Starting in Goal as an Adult

[badger_14 601]

I do talk to my teammates. In English and Russian lately, actually. I just don't say anything more than I have to, and neither do they. I don't say anything when I make a save, and I don't say anything when I miss one, either. Well, "sorry". (Or "извените")

I think it's a little different on the small ice, too, when the situation changes as soon as the words are out of my mouth.

(the other goalie just yells at everyone about everything)

[IPv6Freely 2093]

Won tonight 6-2. First goal against was a wraparound attempt that I stopped twice, then covered it with my glove and they kept poking and it went in. I guess the ref didn't see that I had it covered? I was shocked when they went to center after the whistle. Second goal against was in the last two minutes. Their best player just sniped me blocker side. Hell of a shot, can't get too down on myself for that one.

Otherwise, I played pretty well and so did my team in front of me. We only had 8 guys, they had a full bench. Stopped 36 of 38 shots. Probably 10+ of them were glove saves... which brings me to the next point. This was my first game wearing a glove under my catcher. WOW what a difference! I tried on baseball batting gloves, golf gloves, football QB gloves, just looking for something thin but grippy. Actually settled on a racquetball glove, of all things.

It could not have been any more perfect. Great ventilation, fantastic grip. No more pushing my glove onto my hand the entire game. I think I'll be doing this permanently.

Finally, I'm now leading our league in GAA and SV% which is pretty cool since it's a division up from where I was last season.

[beedee 227]

Congrats OR, beast mode, 36 of 38 is ridiculous!!! Those gloves sounds pretty legit too, i might have to give them a shot. Right now I'm just using a Taylor Made golf glove on my glove hand and it is amazing regarding grip, no slippage at all, but it doesn't breathe all that well. I should do one for my blocker hand too, that starts to get slippery.

I also had a win on Saturday night, 3-2. I subbed in a division higher than ours and to be honest the play wasn't all that much better than my current league. The bench had 9 skaters, and the first period was solid, I only saw like 2 shots. The 2nd and 3rd got sloppy and I saw nearly 20 shots between those periods. Felt great though to play at the higher level and get another win up there.

Last night I wasn't able to play with my normal team due to a birthday bonanza yesterday (two separate bday events) but our team lost 4-3 to a team that we beat 5-1 last time. Their goalie isn't good at all and it was disheartening to hear they couldn't score more on him. Our defense is atrocious so the sub goalie did the best he could, he mentioned that the play was in our zone for most of the game.

[IPv6Freely 2093]

The funny thing is that since they're a raquetball glove, there was ONE SINGLE left hand glove, and it happened to be my size. I thought about one under my blocker, but I don't have nearly as much of an issue there.

I love subbing in higher divisions. Having some actual structure and (usually) some guys who know how to play defence makes a ton of difference. Tends to be less bullshit goals, too. Though I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be in a D4 game until I get my new pads. I feel everything with my current entry-level blocker and had a pretty bad bruise on my thumb last week from a slapshot that caught me the wrong way.

Speaking of new pads... ordering these soon. I wanted Gnetik Pro II but the exchange rate makes these such a great deal right now. I wouldn't even consider them if they didn't have their Smart Strap clone, though.

[IPv6Freely 2093]

Looks like I forgot to post last week's pickup video (I didn't get to play this week as I'm out of town).

I'm pretty happy with my play last week. A few stinkers went in, but that's par for the course in a pickup game generally. We actually had the crappy nets out, so a couple of the goals actually went right through the net. Pretty funny. We also had some kid out there who I think was part of the Jr Gulls (now Wildcats, I think?) practice before our pickup. I think somebody may have asked him to play because we were short. You can't miss him... #6 in white. You know, the guy who skates around everyone. Check out the "poke check" aka "throwing my goalie stick at the puck" that actually saved a goal! hahaha

He beat me once glove side on a shot that I think I should have had.

