badger_14

Maybe I'm just used to it, because it hurts, but it's never quite that bad. I mean it stings, but you just kind of keep playing and eventually it's just sore. I walk it off afterward when I have to get to the bus or train. At my Saturday pickup it's all wrist shots from close in- no one's taking a lot of major slapshots because it's smaller ice and none of them seem to be big fans of the slapshot anyway. (they just like passing all over the place to confuse me.) I probably land ... a little ahead of the landing gear, not all the way off it. I'm still hitting it. I have some extra chunks I can lace in. It's thin, not squishy. The pad itself is squishy, like a pillow. My C/A is an intermediate XL, which has partially adjustable arms. But the straps attaching the arms to the body are always getting twisted so I might find a way to have them permanently fixed in. At least, again, when I have money. It's 15% off everything, so it's not really all that much. I realize also I don't have a ride to the middle of nowhere the store, and renting a zipcar just to poke around isn't really work it. If I want to poke around at goal pads that I can't afford I can just take the bus to the smaller LHS. It's not a priority right now, I was just curious what people thought of them, that's all.

I'm 28 and 5'6". The more I play the more I realize the 30's are just a hair too small for me - I could probably go with 31 or 32, depending on the maker. I got my pads at Play It Again Sports when I was still playing just ball hockey, so they weren't really sized so much as 'what feels like it fits reasonably well'. At the time there was also a pair of 32" reebok ... revoke? I think, but they felt too clumsy. By squishy I do mean soft. They flex well and I don't have any problems with the impact of pucks. The landing gear is a bit thin and I do get nailed right above the knee rather often. I think there's a picture of me somewhere in this thread with my pads on. I can't really afford anything right now, I mean, I don't think I can even spare the money to get knee pads, but it's nice to look. The local chain's goalie expo just happened to be coming up. I look at craigslist now and then but half of what's on CL is like ... 26" munchkin pads and half is 37" tree pads. (who the heck wears 37+2 pads, Groot? Chewbacca? Jeez.)

Feeling fine and dandy in the skates this morning, except the stiffness, but that's going away. Coach was excited to see that I now have actual goalie skates and he can teach me to move properly. Had a few decent saves and a few awful goals in pickup. I'm a little gun-shy after having been sat on twice in the past month, and it takes me about 5-10 minutes to get past that and get moving without worrying about being pancaked. My hip (just the one) is confounding me. Last Friday it stiffed up so badly I felt like I couldn't move my leg properly. It seems to be a combination of low back, hip flexor, and IT band tightness, and I'm working on it at the gym, or trying to. The other leg is fine, but the right one needs to get with the program. I'm also feeling like maybe I should try some slightly larger pads - 30s might not be cutting it for me. The local hockey chain is having a goalie shindig next weekend so perhaps I can find a good deal. Another goalie at the clinic suggested the Bauer Reactor 2000s. Right now I have RBK X-Pulse 9000s (junior), which aren't at all bad pads (they are quite - squishy? - for lack of a better term). Anyone have words about the Bauer line?

Luckily, I no longer have to pour all my money into RMV fees and driving lessons, so I should at some near point be able to afford a set. The feeble little thigh wraps on my pads help a little, but as soon as I can get some knee pads I'm dispatching them entirely. Unfortunately the LHS doesn't have a broad selection, and I have to head an hour or so out of town because a certain local chain decided to consolidate all their goalie stuff in one of two locations.

It definitely doesn't look as bulky from the front. Equipment can be so variable in sizing - I tried on a senior medium bauer once, and it was a tight squeeze, but I was swimming in a medium CCM. I actually ended up in an intermediate XL in the CCM, I could've gone with senior small but my arms are kind of stubby. If it feels like you can get around okay, turn your head, see everything going on, not get tangled up trying to go up and down, it's probably fine. The upper arms look extra beefy, so it's probably just the way the model looks.

It's definitely the hips for me, too, and I'm already a very flexible person. If I don't stretch out properly, my right leg stiffens up completely because the hip flexor just. Won't. Move. And then the muscles spasm around it and that's no fun at all. When I go and work out, about a quarter or more of my time is just stretching and flexibility, just to keep things loose. What's hard on the knees is those shots that slip through that one tiny gap between my pants and my pads ... (yes, I know I should get kneepads, but I also want a pet miniature unicorn and neither of these things are going to happen right now.) BeeDee - you look good! Yes, you do need to keep your stick down when you're in stance, for sure, although you do seem to keep it down when someone's coming at you. Your chest protector looks huge - is it really that huge, or is it just the angle? Can you move well in it? Like Optimus says, back straight and chest up - settle your body like it's in a chair at a fancy dinner, butt down and chest high. It'll be murder on your thighs for a while. Something my goalie coaches have us do is, right at the start of the game, get into stance right against the boards so you can feel where your body settles. Sort of like tapping your posts to get aware of where you are in the net - same principle, bodily awareness. The coaches have us practice lots of shuffles and even just side-steps - down the red line, back the red line, down and back. Slaloms, same thing. The other week the coach had us do the Iron Cross - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBr0RI8Idk0

I passed my road test! At last! And hey, for a guy who, five years ago, would have a panic attack leaving his own porch, this is a hell of an accomplishment. Now I can properly apply to ambulance companies, and I'm not beholden to rinks that are only located on or near the T! I mean I'm forbidden from using the family car but that's what zipcar is for.

