badger_14

I like to think that as long as I am working hard and trying my best, not giving up, I am doing the number enough justice that Mr. Tretiak would be okay with it. (I mean, I suppose I could write him a letter and ask...but my Russian isn't really that good yet.) I specifically told Lutch not to put the name on, just the number. That way I only have to burden myself with a couple of digits, rather than putting on airs with a name. (hey, we're goalies, we all have weird obscure rituals and reasons.) I like Collander over Sieve, as Collander (or Colander) is an actual name. (hockeydb has no one actually named Collander/Colander, which is a damn shame. My university had a goalie named Hatch, poor bastard!) Tricky. Boston may be unusually (compared to other parts of the US) um - ... angry. About hockey. (actually sports in general. Let us not speak of the Red Sox/Yankees thing. Ever.) But I have seen actual physical violence erupt at North Station during Habs/Bruins games (not even in the arena yet!) and players deliberately go after folks wearing a wrong jersey on the ice, so I'd rather err on the side of caution. On the other hand if they're just going to furiously shoot at the logo all day that could be to my advantage. But do you have an STFU jersey, that's the question. ;)

I felt so much better today even than last time (two weeks ago, just after the cortisone shot). Hooray for physical therapy. Still uncomfortable in some ways, but a far cry from being in such untenable pain every time I played. I did let in more goals than I wanted, but I think so did the opposite goalie (whose leg - he is recovering from a broken ankle - is also f*cked! So we're even, except he's much better than I am to start with). A lot of them were simply not being fast enough to keep up with some very skilled players. This opposite goalie hadn't seen my CSKA/Tretiak jersey, and had nice things to say about it. Always good. Sometimes I worry I am not doing the number justice. But I try. He noted that at one point he'd had a Soviet (CCCP) Tretiak jersey and every game his opponents would just whale the puck at the letters as hard as they could. I said that's why I got the CSKA jersey rather than the Soviet national one - I don't want to have some butthead who thinks it's still 1978 take me out. (for some reason, no one - besides the Russians, of course - seems to immediately recognize the CSKA jerseys as Russian or even non-Anglophone. CCCP, though, everybody knows that and you'll take your life in your own hands.)

Of course, consider that with tongue in cheek. :) I would like to win a game (to break my tournament track record of losing EVERY SINGLE GAME) but I will be happy to play.

Tournament news - it appears they've decided to go with a 5 team format, meaning there is a goalie space for me. Hooray. Again: it is appears this way from the missives sent out to everyone from the tournament organizer. The downside is that they were unable to form enough teams separate competitive and recreational divisions, meaning that it's five teams of mixed players. The guys that play for Boston I know are very good (*cough*sandbaggers*cough*) as are the Albany and Toronto players (at least, last time I played them, but that was a while ago). So that could mean goalies getting shelled and less-skilled players being miserable and possible jerks wanting to shorten the bench on them, or it could mean a friendly mix and - er - goalies still getting shelled. The Russian Embassy returns tomorrow.

I totally understand. It's hard not to feel like every goal is a personal insult. I think there's a difference, too, between "intense" and "tearing your teammates a new one every time they make a mistake". It's okay (and varying degrees of good) to be intense, it's not so much good to be the village lunatic. I am sure the puck sliding by while trying to take on a tangled mess of fallen player felt like the dumbest goal ever (well, maybe the dumbest goal that game), because let's face it, it is a pretty ludicrous situation and feels embarrassing. You seem to be doing alright, and it does sound like the skaters are happy to have you and not just as a warm body between the pipes either. :)

I don't think it's really unreasonable to be more worried about two players vs. two knees than the puck itself.

Paypal. Could make a case for it, but we'll see. Hopefully they'll go with the 10-and-1 option.