The play at 0:56 where my own D-man banked it in off me. I never saw it. I felt it on the back of the leg and assumed it was the other team that had done it. I didn't know it was my own man until I saw the video! haha

Had a nice windmill at 6:45. Those are always fun! hahaha

[IPv6Freely 2093]

Pretty good game last night. Won 6-3. I got scored on in the first 12 seconds, and then in the last 9 seconds.

First goal was off the first rush. Simple wrister that hit my stick paddle and I was expecting to hear the puck hitting the boards or glass behind me as I thought I got enough of it. When I heard no sound my heart sank. Unfortunately it had apparently trickled into the net behind me. Crap.

Second goal I knew I messed up the moment it went in. I've been trying to work on staying square to the puck rather than the shooter, and unfortunately on the second goal I did that pretty well but also kind of lost my net and the angle in the process. Shot it far side over my glove from a not great angle.

Last goal was kind of crap. This asshat on their team, down 6-2, decided to wind up and fire a high slapper from the top of the circle that hit our d-man right in the chest/shoulder. Our guy managed to get to the bench, and meanwhile I was yelling at the guy for going high in a 6-2 game. 15 seconds later he comes into our end and does it again, this time keeping it down just enough for it to sneak under the cross bar on my blocker side. Whatever. I should have stayed focused but I was pretty angry.

Otherwise I wasn't super busy. The D was great and always seemed to be there to clear it if I got into trouble. Mostly happy with the game.

[IPv6Freely 2093]

Facebook just informed me that it was one year ago today that I put on goalie pads for the first time. Time flies!

Just wish I had more time to actually try to get better.

[bunnyman666 445]

Did a little 2-on-2 that ended as a 3-on-3 half ice yesterday. Made a few cage saves, let in a few dumb ones, even robbed a couple of people with a couple of poke cheques, skate saves and stick saves. Overall not terrible, but nobody in the NHL has to worry about their jobs for certain.

[badger_14 601]

Happy (pre) Halloween! Played a challenging pickup with a group of mostly-B level skaters, but good guys, fun to watch when they weren't about to score on me (good passing and skating). Played to 5 and swapped ends - out of an hour, I lost the first one, but won the next two. Tomorrow, back to my usual pick-up skate.

[IPv6Freely 2093]

Awesome game tonight. Probably my best ever. We won 6-3 against the best team in the league.

Everything seemed to go right for me. Even when I got in trouble I was able to scramble. Some saves where I just caught a piece with my toe, or a pretty big sequence in the second period where I had to make a leg, shoulder, then blocker save all from different directions. Even managed to kick out a partial breakaway even after had had me beat.

Three goals: first a shot that went high glove. It was actually right over my shoulder which made actually getting my glove into place difficult. I should have had it but just couldn't get the glove up in time.

Second goal was a great cross crease pass that I just couldn't get across on. He just barely snuck it in past my outstretched leg. I correctly read the pass but just couldn't get over in time.

Third goal was just a mess. Guys got knocked over in the circles, and somehow it was a 3-on-0 in the slot and in front of the net. Tic-tac-toe and in. Maybe I could have stopped that but they did a good job of a making a quick passing play.

Overall, extremely happy with the game.

Oh, and this one was a great win on a personal level too. They had a sub goalie who turned out to be the guy who played goal for the first hockey team I ever played on. The last time he saw me was about 5 years ago and I could still barely skate. Felt good in a "hey, remember me?" kind of way. He's a great guy though and an awesome goalie.

Also, I'm now leading the league in GAA, SV% and Wins.

Edited November 2, 2015 by OptimusReim

[psulion22 402]

Strapping on the pads in game for the first time in a long time tonight.

