Last night I had an 'exhibition' game between my team and another team they knew since we had no regular game scheduled this week. In reality it turned out to be a handful of players from my team, mixed with a handful from a third team. In the dressing room one of the guys (from the third team) was going on about how the team we were playing against were all old guys, and going on about how many players from the third team were out, basically bragging that this third team was really good and that it would be extremely unfair on the old guys. "Oh well he said, they have Dave at least" talking about the other goalie. For some reason this got me into some negative thinking, worrying about how I was playing against such a hot shot goalie and was I gonna be able to keep up... I quickly tried to nip that line of thinking in the butt, and reminded myself that I had played one game with this team already and had turned in a good performance, and that I've been playing really well lately and if I just kept to the basics I would be fine.
When we get out onto the ice I do my usual warm up, and then head into the net for a few shots. The players from this third team start taking shots at me, and I was out challenging well, square to the puck, but every shot was getting past me. At times I was in disbeleif... at the depth I was at, and the position I was in, most of them I expected to fly wide of the net, but somehow they were picking just the right position and it was hitting twine. The players from my own team start taking shots and I stopped those, but then again the third team comes at me and I'm swiss cheese. I have a bit of a superstition that the way I performed in the warm up was indicative to how I would play the game, and so I was starting to really question myself big time. I jumped out of the net for a bit, skated around and tried to calm myself down. Finally the game starts and I try to reassure myself that I just need to stick to my basics and I'll be good.
So to balance the teams, some players from this third team went over to play with our opponents, but I have to say, I'm not sure that they really needed the help. In the first 10-15 minutes I'm getting pelted with shots, but I'm playing my angle well and challenging aggressively so I'm stopping them all. A few flashy saves here and there help me get my confidence back up and suddenly I feel in control again, begging for shooters to give me a try, I dared them.
Unfortunately the first goal came against me, from a breakaway. I came out far to challenge the guy, and then started slowly moving backwards to my net. As the guy came to the 'decision point' he decided to shoot rather than deke, and I butterflied and stopped the shot with the blade of my stick. But the shot goes straight up into the air, and sails over me, landing just in from of the goal line and trickles in... hard luck. The second goal against was a good shot from the corner that beat me blocker side. I had a pretty good sightline, so it's one I should have stopped, but I will give the guy credit for a nice shot.
Third and fourth goals were a little more ugly. A player was coming down the wing to my left, and looked like he was going to try and cut across in front of the crease. When he got to the bottom of the face off circle I VH'd and then when he looked like was about to cut across, I paddled down. Then he sends a pass across the crease to a guy there waiting. What! Where did he come from? I guess I hadn't paid enough attention to the rest of the players cause I was pegging this as a single handed cut-across the crease play. I tried to push off from my VH, but my skate slipped out and I ended up just half sliding, half turning just enough to watch the guy tap the puck in on the other side. The last and final goal was a wrap around that I didn't get my leg around in time for. It didn't help that my stick got caught up with another player who was cutting across the crease, but I also didn't have myself in a good position for the push anyway.
So we ended up losing 4-2 if people were keeping track, but I was happy with my play for the most part. I was most proud that I was able to get over my dips in confidence, and prove to myself that if I play my game, I can be very successful.
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