nice, I forgot that they played today.  Sharks Vancouver at 3 tomorrow.

 

I need some hockey.

 

Yesterday, I got really tired after 2 hours of skating around.. I think maybe I was sleeping too much all week, never slept less than 10.5 hours.  Even the high school kids were tired, though, and some of them were only there for about an hour.  I didn't even wanna skate let alone push myself, so I didn't.. the last half hour I just kinda floated by, didn't do anything, dumped the puck if I got it or passed to an open man.  Let guys go by me when I was on D.  I wasn't tryin', didn't care anymore.

 

I dangled around a lot of people at the beginning, got some nice shots and nice passes.. the old guy said I brougth my A game and was really impressed by how much I've improved. I gotta say, I felt like I was actually a good hockey player until I got tired, and that was before he said anything.

 

My D was pretty shutdown, though it's hard to be shutdown when you force them to pass all the time, hah. 

 

Oh yeah, only one kid on my team was any good, and we'd work well together.. there was a 3rd kid who I used to work well with 'cause I'd always pass it to him, but he definitely hasn't played mcuh recently or something 'cause he looked like he sucked compared to the other kids.  So, it was basically me and another kid, and I took a 25 minute shift at teh beginning, took maybe a 5r minute break, then another 20-25 minute shift, a quick break, and then played the last 25-30 minutes.. that's why I was so tired.  The good kid took a lot of breaks, so anytime I was out there alone, I had to do everything alone.. I see why the good guys dojn't pass, it's pointless passing to newbs.  THey lose the puck if they even have it more than a few seconds.  I don't think I ever passed it to them on the breakout, I'd just take the puck in myself and after dangling around one or two or three people, either shoot or most likely pass.  The good kid said at one point that he was passing to the two complete newbs (couldn't even skate) to give them confidence.. I almost said outloud "taht's why you gotta practice on your own and then come here" but I quickly realized that everybody starts there and you gotta encourage them.  I think later I said to get a golfball or a roller puck and practice in the kitchen.  gotta start somewhere.. if you suck, nobody's gonna pass it to you, and that's just how it is.

Brandon siad that in the travelling team (the semi-pros), all they do is focus on puck management - take the puck up the ice and, if they think they can't get by the Defense, turn sideways and slow down or head back to keep the puck in possession.. makes sense to me.  He says that they do it all the time, almost to an extreme.  I'd watch 'em, but I'd rather play.  I can't find any videos of the AIHL on youtube (American Inline Hockey League).  Nationals next weekend.. I'd almost be convinced to go watch just to check it out, but there's always next year, and anyways like I said, I'd rather play.