Starting in Goal as an Adult

[bunnyman666 445]

@badger_14 Ask your PT BEFORE getting a session with the goalie coach. That is my advice. They may even try to help you get the most. I searched high and low for a PT who actually knew the demands of a pro cyclist.

[badger_14 601]

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. 

[magnets 98]

9 hours ago, badger_14 said:

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?

Goalie coaching is very few and far between in my part of the world. Most coaching here involves facing dekes from every player for an hour. I played a season before anyone who had a clue about tending watched me and helped, so most of my work has been on my own with YouTube assistance. 

 

Maria Mountain's stretching seemed to be most useful. 

Edited July 17, 2016 by magnets

[badger_14 601]

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. 

[magnets 98]

On 17/07/2016 at 9:38 AM, badger_14 said:

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. 

Should I turn my avatar upside down :)

 

My first team wore Flyers jerseys, so I got gear to match.

[bunnyman666 445]

Sunday Stick and Puck:

 

I sucked like a fackin' Dyson!!!! Of course I tripped in my back garden, landed on my left knee (skinning it), scraped my blocker side palm and my back hurt like a motha! I also scraped my nose. 

 

So I could not butterfly on my left knee. Ugh.

 

One would argue that I should've stayed home. But I told someone I would be there and I ain't no punk. 

 

My FroPro isn't bad. Still can't figure out how to load these movies onto my iPad. Video looks pretty good for a $75 action cam. It comes with the waterproof case.

 

The weirdest part? Somebody got bloody fackin' LAZY with dressing room assignments. I go back to strip off and half of the dressing room was filled with MOTHERS helping their kids get dressed, as a "learn to play" was going on after the stick and puck. There was a mum that I would have been happy to strip off in front of, but I am MARRIED, and the other mums were not ladies I would have stripped off in front of. It was actually uncomfortable, even with the hot MILF.

[badger_14 601]

2 hours ago, magnets said:

Should I turn my avatar upside down :)

 

My first team wore Flyers jerseys, so I got gear to match.

 

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

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Playoffs tonight for my team. Unfortunately I'll be sitting in the stands for this one. Sigh.

[magnets 98]

1 minute ago, OptimusReim said:

Playoffs tonight for my team. Unfortunately I'll be sitting in the stands for this one. Sigh.

While it's not the same, remember you helped get them there.

 

Better to recover right and be back for future hockey.

[magnets 98]

Had another game last night, and it didn't go well.  3 on 0 first, took two saves before the third one went in.  Then another immediately off a faceoff in my zone - had about five bodies between me and the shot, and I didn't see it until it was much too late.  

 

Third one came in after the most blatant goaltender interference you'll ever see that wasn't called.  Just as one of their D man wound up from the point, I had an opponent skate from behind me in the crease, through my right elbow, taking me out of the crease, and turning me to my left, then the puck immediately flies by my right.  Ref had no idea what happened, and after talking to him later, admitted he wasn't watching.  Completely lost my focus, and screwed the rest of my game.  Lost in the end 7-3.  If it wasn't for my team mates, I was heading to a misconduct as I started losing it at the ref.

 

Need to take a couple days to reset.  

[bunnyman666 445]

My knee is still stiff after falling on it Saturday night. I probably shouldn't have played on it Sunday. I think I would just make it worse if I played today.

 

Moral of the story? Old flesh doesn't bounce back like young flesh does.

[tedpenguins 93]

Haven't been able to post an update on my progress in awhile because of my lovely work hours. My positioning seems to be getting better and better everytime I'm on the ice. I still make a lot of stupid mistakes and can't seem to figure out the old Red Wings boards trick ( opposing team throws the puck off the boards behind me to have it rebound right in front of the net). I just can't seem to judge them correctly until it's too late. My instincts from playing as a softball catcher have helped tremendously with my glove hand. I would say that the glove is probably my best attribute at this point.  My GAA is around 2.4 now and since I am still playing in the beginner league I'm happy with it, especially considering that at least one goal every game is because of a weak pass and turnover right in the slot. For whatever reason my defense can't grasp the idea that they can't pass through people. My lateral movement still needs work but at this point I'm convinced that as long as I play positionally strong one or two breakaways in a game isn't going to make or break me.  

