Hockey

So, 2 goals and one assist, son.  Let me detail this.  First, the team.  We got a new teammate, he's pretty good, though I don't think he's any better than the best guy on the team last week.  (The new guy last week didn't show up who was good, the best guy didn't show up, and some other newb didn't show up, so we had 7 guys, sweet, more skating for me).  There are 2 wingers who absolutely suck.  Can't pass or receive passes.  Never shoot 'cause they never have the puck.  Useless, really, though they're cool guys.  Not cool enough.  The new guy generally skated around with the puck, deking guys, nothing fancy.  Easy dekes that worked, no toe drags, no between the legs, just left to right and right to left.  ANybody can do it.  

I skated hard the whole time until the last 2 minutes of the game.  Dead tired.  Well, not really, I'll get to that, though.    My skating felt perfect, I was hockey turnin' and crossin' over all night with ease.  Forechecking like crazy, backchecking even harder.  Though, really I don't remember backchecking much 'cause the other team wasn't that good.  No need to backcheck when they don't have the puck goin' up the sides or middle.  I ALWAYS forced the dman to pass.  He wasn't gettin' around me, though one time he did.  Then I backchecked him hard and shut him down.  A few other guys I had to backcheck 'cause people don't know how to forecheck.

First goal was within a minute.  I'm at the right side of the crease wide open, nobody around.  Teammate at left bottom circle with his back to me so I yell "OVER!" and he dishes it for the easy one timer.  Puck goes bottom right.. Had my stick on the ground the whole time, I tried angling it to the net as the pass was comin' which involves some luck.  Too easy.  1-0.  I wasn't out there for a goal against until their last 2 goals which one definitely doesn't count, I was just comin' out on the rink and they're already up ice gettin' the puck on net.  The 2nd time, I backchecked but the guy passed it, he goes around the Dman and fakes a shot, dekes, and goes top shelf.  Not much I could do there.  made a lot of amazing saves, I'll get to that, too.

2nd goal, I'm cherry pickin' up the LW side 'cause they weren't stopping it.  Did it ALLLLLLLLL night.  All night!  Only got 2 breakout passes for breakaways, though.  First one, I stop the puck with my stick but it started rollin'.  I tried to hit it down quickly but I was already within 5 feet of the goalie so I wristed it far side.  Hit the goalie's outside stomach and  went in.  Too easy.

I almost had a 3rd goal on a breakaway when the puck was passed to the point by their team but it kept goin' and goin' so I quickly rushed after it as was their LD.  Since he was closer, he was about to get it before me so I go to his left 'cause their RD was waitin' for the pass .. I skate up behind to the LD's left, bend my knees and back, and reach my stick out as far as I could.. like the idiot he is, he actually tried to pass it, it bounces off my blade and goes toward their goalie so I got the bouncing puck, again tried to knock it down but it wouldn't, and shot it short side but it hit the goalie on the side of the chest/stomach.  Oh well.

Almost had a 3rd goal again when the same thing pretty much happens, errant pass to their point that went up the middle this time about halfway between the blue line and crease.  Goalie is coming out to play it and I'm goin' as hard as I can to get it first.  I got there just as he did and focused more on avoiding him , he probably was too focused on me, too, 'cause we both missed the puck.  Next time, I"m just goinm' for the puck, screw that.  Woulda been a free goal.

I made some stupid passes, 2 or 3.  Well, maybe 2 at most.  The one play, I was behind their goal line on the LW side, lookin' around, nobody to pass it to, nobody on me so I skate up to the goal line closer to the goalie and wait for the RW guy to crash the net so I can dish it to him even though there was a Dman in front.. he never does, so I skate up to their Dman closest to me, do a quick deke, and put it between his legs.  Woulda been perfect but I didn't hit it hard enough.  

Another time, I'm goin' up the RW side with the puck, do a semi-hockey turn to the left, pull the puck back, and quicly to the left.. well, their Dman barely poked it as I was pullin' it across. I don't like doin' that move 'cause I kjnow I can always stop it so I know others can, too, but i wasn't expecting him to get it.