After the situation in the rink I mentioned the director of earlier became intolerable, I learned of a team at a different rink in need of a full time goalie. I took it as an opportunity I couldn't pass up and left my team mid-season. I feel really badly about it, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. If I waited until the season ended, I'd end up playing months worth of miserable hockey and may even miss the chance to take that spot. I know it's a crappy thing to do. Rink management created a situation where I don't want to give them any more money (I paid for the games I played) and I don't wan't to play 2 of the other 4 teams in my division because there's a safety issue. They already caused 3 of my teammates to quit this season. Unfortunately, that rink is 5 minutes from my house and the new rink is 25 minutes.

I'm kind of nervous. I haven't played in a game in a looooong time. The few times I've played in a clinic recently, i've been terrible. I'm not comfortable in my new pads at all, It's a new team that won the Championship last season with one of the best goalies in the league. He moved to a different league and the guy he got as a replacement wasn't good enough so they didn't want him. So there's some pressure. Plus, I played 3 games (skating out) last night, including one that started at 10:30 getting me home after 1. And to make it the worst, of course the first game I'll be playing is against my best friend in the other net. So if I suck I'll have to hear about it. Maybe I'll just fight him at center ice on the opening face off so I get kicked out and don't have to embarrass myself. lol

[psulion22 402]

Well, that was a rough night.

We lost 4-3. My team thoroughly outplayed them, but my friend played great. They scored first, a bomb from the point that went bar down. I maybe should have had it, but still an unbelieveable shot. We tied it on a rebound a minute later. The second goal I definitely should have had. Their player came in and undressed my defenseman in the faceoff circle, so I didn't have time to come out and establish position on a breakaway. He deked me and i bit, and pulled the Forsberg on me. I was not in the right place or moving the right angle to make a play on it. It didn't matter what he did, I think he was going to score. What a mess. Another rebound, another tie game less than a minute later. Third goal was a play where their player got a shot and 2 rebounds before putting in the third. He came in from the front, and shot low. I made a left pad save and wanted the puck to go to the corner, but it hit my boot instead and came right back out to him in front. Another shot did the same thing, and the next went off my shin to my left and he jammed it in around my pad. I should have had better rebound control. His shots weren't really hard or they would have deflected off my pad further away from him instead of right back to him as he was moving. Fourth goal te same guy came in at the faceoff circle to my right and moved to the middle forehand. I thought he was going to shoot so I guessed and he cut backhand across my defneseman. I couldn't move across as quickly as he could. He shoveled a backhand on net and I dove and got a piece with my glove, but it hit the wrist instead of the pocket and bounced in. We scored on a scrum in front to get within one. But with me pulled at the end, there was a huge scramble in front of their net and the puck just wouldn't get home.

I know the loss was on me. My teammates said no, but I know they were discouraged. Everything was so rusty - crease movements, hand positioning, shuffles, butterfly slides. It all felt off. I'm sure that's to be expected after being off for so long. And I know that I'll get better as I play more consistently again.

The good news is that this league is awesome. I was pretty unsettled because I felt horrible about leaving my other team midseason. But this one game washed that all away. Both teams passed the puck all over. It was great team play through the whole rink, even break outs. My team hustles and backchecks harder than most beer league teams i've ever seen. The puck movement made me want to play out instead of goal. And they are all a good bunch of guys. The game was fast and competitive, and yet friendly and casual. The crazy thing is apparently there is bad blood between my team and two guys on the other team who had caused problems on my team last season and then switched. You never would have known. There wasn't even a hint of it. I didn't find out until after the game. Contrast that to the other league where the cops had to be called last night because a fight broke out in the handshake line. One player separated his shoulder after being punched in line, and a player was arrested because he removed a guy's helmet and hit him with it. He is looking at charges and a possible jail term. Clearly I made the right choice.

[badger_14 601]

The company that manages several of the local rinks is sponsoring a mini-tournament on Black Friday for beginner adults (mainly from their instructional programs), so for some reason I decided to sign up. I'm not sure why I thought this was a good idea, but I now have 22 days to contemplate my poor decision making.