They ran one once before, a few years ago, but I don't know how that went over. The teams they put into the local senior league, and the two major GLBT tournaments on this side of the continent do have a reputation for playing dirty (elbows everywhere), but that really shouldn't affect their ability to organize. (the other two tournaments are long-standing and respected and the NYC one is great fun - naturally, I'd love for Boston to have one of its own.) The cynical side of me suggests that they'll subtly bump out players with less experience, as that's my experience with the organization's past leadership. But I'm not sure they had that many people signing up, either, since this isn't established the way the Chelsea Challenge or the Friendship/Eastern Canada Cup is. Either way, I'll be pretty ticked off if they email me later (the tournament's not til August 19th) to say that they're going with 4 teams of 13+goalie. I mean, honestly, 10 is plenty for a typical adult tournament. 5 on ice, 5 subs, that's reasonable. And 5 teams makes the round robin more interesting. ;)

The registration stated it was nonrefundable, but the registration was a bit of a mess anyway. Nowhere to indicate position or skill level... There are supposed to be two divisions, an upper division comprised of whole teams and a lower recreational drop-in format. (Free agents). And if you're already on a team I suppose there's no reason to indicate position, but that's not true for the rest of us plebian free agents. It's not like they haven't done this before, and not like they don't have a good many examples of how to make up a registration form. But honestly if I don't play I sure as hell want my money back. Other things I can do with $150...

Tournament coordinator emails me to say that depending on how they work the teams (four teams with 13 skaters or five with 10) they might only need me as an "alternate". C'mon. I paid for this tournament, it's non refundable, you had better have a spot for everybody who plunked down their cash on time. I didn't pay $150 to not play. Naturally, I hope they go with option 2. (Five teams of 10 skaters and one goalie.)

In fairness, you do seem to often be standing on your head for your team. :)

I forgot that you're on the opposite end of the world. It's the avatar. I do like Maria Mountain's stuff as well.

Oh, yes, for sure - that's what I meant, speak with a goalie coach in conjunction with the physical therapy. PT eval, and regular PT, is of primary concern. I've been to this PT office before and they are very good, but no one working there was particularly familiar with hockey or skating last time I saw them, so the goalie coach is an adjunct.

Knee was much, much better this time around, but I am gun-shy about the assorted motions of goal-tending (mainly the half-butterfly, and standing back up) so things were more awkward than I would've liked. But most things were much, much less painful than before. Or not painful at all. I have a PT eval scheduled for next Wednesday (woo), but I think what I will do after that is try and schedule a private goalie lesson. Specifically, in addition to PT exercises, I want to see if I can work with an actual goalie coach (thus, familiar with the requisite pretzeling) who might be able to help me compensate on the ice. @magnets, have you had any experience with that?

As of yesterday, I've been working as an EMT for one full year. (technically I began orientation on my birthday last year, but the 13th was the day of my first shift on a truck.)

I'm glad to hear it. The pushes are the worst thing for me right now, too - the past few weeks, it's just been so painful to drive off the left leg, I often lose my balance and splat forward in the process. Getting up has been pretty arduous as well, even when I rely on my right leg. I am hopeful that PT will allow me to strengthen the muscles around the knee, and in the core, so I can compensate better. I am actually able to move across the crease fairly quickly by shifting the weight through my hips while in a butterfly, but it's just not as efficient as actively pushing, and my teammates are crafty enough to notice every single one of my (many) weaknesses and exploit them. (however, I am steadily getting better at reading their intentions, so I minimize unnecessary movement. In theory, anyway. In practice - well, practicing.)

@bunnyman666 sage advice. I plan to get in touch with the physical therapist today. I'm not always good at listening to my body, but I am trying to get better at that, and I have a lot of options for staying active, including hockey. Which, hopefully, if the skaters get their asses in gear I will play on Saturday. The PT is right down the street from me and I've worked with him and his office before, so I know he's good.