I'm skating on them a lot better actually, now that I think about it. I think the major problem is 'new skate stiffness', since it's only the fourth time I've skated in them. I always seem to feel a bit wobbly the first few minutes out on ice, which I suspect is due to being used to 8 or 9 years of stiff, heavy player skates.

Tonight's group was much more even in skill level. I'm still sorting out the goalie skates, but it's a lot better. Of course I am still a novice and play like one. First damned goal of the night was a bank in off my own teammate's skate. Ugh. One of the other players stuck a GoPro to the glass and puts the videos on youtube, so I'll hopefully look at that in a few days when I need to feel shame.

The one I was at was a mix of very-novice trying to get their feet under them, and ex-high-school players sandbagging down, the latter just stripping the puck and carrying it coast to coast the whole game. As a goalie I was annoyed, from a skater's POV, I would've been furious and discouraged. There's 'better players challenging you' and then there's 'why am I paying $25 [as a skater] for this?' Especially when the company has several dozen different no-commitment skates, plus leagues, at every skill level, per week. Definitely! No place to go but up. Especially if you don't pay. Only your pride will be hurt and maybe the skaters will get frustrated. I think someone on here (LawGoalie?) said at one point that you shouldn't join a real game until you can reliably turn away at least half the shots that come at you, and I think that's pretty reasonable. You might suck but you won't get completely buried, which is good for your own confidence as well as not getting an earful from the guys in front of you.

I've been playing for about two months ... I think I'd be seasoned enough by June or so. Actually I might be now, but I'm still getting used to the goalie skates, and I want to give it a bit more time. So four, five months? Here, though, 'novice' leagues aren't ... necessarily all that novice, and there's not always fantastic parity. When I played in an organized pickup (the company calls it No Commitment Hockey) that was listed as 'novice' there were some very not-novice skaters there. Goalies are kind of a scarce commodity and even in D level hockey, the goalies are pretty experienced because they grab who they can. For me, that means I feel like I need as much non-league experience as possible, because there's not likely to be any leeway to mess up when I do get into a league. I'm playing as a sub for a D/novice league tonight so we'll see how that goes.

Great to hear you had fun! The soccer drill (I hesitate to say 'drill') is fun as all-get out. I've done it with the kids and it really does take your mind off the fact that you have skates on and you might fall. As in being a forward, everything stems from movement and being comfortable in your skates and gear. Between drills, besides watching the other goalies, I like to flop around and practice getting up, or just flop and stretch, wiggle my feet around, flail like a turtle, just, as you might say 'become one with my gear'. Nice thing about practice is no one cares if you mess up or try something new (and mess up), not like in a game or pickup. At the end of clinic, the coaches have us play this game (which you might get to try, or maybe suggest) where one of us stands in net, and the other goalies (and/or another coach) are off to the sides, and the coach takes shots. Goalie makes a save, he gets a point. Coach scores, he gets a point. Rebounds are live, so the other goalies and/or coaches can fire one in, too. There's a lot of scrambling, occasional deliberate falling, frequent accidental falling. It's a quick game - play til five or win by two.

I play with the Beantown Softball League, primarily in Allston. Mostly established teams but they have a free-agent day every season, and some teams do their own recruiting. The officiating is usually fair (we have basically the same rotation of umpires, many of whom are also players or coach teams in the league) but sometimes we get a guy dropping down from officiating the upper levels and they hold us to a higher standard. My own elbow understands. Trying to rest it for this weekend, when we have a triple-header.

Drives me up a wall when the umpire has an excruciatingly narrow definition of what a strike is. We had a first-time pitcher yesterday and most of what I saw him throw would've been strikes in the previous game (different umpire, and I play catcher so I see a whole lot of calls). Not just frustrating because we were losing (he was calling the same on the other team) but it really rattles our pitchers - novice and experienced- when that happens.

An embarrassment of riches, won in a contest. -CCM Resistance helmet/cage combo -CCM Tacks skates (seriously these are so light trying them on was like wearing a cloud of mouse farts) -CCM RBZ carry bag And still waiting on the stick to arrive.

Nice thing about the clinic I attend - goalies who want to just face shots from the skaters attend for free, and they're at one end, and then goalies who want the specific instruction get the middle and don't have to face any shots if they don't feel ready. I mean, in the drills you usually get shots, but it's very controlled, and 40 minutes of a 55 minute clinic could be devoted entirely to movement. There's usually 3 goalies, but the minimum is one (of course) and the max is 6. The coaches have all been good to us allowing us to rest when we need it, or modify drills to more experienced or less experienced players. (for example, the coach might want a more experienced goalie to butterfly slide from post to post, but would tell me to shuffle.) Actually, the ice is divided in three - adult novice players at one end, goalies in the middle, and kids at the other end, so you can also lend yourself to the kids' group if you feel that's more your speed (and it gives the kids a thrill, shooting on a real goalie). Then a six year old dekes you out of your pads and you get to feel shame. Stretching is a process. A little bit at a time. Most of the time, about 20 minutes of my workout is devoted just to stretching. Groin, hips, back. Sometimes if the trainers are around, I make sure to do really pretzely stretches to freak them out. But I also work at the gym and enjoy messing with my co-workers and don't advise that as a proper training technique.

