told that if I didn't want to get called, I should have let him hit me instead of leaning towards him. Some refs also look at that and say his contact was going to be incidental since he was going for the puck, but you intitiated deliberate, avoidable contact on a player without the puck. I've been on both sides of that play, and had it called both ways on each side. I've also been reffing in those situations and called it both ways. Even that is a judgement or discretion call. I don't like when the same thing gets called differently, that's the lack of consistency that causes problems. But I'll give you an example of what else I'm talking about that has seemed to happen several times lately. The defensive team has the puck in their zone breaking out. After the puck crosses the blue line, it hits something - a player, ref, boards, glass, etc - and goes back into the zone where there is still an attacking player. I have seen this called onside several times. Once it cost us a goal in a semi-final game. Another time we got a pretty good scoring chance. This is not onside. For the play to be onside while an attacking player is still in the zone, the defending team must carry or pass the puck back into the zone deliberately. The casebook clearly states that a deflection is not the same as carrying or passing the back back. It's one of the first things you're taught in referee training. But I've had multiple refs see this as it happened (they didn't think the puck had not crossed the blueline) and were adamant it was onside.

Did you get any explanation for this? I'd suspect he was applying the NHL "follow through" rule incorrectly. I'm constantly amazed at how many refs either don't know the rules or apply them incorrectly. And that's not counting those who are lazy, ignorant, incompetent, or just plain a-holes. It seems like every other game I see a ref who is in position and sees the play clearly, and then blows the call. In your case, applies a rule that doesn't exist in adult hockey. In USAHockey, whats the penalty for hitting someone in the face and causing an injury? No, it isn't a double minor like in the NHL, it's a 5 and a game.

Sorry, Chase. At least you know they aren't suffering, and you got to see them before they went. My original statement still stands. F cancer. F cancer hard.

We lost 6-5 last night on a goal that clearly didn't go in. It went post-post-out to the corner. I picked the puck up took two strides and made a headman pass when the whistle blew. The ref, who had only made it to just inside the blueline on the shot, was calling it a goal. He was adamant he saw it cross the goal line, while stadning at the blue line. The other ref skated over and said it didn't look in to her, was he absolutely sure it went in? He said he didn't care what she saw, he was closer so it was his call, and it definitely went in. I felt bad for the girl after the verbal abuse she had to take for it. Shortly after that, eagle eyes had to ask the back ref where the faceoff should be after a shot went cleanly off the crossbar and over the glass. He couldn't tell from 3 feet away that the goalie didn't touch it. Even the league director, who was watching the game, was pointing outside the zone. He couldn't see the puck from 3 feet away, but he could clearly see it go over the line from 60 feet on the other end? After the game I apologized to the girl ref for the abuse she took and that she was having to make up for him. She apologized for us losing on a goal that didn't go in.

With modern larger knee pads and butterfly technique, you need open landing areas. I don't see any way to get that without going knee-to-calf with any straps, even the elastic. Any strap behind the knee across is going to cause binding and lack of rotation. If you are missing the landing gear, you can get smaller knee pads which will allow you to get closer to the front of the pad and on to the gear. I would normally recommend Passau, but since you are smaller, they are going to be too big and cause you the same problems. I would look into either the Bauer 1S or Warrior Ritual X Pro retail guards. Both have a pretty slim profile and are still protective. I have the Sr version of the Ritual X, and I really like it. If it were better cushioned in the landing area, I woud be wearing them over my Passau's. I think the Pro version will address that and also be more protective. You may also consider the strapping system that Monster Hockey sells that goes around your calf. It replaces the knee strap, so you get a much more open knee cradle, but it still keeps your leg in place and the pad in control.

I agree, F cancer. F it hard.

0-3 in Championship games this week. And I feel like i ruptured a disc in my back last night. Two years to the day after I broke 3 vertebra.

And now for the trifecta, I just got a text from the captain of the team at the third rink I play at (this one is the Panthers practice rink and HQ) that our 6:45 game on Sunday, has been rescheduled to 11 pm. To boot, no one was told of the change. One of our subs looked at the schedule and saw the 11 o'clock game, and asked if we needed him like we usually do for late games. If he hadn't checked, we would not have known. I'm seriously frustrated and perplexed by the overall imcompetence that's going on. If I screwed around with my paying customers this way, I'd be fired.