Thanks, that's incredibly reassuring, to hear it from another player. :)

Just got back from the orthopedist. Verdict: arthritis. My left knee is apparently older than the rest of me. On top of that, according to the doc this has probably been going on since I was a young teenager, so 15+ years. Steadily grinding away at cartilage... Good news is, it can be mitigated by a number of different things (cortisone, lubricant, physical therapy) and the doctor says he definitely wants me playing hockey. Got a scrip for PT and a cortisone shot today, feeling good about the prognosis. :)

After a couple weeks of resting (swimming only, and biking to and from work), and feeling generally better, I played this morning, which was not a great idea. I did pretty well but more or less gave up by the last 5-10 minutes, as it just hurt too much whenever I did the usual goalie things (besides standing or skating). I had an MRI on Tuesday (woo), and I have a follow-up next Tuesday so I'm hopeful that the doc will just tell me to rest/wear a brace/go to physical therapy, nothing major. I don't want to get mixed up in surgery - I'm already waiting for approval on an unrelated surgery that will hopefully take place in September or late August, and keep me out of ambulance work for 6+ weeks, I don't need any additional invasiveness taking away my money-making abilities.

No, not playing on Tuesday - it was just a reflex "but it's our day off we can play hockey" thing. No, right now I'm sticking to swimming and whatever physical activity my job(s) demand of me. (unfortunately, that meant recently playing tag with the kids, and also playing soccer with the kids, and chase, and um, that was not fun. but you can't really explain to a 4 year old why their favorite babysitter can't run just now.)

Hooray for bilateral weight-bearing!

So this past Tuesday I finally saw an orthopedic doctor (same one I saw for similar issues several years ago), he poked around at my knee for a bit and said "yeah, this is sort of concerning in an active guy your age, an x-ray won't tell me much, go get an MRI and we'll follow up." So I'm due to have an MRI on the 5th. Hockey player mentality, tho, while scheduling: "Hm, do I really want the 5th? That's my day off, I was going to play hockey ... wait wait wait no, idiot, we're going for an MRI to solve the problem of being IN PAIN WHILE PLAYING HOCKEY god. Schedule it." Hopefully though it's nothing serious and just needs some PT. I hope this continues to go quickly, because all the other muscles in my back and leg are locking up from trying to avoid the pain in my knee.

Misha's kids - 10 and 15 (ish?) - have always been very well behaved about goalies, even when Lunatic Goalie screams at them for being out of position (or whatever he screams at them for.) The Nuclear Physicist (another goalie) suggests they behave well because their dad is actually there, but I prefer to think he's just taught them well and they would behave regardless. On that note, I did play on Saturday. I saw a lot of two-on-one's or two-on-oh's (cry) but by the same token, several of the goals were on the 3rd or 4th rebound (partially my fault for not being able to cover, partially the skaters for not clearing) and ultimately I didn't feel too terrible about my play overall. By the second 45 minutes I was feeling much better about how I was moving, and I think that I am getting better at reading the play, being able to watch the puck and the players at the same time and predicting (hopefully spoiling) their plans. Lunatic Goalie was at the other end, screaming at the kids, and Misha, and pretty much his entire team. He also tripped two of my skaters and straight up shoved one to the ice. I think he needs a couple of my ativan or something, I mean honestly. (I attempted to express to Misha that I do not like Lunatic, and either Misha doesn't understand why or he's being deliberately obtuse, and he's an Smart Important Physicist Nerd so both are equally possible.) My leg/knee did not feel quite so bad on Saturday as it has before. I had a light workout on Friday that involved about 15 minutes of rolling out every involved muscle group and I think that helps quite a bit, but there's still odd moments where I'll drive with the leg and it hurts like someone drove a spike down my tibia. I am playing phone-and-insurance tag with the orthopedics office and the hospital's recent software update has apparently had some sort of malfunction and eaten everyone's patient data (I've been dealing with this for my patients as well as myself). But I look forward to scheduling an appointment shortly, getting a referral for some PT and maybe some x-rays and getting this crap dealt with so I can play and workout and sportsball like a normal (ish) human.

BWH and the nurses' union came to a last-minute agreement, avoiding a five-day labor stoppage! :D