Not in my playing, but in my posting. I've played twice since my last post but have been too caught up in other things to write about them.
The first was just a pickup game. The Whalers were a victim of bad scheduling, and had two weeks off in a row, so we organized a pick up game to keep ourselves from getting slack. It was a fun game, typical pick up where you get a tonne of 2-1, and breakaways. I played decent for the most part. The part I was really impressed with myself for, was that I didn't allow a single goal on a breakaway! That's a stat that doesn't happen for me very often.
Then on Monday this week the Whalers finally got back into action for real. This was our first game post re-alignment, and were playing on of the teams that got moved down from a higher division, so we had no idea what to expect.
The game started off pretty good, with us scoring the first point. Not too long later they came back to tie it. It was a walk out from behind the net, and I played it well with a nice VH and made sure to make myself nice and tall. He threw it at me, but then it tipped off one of my defenseman's sticks and skipped over my pad and trickled in on the far side. I saw the whole thing happen but couldn't get my limbs in position to stop it. Then I can't remember how it went, but we got two more, and so did they. The first was a bad goal, if you can call any breakaway goal a bad goal. I came out and challenged well, and read the deke, but for some reason I thought I was closer to my net than I was, and I didn't slide far enough. He took the easy shot between me and the post. The last goal was through a screen, and I had a piece of it between my glove and body, but enough got through and trickled into the net.
The team came back well after that, and scored two more for us to go on and win 5-3. They had some good pressure at times, and it was a physically demanding game for me, but those are the fun ones.
I play again tonight, and will be looking to create a string of consistency.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Boing, boing!
That my friends, is the sound of me bouncing back. Unfortunately it wasn't a game that meant anything, as I just rented some ice with the Whalers and some other friends. Still, I had a really great night. I stopped every single breakaway on me (and there were several), and made a bunch of nice positional and sliding saves. My goalie counterpart commented afterwards how he noticed that my sliding seems to really have improved. I also played around a little bit with a slightly different glove position during the game and it seemed to have big success. My glove was pointed more to the side than slightly down how I used to hold it. I made several glove saves with it in that position, and it just felt like I was covering more net with it that way, but that could be all in my head.
One of the big things I made sure to do this game was play VERY aggressively out of my crease. I need to pay more attention to this in the future because it seemed to be a big factor last night.
Here's hoping I can continue this into next week!
One of the big things I made sure to do this game was play VERY aggressively out of my crease. I need to pay more attention to this in the future because it seemed to be a big factor last night.
Here's hoping I can continue this into next week!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Consistency
I realize that I missed a post from last week. I had a game with the Tsunami on Friday night and it was one of my best games of the year. I made two breakaway saves, several VH stops with the guy cutting across the net, and had good control of my rebounds. We ended up tying the game 2-2 though. One goal was off a giveaway that surprised me and I didn't get enough depth for the shot that went over my shoulder, and the other was a funny one where my own defenceman accidentally batted the puck into the net with his glove. I think he was trying to grab it but instead knocked it.
Fast forward to this week and I have another game with the Tsunami (Whalers have had two weeks off - ya, our scheduling sucks). I felt good going into this game, especially since I had come off a good performance with these guys not that long ago. Warm up went well except for two shots, one each to blocker and glove side that I let in that I felt I should have been able to get. Tried to brush them off, but I think they were eating at me a bit.
The game started a bit slow for me, as we controlled the puck in their zone for a while. We even scored off the first shot (talk about confidence deflator for the other goalie). They finally got themselves settled though, and the action was back and forth, with a good amount of action for me. I handled the first several shots well with rebounds only to the corners, and even made a nice leg pad save on a shot that fluttered in through a screen. It would have gone in but I kicked the right pad out to the post and made the block. I was impressed with myself after that save and thought I was in for another good game. Then it all came apart. Goal 1; guy comes in on a breakaway, and I totally fudge the save and he ends up potting an easy one on me. That bothered me a lot but I tried my best to ignore it. Goal 2; I wasn't so unhappy with this one. Pass from the corner goes to a guy in front with space. I came out and challenged, but he snapped a wrister top corner glove side. I was maybe not 100% square to the puck on this one though, and should try to pay more attention to that later. Goal 3; Slap shot from the face off dot that I saw all the way, but still let squeak under my arm as I was going down. Goal 4; weak shot along the ice that I bungled and let slip through my five hole. This was incredibly frustrating for two reasons. 1 - I had just made the exact same save on a much harder shot and had congratulated myself for keeping the stick to the ice, and then let this much weaker shot in, and 2 - my team had a two goal lead that I just let evaporate in the last few minutes. Full credit to my team as they didn't give up and managed to net another one with only a minute left. Ok I thought, I can keep this net closed for a minute. Then it happened. The play started with a point shot that got deflected up high, and two of my defenceman tried to grab it out of the air. It deflected off of them, to the other side of the net where there was a man waiting to pot it in. I had gone down in case the puck got through my defensemen and was bouncy along the ice, and all I could do was a scramble dive. No luck. They scored with just 15s left in the game.