I don't disagree, I tend to not participate in the "arms race". But I'm also a team guy, so if that's what the team wants and how I can help , fine. I did switch and play D. And we did win, against their 3 B players and now surprise B goalie (who was not their goalie all season). We have another good player that subs sometimes. And he didn't want to play down in this league so much, just like I don't like playing down. But he's friends with all of the ringers this other team brought. When he found out all of them and now the goalie were playing, he wanted to play. The thing is that neither he or I will skate 100% and dominate the game like a lot of other ringers, and the guys on the other team, do. We play defense, neutralize their B players, and then let our C guys play their C guys and see who wins. I don't take the puck end to end or skate all around their players, and neither does he, even though we both could. We make defensive plays, retrieve the puck, and then pass it to someone else. The point still remains that this is an easy thing to fix with a competent director. There's just no reason to let guys that obviously don't belong in a division to play. At the very least, you can let the team know he can't play next season in that division. So if other teams complain, they will know it's handled rather than trying to find their own ringer.

How hard is it to manage adult hockey leagues? Seriously. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or even Wile E Coyote. But I'm constantly amazed with the ineptitude, idiocy, and indifference of league directors. I just got a text from my MONDAY league captain saying that the director is pissed off that we can't play tonight (Wednesday), because he wants to have the best of 3 finals done by the end of the year. We have never played on any night but Monday. There would be no reason for us to expect to play on any night but Monday. (I already have a playoff game in a different rink tonight) But he says he "scheduled" it. It's not on the website, or on Pointstreak (none of the playoff schedule is). He didn't tell us on Monday when we won the semi (he wasn't there). If one of our players didn't work at that rink and notice it was on the daily schedule board, we never would have known. If you want to play on other nights to get the game in, fine. But post the full schedule in advance, on the league website, and let someone know. It's really not that hard. And this is the "good" director compared to the ones at the other rinks I play in. Grrrr. And I just got a text from my Wednesday captain that I play goal for. He wants to know if I would play out tonight instead (I'm a B-level defenseman, this is a middle-C league) because he found out the team we are playing (who went 14-1 this season) is bringing B league players (who are likely ineligible). They have brought these guys in the past, and were not stopped then (we lost 5-2 and they had all 5 goals). So if we want to win and make the final, we will have to bring ringers of our own. Again, how hard is it to watch a game and see that there are guys who don't belong, and may or may not be on the roster, and tell the team they can't play anymore?

First of all, your pushes and down movements are excellent. Very strong and fluid. When I watch that video, what sticks out is that you aren't setting your feet. You are constantly moving, even when you don't have to. For example, the first goal. you come out to create depth, then immediately start to back up and give some of it away, and move off your angle. The puck hadn't really moved much so there was no real reason for you to give up your depth. I know you were looking through a screen. But you were in the right place, and moved yourself out of it on your own. This happens a lot, if you look closely. Find the angle, create depth, and set your feet. Make small adjustments as necessary, but always get to the new spot as quickly as possible and set your feet again. Snapping your heels into place each time you adjust is a good way of getting set up. Even shuffles and t pushes should be a series of distinct individual movements, start-stop, not one long one. When you are in constant motion, it's easy to get off your angle, or lose your net, or depth. You lose some efficiency in your movements because your weight may not be set, and you may be a little slower because you have to correct before you can move. Rebounds and saves are a little harder to control because you are maybe a little slow or having to readjust to the shot before moving. Just my observation.

I do like your videos. I need a laugh sometimes. LOL!!! :P Good news that you aren't in pain anymore and the ankle is doing well.

My team isn't bad. We won the championship last season (with a MVP performance by me). But they have a problem with the forwards. Too many turnovers, too much getting trapped down low, too much leaving the zone before the puck, and not enough backchecking. When they can control the puck and get pucks to the net, they are good. But if they have problems doing that, the forwards have no defensive awareness at all. It wasn't like this game was all breakaways and odd man rushes. I can handle those. This was all clean, open looks with a lot of time. A lot of shots from in the "guts" of the ice, And a lot of puck movement when the puck didn't get out of the zone. Those kinds of things are a lot harder to deal with. I had to make a lot of saves on close shots that make it hard to control rebounds, then make the save on the rebound. And a lot going from side to side or back against the grain.

Yeah, I've seen your videos. LOL!!

Ugh, is there anything worse as a goalie than to play out of your mind only to still get destroyed? We lost 7-4 after I got us out of the first period 3-1, and had it 4-1 5 minutes into the second. But my team stopped skating and couldn't get the puck out of our zone, or control it in their zone. The score could have easily been double that if I didn;t play so well. Now I know how Henrik Lundqvist feels.

Absolutely fair. But I wouldn't be so negative about them in terms of recommendation for someone who may like them. I wouldn't rule anything out for her like that. Maybe Vaughn because it will be a softer pad with soft rebounds which isn't what she wants. But the Bauer gear may suit her well if she likes it. That's all I'm saying. I'm sure you would agree with me on that.

Well, there was that bit about Bauer gear. Just sayin' lol

Several people. You can sort that out for yourself based on my comments. I'm not going to call out each individual post.