Stoppin' shots left and right - 1) Backchecking , laid out and reached my stick way out to block the cross crease pass.. too easy.  2) BLocked a shot off my stick once by skating left but reaching right really far, puck hit the toe of my blade and went wide.  3) Blocked 2 shots off my left skate.  One of 'em, I set it up perfectly so it went to my blade and I skated down the ice.  4) Blocked a shot off of my leg.  5) Blocked another shot off my stick when the guy went to shoot it, put my stick in the spot I thought the puck was goin', and got a direct hit.  Nothin' like makin' the puck go directly down on a shot.  6)  THere was at least one more block off of my stick, can't remember exactly what it was.  

So, I'm dead tired at the end of the game.. it was the last 2 minutes, last shift, the only time I felt too tired to skate hard.  I'm gettin' in the way of shots to make sure they don't tie the game.. We were winning 5-2 until they get 2 goals in the last 10 minutes.  So, there's 2 minutes left, and I'm makin' sure they don't tie it.  One time, the guy fakes a shot and goes to the right, really wide right, goalie goes down, wide open net, this guy shoots it on the ground to the left side but it went right by the post!  ONe of his teammates was there and tried to put it home but I skated through the crease to make sure that wasn't happenin'.  They got a lot of shots, most weren't really on net, though.  So then, with maybe 30 seconds left, puck somehow comes to me in the air about waist height, so I whacked it toward their guy at the point.. I wasn't aiming, I was just trying to clear it even though it was spinnin' quickly and comin' toward me.. so I actually whacked it (surprised myself, I had no idea where it was going), it's going to their point man on the RD side, so I skate as hard as I can to the left of him 'cause I knew the puck was goin' over his stick, it was a bouncer.  Of course, it trampolines over his stick, and I'm there to stick lift him and push the puck further.  As I do this, the puck goes to my front-left, and he stick lifts me back which throws my momentum off and makes my left arm go far left on recovery, effectively killing my speed.  My fatigue already limited me, I'm not on full balance mode, and this douche bag comes up from behind and slashes me on the right side of my body.  I was frickin' pissed. I cleared the puck down to their left corner 'cuase that's the side we were on, and I hockey turned left to the puck, he was skatin' faster than me at this point 'cause of the slash/balance issue from before, so I wind up my stick like a baseball bat and was about to whack him, but I thought better of it.  Man, I almost did, though.  RIght in the back of the calf.  He passed it ahead, then I skated passed him and he tapped me on the back so I said "good hustle" in happy spirits, but it wasn't how I felt.  Even in the locker room, the new guy who's 34 and knows this douche said "that was a douche move."  Damn right.  I woulda had the breakaway.  Maybe not, my fatigue might have stopped that from happening, but still.  Why slash.  He mighta been upset that we were winning and I didn't need to go hard, but that's how I play.  I don't slash/hook/interfere/check to make plays, I just skate hard.  That's not easy, either, for most people.  Any hesitation in their thinking/skating shows quickly.  

Ah, two more things.  First, two guys were battlin' for the puck behind their net, skatin' along the boards and fightin' with their sticks.. All of a sudden, a guy on the other team comes up from behind me and slams my teammate into the boards.  Everybody was surprised.  I don't think he really meant to, probably wasn't good enough of a skater to stop, and since I was on his left and another of his teammates was on the right, he had nowhere to go.. Maybe he did mean it, who knows.. my teammate don't act like idiots, though.

And the assist.. so I'm on the RD point, new guy at RW side with the puck.. passes it to me, I get it and hear "SHOOT!" so I wrist it to the goalie.. right on his chest pad, easy money.  Puck goes down, a quick battle, then my teammate in front of the net brings 'er home.  Had to be an assist, there was no clear possession until he tapped it home, still not sure how it went in.  either short side or 5 hole, far side was too covered.

Great night of hockey.  Feels better to win, but really, it feels better to play hard and have things work.  Feels good to know that hard work pays off.. I know for sure that last week I never really skated hard after the first period 'cause our team was useless.

2 G and 1 A.  Too easy.  Hopefuly they credit me with the assist, they might not have.  It's technically an A, I was the last person wtih possession before the teammate scored.