Batters throwing the bat. Seriously, stop that. Catching is risky enough as-is.

Yeah, that's the kind of session where people just want to dangle, deke, and score. Pickup is often like that. :( If you can wrangle a friend to go with you, maybe they can take some video. Doesn't have to be a goalie-friend, just so you can look at the footage later. What my coaches have me (and the other goalies) doing most of the time is just movement - shuffles, t-pushes, more shuffles, forward, back. Slalom forward, slalom back. Rocking horse (or sausage link, depending on who taught you) forward and back. Lots of shuffling. If you don't feel up to shuffling, you can side-step. That helps build up the muscles and it's the foundation for everything else. The other basic drill is the 'two puck' drill, where you have one puck about a foot from the top of the crease at either post, skate up to one puck, skate back to the middle, skate out to the other, back to the opposite post. It's hard when you have people always swooping down to steal your puck, I'm sure. You could try tiny cones. USA Hockey calls these "letter drills", because you make various letters of the alphabet as you skate, shuffle, and push your way around the crease. The example above would be an M. You can also try a W, an E, an A, or a V. Some of the best advice I've gotten is head-hands-body. Where the eyes and head track, the hands and body follow. And we also do a drill where the goalie gets in stance at the top of the crease and the coach takes shots slightly to the left or slightly to the right, and your job is to track the puck and just side-step toward it. Not even shuffle - just step enough that it hits your glove, arm, blocker, etc. That's about moving your body to get in front of the shock, your body of course being a bigger target than your blocker, or what have you.

I've taken to filling my (32oz) water bottle about a quarter to a third of the way with gatorade, and the rest with water. I sweat like a racehorse under my gear, so much more than as a player, and the extra bit helps. Especially in a half-ice game where you have like zero breaks for a drink. Personally I felt (in goalie skates) like I was almost impeded going down - like I was getting tripped up or had to do some kind of ballerina move to butterfly. How did it feel for you? Had you worn your pads at all before?

First game in the new skates. A bit stiff, as you might expect new skates to be, so a little pain on that count, but mostly soreness, nothing unbearably awful. Other than that everything is all pear-shaped. First the blades felt too dull, probably because they're wider, because later they felt plenty sharp. Long, flat steel makes maneuvering precarious and I felt like I no longer knew how to drop properly. It got a little better, but the first time I dropped in warm up it felt like someone fired an electric shock up the outside of both thighs. Fucking smarts. I think that was the toe lacings, which I was trying since now I have goalie skates, but I took out immediately. I'll figure those out later. I've heard people recommend the bungee-style toe straps? Things got better after about the first 2/3rds of the game, including the soreness, so hopefully I'll feel better next week. Overall kind of frustrating, but no fundamental problems with the skates, just a matter of climbing that steep learning curve. Next week I should be able to do the clinic afterward, too, so I'll get some tips from the coaches and some nice, slow practice not killing myself. Once again I got hit in the Triangle-of-Pain (somewhere between the top of the medial padding and where my pants don't quite cover) where my thigh wraps do nothing. Is it possible to permanently damage muscles if you get hit in one place over and over again? I hope not. Obviously, my next paycheck should go toward proper knee protection.

The commuter rail line that I take to the rink is going to have service suspended on weekends starting April 25th, and ending November 22nd. Hockey attendance is about to get a whole lot spottier. (or, the commute will be about 3x as long by taking a bus and subway/streetcar).

At last! Goalie skates of my very own. CCM RBZ 70's.

Come to the dark side, we have cooler gear.

Shoebottom didn't seem so bad, but maybe it's different for a skater vs. a goalie. Bob Cormier was kind of intimidating. Most of the guys, Bob Beers and Tom Songin in particular were nice about dropping back and encouraging me between plays, making sure no one ran over me, etc. (also, having a pack of former NHL'ers taking warm-up shots on you is both exhilarating and utterly terrifying.)

I got to play goal for the Boston Bruins alumni today! Had the usual pickup this morning, and afterward I was in the locker room, and the rink manager comes and he's like hey, you're the goalie? Yeah, I'm a goalie. And he says, the Bruins alumni team needs a goalie today, do you wanna play for them? Well yes of course. I ended up splitting the game with the guy who runs the clinic I skate at, and it was so, so much fun. People in the stands, an announcer. It was a charity game for the Dana-Farber institute and the doctors are pretty darn good, although it was clear the Bruins alumni could pretty much turn the game whichever way they were inclined. I made some decent stops and the alumni were all very nice, and I came home with the game puck. Seriously, accidentally the best Saturday ever.