 

[psulion22 402]

3 hours ago, tedpenguins said:

Haven't been able to post an update on my progress in awhile because of my lovely work hours. My positioning seems to be getting better and better everytime I'm on the ice. I still make a lot of stupid mistakes and can't seem to figure out the old Red Wings boards trick ( opposing team throws the puck off the boards behind me to have it rebound right in front of the net). I just can't seem to judge them correctly until it's too late. My instincts from playing as a softball catcher have helped tremendously with my glove hand. I would say that the glove is probably my best attribute at this point.  My GAA is around 2.4 now and since I am still playing in the beginner league I'm happy with it, especially considering that at least one goal every game is because of a weak pass and turnover right in the slot. For whatever reason my defense can't grasp the idea that they can't pass through people. My lateral movement still needs work but at this point I'm convinced that as long as I play positionally strong one or two breakaways in a game isn't going to make or break me.  

 

 On those live board plays, I find that going directly into a RVH any time the puck goes past the bottom of the circle to be extremely helpful with those.  I used to have problems with them, low angle shots, and pass-outs from behind because I would try to stay in my stance and not react in time.  Since going to a default RVH with active hands, most of those types of goals have gone away.

[tedpenguins 93]

@psulion22 I'll definitely have to give that a try. I'm sure it will feel awkward at first but if it helps my GAA and overall game I'm all for it!

[psulion22 402]

It's suuuuper awkward at first.  I had to constantly remind myself to do it.  Even now I still forget sometimes, and it costs me.  Last game I had a goal go in from a bad angle on a puck that was dumped in and took a strange bounce in the corner.  I was lax about it because there was no real danger on the dump in, and then bang it's in the net after being banked in off me.  If I had just gone directly into the RVH, it would have been an easy save.

[badger_14 601]

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.)

[IPv6Freely 2092]

34 minutes ago, badger_14 said:

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.)

I would hope that they would refund if you don't play... that's a bit ridiculous. 

[badger_14 601]

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...

[bunnyman666 445]

3 hours ago, badger_14 said:

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.)

 

 

I would hope they make good; after all- a few displaced players and/or goalies could DESTROY the reputation of this tournament. The internet can KILL an otherwise sterling reputation, otherwise...

[badger_14 601]

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.  ;) 

[bunnyman666 445]

@badger_14 How did you pay? You may have a few avenues of recourse if you paid by credit card.

 

Good luck and kick up a STINK if you don't get to play.

[badger_14 601]

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

[bunnyman666 445]

8 hours ago, badger_14 said:

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

 

Think positive!

 

[Thinkingjack 51]

Started working out again this week, 4 weeks off working out and playing hockey is too damn much, and ive gained weight, so I'm annoyed.

 

Started doing regular work outs plus stretches for my hip and knee and leg workouts to strengthen my knee, the nerve damage on my hip still hurts but its hurting less now that I'm being active again, I skated on Tuesday night as a forward and although my footspeed was trash (more trash than it usually is) I started to feel good again and felt my balance and mobility partially coming back.

 

 

its a stepping stone, and oh right, new goalie pads arrive soon.  it's getting real again.

[magnets 98]

Had a decent game last night - kept it clean until half way through the second where I had a second rebound tapped in. My team got the equaliser early in the third. 

 

There was a breakaway coming toward me, with my defender chasing hard. They tangled up in the slot and both went down, sliding to the net. And I choked. I was worried about two players sliding toward my knees and froze. The puck slid past me and in. I will relive this ridiculous goal for way too long as the one that I choked. 

 

Final score, 2-1 against :(

Edited July 25, 2016 by magnets