There's a tremendous amount of bad information being thrown about on here in the last few posts. First of all, sizing is based on height, shin length, and skate size. Without knowing those 3 measurements, it is frankly impossible to determine what size pad they should be in. Saying "I'm in ____" is absolutely worthless. Height is not an accurate comparison either, because people who are the same height can have different shin and leg lengths. I, for eaxmple, have short shins and long thighs for my height. I need a shorter pad with a longer thigh rise to fit correctly. In Brian's, I should be a 33+1" based on my height, but I'm actually a 32+2" based on my ATK. Different pad brands have different measurements as well. Get the measurements, and find the sizing guide for the brand you want. That's the only way of more accurately determining what size pad you need, outside of trying pairs on. And even trying them on isn't perfect unless you are wearing your skates and pants, and preferably on ice because "carpet flys" aren't the same as on ice. Second, there is confusion between a "stiff" pad and a "stiff core" pad. The stiffness of the foam inside the pad is what determines how far your rebounds will go. This is different from a "stiff" pad, like a Subzero or 1S, which refers to flexibility in the knee breaks. You can have a more flexible pad that still has a stiff core and gives hard rebounds, like a Gnetik and the upcoming 1X. The stiffness of the breaks provide lateral and torsional stability, which helps increase efficiency of lateral movements. However to really benefit from the stiffer pad, you need to have good butterfly technique, particularly in weight transfer and hip movements. If you don't move from side to side with pushes on the ice and recoveries, the stiffer breaks aren't going to benefit you and may actually hamper you because the pad will not twist to be a little more forgiving. A stiff pad will also put more strain on your hips, knees, and ankles. Stiffening the core may help sliding efficiency because the core will better distribute your weight, reducing friction. For me, a stiff core pad with soft breaks is the best. It gives me the torsional rigitity and stability I want, while still providing a little give. A 4-4-3/2 Sub3 or the 1X might be my best options. Vaughn tends to use a softer foam in their core, as do most mid-level pads. That is why they give soft rebounds. The foam used in even the senior level Brian's or Bauer pads isn't the same as what is in the pro models. They are still probably the best values on the market, either the G3 senior or Brian's sr version, because they still have many of the high-end features, and the foam is still pretty solid. In terms of innovation in pads, no one is innovating like Bauer. End of story. They have used new materials in the 1S pads, and have made a true bindingless pad. Smart straps and post wedges are great. But Bauer has fused an ultra durable and high performance foam to carbon fiber plates and put that into their pads. That reduces weight and thickness. Then they covered that in a skin without bindings. Bindings create friction, and reduce sliding. I love my Brian's. The G3's look very interesting to me. I truly appreciate all of the little features they have designed into their pads. But the 1S pad is leaps and bounds ahead of anything else. Even the little design features are well done. Their version of the smart strap is the best combination of the Brian's and Warrior version. It's wider and more secure, like the Warrior, but still has give because it's made of neoprene, unlike the Warrior. The plastic plates on the knee and calf wings create a great seal and sliding. You can knock the graphics, and glued on decals, and wrinkles. We don't have a good marker for durability yet. BUt they are definitely the most innovative pads out there. Sizing is incredibly important, even if you have good knee pads. The pad is designed to distribute weight across the knee and calf, which reduces friction and pressure on the ice. That is where all of your sliding comes from. If you aren't landing in the middle of the landing gear, you will be localizing the pressure instead of dispersing it. That limits slide and causes the pad to bend laterally. That landing gear isn't there for cushioning. It's the most important structural component of the pad when it comes to functionality and performance. If you aren't concerned with maximum sliding ability, then you should be getting a softer break pad that will be more forgiving. A gnetik2 is a pretty good mix of the two since it still has a solid foam core like the Subzero. They just design knee breaks into the foam core to allow it to twist. It appears like Bauer is doing this with the 1X as well.

It's not really the front, as in directly on the knee cap. The knee cap does hit the gear, but it's more just to the medial side and below that hits the landing gear directly. That's where the discs are, inthe same place the Maltese pad would be in the Passaus. That's what I mean by side.

Thanks! They're a little for protection. The foam is for impact absorption. I do have the hard plastic telescoping guards, which cover pretty much everything. So it's not like I don't wear anything at all. The sleeves would be a secondary layer just in case a puck were to find a way through. Part of the issue might be the way the KTPs fit into my landing gear. The Maltese uses a 2" round piece of their gel on each side of the knee. So you are essentially landing on a very small section. That is concentrating my weight rather than dispersing it and spreading it across the whole landing gear. This is more of a problem because my landing gear has a horseshoe shaped knee stack in it. So I think the disk in the Maltese is not fitting into the horseshoe channel like my knee would. That's causing it to become off center and sit wrong. I'm going to try to try them with a flat knee stack to see if they will sit properly and if that makes the difference in performance. Passaus may be my last ditch effort. I think they will be too big for me though. I just don't like knee guards.