(seriously: as a skater I have been in four tournaments, and never once have any of my teams won even a single game. I think I am bad luck.)

[bunnyman666 445]

Today was 2-on-2 shinny, half ice. I was the only goalie. Since I have been watching the puck better, I have figured out how to make saves. In fact- I made some downright IMPOSSIBLE saves and let in some SERIOUSLY STUPID ones!!!! I even did a few '80s style, near the hash marks type of saves by challenging the shooter near the circles.

Would I say I did well? I did okay, but the rudimentary saves were the ones I should have had. I just had LOTS AND LOTS of LUCK today.

[bunnyman666 445]

The company that manages several of the local rinks is sponsoring a mini-tournament on Black Friday for beginner adults (mainly from their instructional programs), so for some reason I decided to sign up. I'm not sure why I thought this was a good idea, but I now have 22 days to contemplate my poor decision making.

(seriously: as a skater I have been in four tournaments, and never once have any of my teams won even a single game. I think I am bad luck.)

You have learnt a lot. Charm them with your Russian. I charm (or repel) them with my English accent and sayings. Just have fun and take the piss, matey!!!!!

[badger_14 601]

I mean, tournaments are always fun as a concept, but my track record (albeit as a forward) does not inspire confidence. I'm excited for it, I just don't want to let my team down (randomly assigned teams from the registrants). Seems like it should be pretty low-key, and FMC typically runs good programs.

I need my Russian friends to teach me some less-charming Russian for when things go badly.

[badger_14 601]

Played an excellent game today. Only let in one goal, early on, and then proceeded to stop everything that got to me. The other goalie (the yeller) got so angry (he let in 9, my teammates told me) that he threw his stick at one of them and threatened to leave if they didn't start scoring (they didn't, obviously). At one point he yelled at them that it was "embarrassing" that they couldn't score on me, which only made me more determined.

Dude needs to chill out, but as long as he's playing goal he's far away from me. Doesn't help the other players, though.

But I played well and everyone else was very pleased, and I am happy about it.

[IPv6Freely 2093]

Decent game last night. I wasn't super busy and I let in a couple bad goals but overall pleased. We won 5-4 after being down 4-0 going into the 3rd period. Crazy game. Check out that scoresheet: http://icetowncarlsbad.hockeyshift.com/stats/game/42/215/league//38428Three goals in the last two minutes!

The only one I really wish I could have back is a shot from the top of the circles. It was slightly screened off the stick but I saw enough of it that it should have been no problem. It squeezed between my arm and my body on my glove side. It was just in the perfect place where you debate whether you should glove it or just squeeze the arm to the body. Unfortunately my instinct is to try to glove anything in the air on my left side so in it went.

The other three were all good plays by them. One was a pass from the corner into the slot and I just couldn't get right to left quickly enough. Another was a perfectly placed shot from the circle that went far side on me. Should have had that one too, but it was a perfect shot so I'll give the guy some credit on that one. The last was a shot that missed the net and came out the other side. I managed to get over in time to stop the shot after the guy took it off the end boards, but not the rebound that went to my right.

A decent glove save on a hard slapper that I got cheers for... I think those look harder than they are to the guys on the bench, I'm not sure. Another I found myself scrambling a bit and had to dive across the crease and stopped it. Major horseshoes up the ass on that one.

All in all, not my strongest game but the guys managed to pull it together in the 3rd (they had struggled all game to get chances - it was the first time with a full bench in a long time, and honestly I think the fact that we had to integrate weaker players made our overall game worse. When we only have 7 or 8, we dominate the game much more.) It was a generally sloppy effort all around, but they managed to pull off the biggest comeback I think I've ever been a part of.

One nice thing about this team is after the game I get to the room and it's all cheers and telling me I played awesome. I don't agree, but I still appreciate how supportive they are. The bad news is one of our best players left in the first period with a gash from a skate on his leg. He texted us updates after the game, along with pics of before and after the stitches :D

Well... off to new york. This is the 5th week in a row on the road. I'd kill to get to play my Tuesday night pickup again, but I guess it's just not in the cards. I need a new job.