Needless to say I am very frustrated with my lack of consistency. I don't know what the key is to being consistent. Here's hoping I figure it out and soon.
Fast forward to this week and I have another game with the Tsunami (Whalers have had two weeks off - ya, our scheduling sucks). I felt good going into this game, especially since I had come off a good performance with these guys not that long ago. Warm up went well except for two shots, one each to blocker and glove side that I let in that I felt I should have been able to get. Tried to brush them off, but I think they were eating at me a bit.
The game started a bit slow for me, as we controlled the puck in their zone for a while. We even scored off the first shot (talk about confidence deflator for the other goalie). They finally got themselves settled though, and the action was back and forth, with a good amount of action for me. I handled the first several shots well with rebounds only to the corners, and even made a nice leg pad save on a shot that fluttered in through a screen. It would have gone in but I kicked the right pad out to the post and made the block. I was impressed with myself after that save and thought I was in for another good game. Then it all came apart. Goal 1; guy comes in on a breakaway, and I totally fudge the save and he ends up potting an easy one on me. That bothered me a lot but I tried my best to ignore it. Goal 2; I wasn't so unhappy with this one. Pass from the corner goes to a guy in front with space. I came out and challenged, but he snapped a wrister top corner glove side. I was maybe not 100% square to the puck on this one though, and should try to pay more attention to that later. Goal 3; Slap shot from the face off dot that I saw all the way, but still let squeak under my arm as I was going down. Goal 4; weak shot along the ice that I bungled and let slip through my five hole. This was incredibly frustrating for two reasons. 1 - I had just made the exact same save on a much harder shot and had congratulated myself for keeping the stick to the ice, and then let this much weaker shot in, and 2 - my team had a two goal lead that I just let evaporate in the last few minutes. Full credit to my team as they didn't give up and managed to net another one with only a minute left. Ok I thought, I can keep this net closed for a minute. Then it happened. The play started with a point shot that got deflected up high, and two of my defenceman tried to grab it out of the air. It deflected off of them, to the other side of the net where there was a man waiting to pot it in. I had gone down in case the puck got through my defensemen and was bouncy along the ice, and all I could do was a scramble dive. No luck. They scored with just 15s left in the game.
Needless to say I am very frustrated with my lack of consistency. I don't know what the key is to being consistent. Here's hoping I figure it out and soon.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
A win!!!... ugh wait, I mean a loss?
Friday night I played the fifth game of the season with the Whalers. We went into the game with a 3-1 record, facing a team with a 3-0 record. It promised to be a close match.
I felt good going into the game, had my lucky underclothes and all. Warm up went well, although it was short as we were late getting on the ice. I handled a few nice shots early, which is always good to get into the game. The teams were well matched, which resulted in several periods in each others end, and some good work for both goalies. My team got on the board first. A few plays later and it was a 1 on 2, with my two defenseman hanging back a little too far and giving the guy room to shoot. I didn't get a good view on the shot and it beat me between the blocker and legs.
After that I made several really good stops, including one toe save on a cross crease pass that should have been an easy tip in for them. My teammates were commenting on my play and it really helped to pump me up even more. I was getting to the point where I was begging the team to shoot on me. In the second period I faced a breakaway, and while I didn't handle it perfectly, I did manage to get my pad down in time to smother it as he tried to tuck it in near my boot break. There was a bit of confusion around that one since nobody really knew where it went (me included) until I moved my leg and it was under that. Unfortunately a little after that a breakdown in coverage led to a point shot that bounced off a couple of players and found it's way onto the stick of a player standing on the opposite edge of my crease who easily tapped it in. As soon as I saw the puck make it over to him I knew I was beat.
My team pressured to try and get the tying goal, but didn't have any luck. In the dying seconds they made a pass to an open player directly in front of the net who did a nifty spin and backhand that tucked in under my blocker side arm. The buzzer went just after the puck went in.
Despite it being a loss in score, I felt really happy with how I played, and it felt like a win to me. Even when I think back about the game now I have to remind myself that we lost, because it really doesn't feel that way.
I felt good going into the game, had my lucky underclothes and all. Warm up went well, although it was short as we were late getting on the ice. I handled a few nice shots early, which is always good to get into the game. The teams were well matched, which resulted in several periods in each others end, and some good work for both goalies. My team got on the board first. A few plays later and it was a 1 on 2, with my two defenseman hanging back a little too far and giving the guy room to shoot. I didn't get a good view on the shot and it beat me between the blocker and legs.