[bunnyman666 445]

Yesterday was a pressure test. First of all, I was to face a rival for the first time since last December. Second of all, since it was Veteran's Day, varsity high school and a few college and former college players were off of work/school and were chomping at the bit to play a little pick up.

Defense was better than normal at pick up considering the level of players I was playing with. However, many had let the hockey sense get a case of Alzheimer's when it came to defense, as several 1 on 0, 2 on 0 and 3 on 1 breakaways would develop. I made some interesting saves, but so many times I would let out a juicy rebound or the D would not pick up the three forwards around the net.

The worst part was that play hammered on and on so I could never grab a sip of water. It's better than some of the snore fests that happen with slow, lumbering players. I had to leave early and that was a bummer. The best part? The fact that nobody would pass to my rival and my D would not let him get a quality shot off when he would get the puck.

While I will always say that I suck so badly in goal that Dyson has offered to build a signature vacuum sweeper to emulate how much I suck in goal, I have made some improvements and have learnt how to better anticipate some plays. But I still over commit and get burnt on occasion, but sometimes a lucky bounce happens and the puck doesn't cross the line.

Edited November 12, 2015 by bunnyman666

[magnets 98]

My local league has A, B and C Grade hockey. C Grade was initially the development/beer league level - it's where you start at senior level hockey. A couple of years back, the numbers got high enough that they split C Grade into C1 and C2, C2 is for the newbies and beer league level, C1 is for players on the top end here, looking to get drafted to the A/B Grade clubs. A severe lack of goalies here (South Australia), means the few of us get plenty of ice time.

I have a regular C2 team, and have been a regular fill in for a C1 team until the new guy arrives in about a week, so wasn't looking forward to losing my regular C1 games, but after another goalie was injured pretty badly in a mountain biking accident (impaled his leg on a branch, tearing a muscle literally in two), turns out I was specifically requested to take his place in the top team in the league. First game - against the new guy taking my spot on the old team...

Could be interesting :)

[Thinkingjack 51]

totally forgot to post this, we do a skills and drills session on tuesdays and i decided to take the camera, stopped working after 15 minutes so this is some of the footage of the scrimmage we played in after all the drills were done. Go ahead, tell me how bad i suck, cause i doooooooo, cheers

[IPv6Freely 2093]

How long have you been playing goal, Jack? You appear to have some of the same tendencies that I do. The biggest one being that you stay down for no real reason for far too long. Looking good though, keep it up! Oh, and you definitely figured out how to fling sauce... I wish I could do it that well!

[Thinkingjack 51]

How long have you been playing goal, Jack? You appear to have some of the same tendencies that I do. The biggest one being that you stay down for no real reason for far too long. Looking good though, keep it up! Oh, and you definitely figured out how to fling sauce... I wish I could do it that well!

I stay down because i don't feel like getting up, i'm 6'3 so i just straighten up and cover the entire angle. When i have regular games i jump right back up and move around. Ive been back in net for the last year and a half but took like six months off this year again cause i gave my old set of pads to a little kid. I played when i was a teen but gave that up for like 5-8 years

I love throwing sauce, its really not hard, its something i enjoy being able to do

Edited November 13, 2015 by Thinkingjack

[IPv6Freely 2093]

I just can't get the puck up very well. And it's not something i get to practice much.

[badger_14 601]

My teammate was teasing me about being worried about the other goalie (he's an angry guy with a stick, I don't think my concerns are entirely unfounded), when I said that "He got angry because I played better than he did it in one game," and my teammate replied that if I can play better than him one time, "then soon it will be more than one time". I have told him that's fine, but since he and the other Russians all served in the Soviet army, they are tasked with protecting me if the other goalie loses his sh*t again.

So we'll see how tomorrow goes.