After that I made several really good stops, including one toe save on a cross crease pass that should have been an easy tip in for them. My teammates were commenting on my play and it really helped to pump me up even more. I was getting to the point where I was begging the team to shoot on me. In the second period I faced a breakaway, and while I didn't handle it perfectly, I did manage to get my pad down in time to smother it as he tried to tuck it in near my boot break. There was a bit of confusion around that one since nobody really knew where it went (me included) until I moved my leg and it was under that. Unfortunately a little after that a breakdown in coverage led to a point shot that bounced off a couple of players and found it's way onto the stick of a player standing on the opposite edge of my crease who easily tapped it in. As soon as I saw the puck make it over to him I knew I was beat.
My team pressured to try and get the tying goal, but didn't have any luck. In the dying seconds they made a pass to an open player directly in front of the net who did a nifty spin and backhand that tucked in under my blocker side arm. The buzzer went just after the puck went in.
Despite it being a loss in score, I felt really happy with how I played, and it felt like a win to me. Even when I think back about the game now I have to remind myself that we lost, because it really doesn't feel that way.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Disappointing Loss
Last night I played with the tsunami and had a disappointing loss. It was my first game in over a week, so I was anxious to get playing again. Even though it had been a week I still hadn't had a chance to wash my lucky under-clothes, so I decided that I wasn't so superstitious and just used other stuff. Now I'm wishing I hadn't.
I didn't get off to a super solid start, with a shot that came into the crease area and bounced around off a lot of skates and sticks and eventually I found my way onto my ass and the puck between my legs. It was a stop, just not a very pretty stop. I felt a little shaky I could tell. I made a couple of nice saves after that to try and settle down a bit. On one of the next rushes I went to cover the post and knocked the net off. Not a whole lot, but enough that it bothered me. I made the stop on that side, and then when the puck looked like it was clearing the zone, I looked back to fix the net. Little did I know it was stopped at the blue line, and when I glanced back the shot was already coming and I couldn't get over in time to stop it. I complained to the ref but he wasn't having any of it. It was stupid of me to look back at the post, but they also should have called that when it happened.
The second goal was a nice shot from a player streaking down the wing that rifled it top corner. I am large enough that I should have that angle even when down, so I'm doing something wrong there. Third goal was off a semi-breakaway. The guy deked the defense out, and then I went down too early and he deked me out. 4th goal was another top corner, from an even worse angle. I should have been down in VH, but wasn't. 5th goal was a nice pass out from behind the net to a player untouched in front. I stretched out but just didn't quite make it. The 6th and final goal was probably the worst. My team had a valiant effort to come from behind and pull it to within one goal. Time was winding down and I was starting to skate off for the extra attacker. Then I saw the other team get possession and break out of their zone, so I quickly backpeddled into the net. I wasn't sure of my angle though so I was quickly checking behind me to verify. He blasted a quick shot low blocker side that I should have had, but butterflied awkwardly. That was the final nail in the coffin as the time wound down in the game.
All in all not a terrible game (like that 8-5 loss) but still one I'd like to have been better for. I think we could have beaten that team and I hate to lose those ones. Guess tonight I'll be making sure that I have my lucky under-clothes!
I didn't get off to a super solid start, with a shot that came into the crease area and bounced around off a lot of skates and sticks and eventually I found my way onto my ass and the puck between my legs. It was a stop, just not a very pretty stop. I felt a little shaky I could tell. I made a couple of nice saves after that to try and settle down a bit. On one of the next rushes I went to cover the post and knocked the net off. Not a whole lot, but enough that it bothered me. I made the stop on that side, and then when the puck looked like it was clearing the zone, I looked back to fix the net. Little did I know it was stopped at the blue line, and when I glanced back the shot was already coming and I couldn't get over in time to stop it. I complained to the ref but he wasn't having any of it. It was stupid of me to look back at the post, but they also should have called that when it happened.
The second goal was a nice shot from a player streaking down the wing that rifled it top corner. I am large enough that I should have that angle even when down, so I'm doing something wrong there. Third goal was off a semi-breakaway. The guy deked the defense out, and then I went down too early and he deked me out. 4th goal was another top corner, from an even worse angle. I should have been down in VH, but wasn't. 5th goal was a nice pass out from behind the net to a player untouched in front. I stretched out but just didn't quite make it. The 6th and final goal was probably the worst. My team had a valiant effort to come from behind and pull it to within one goal. Time was winding down and I was starting to skate off for the extra attacker. Then I saw the other team get possession and break out of their zone, so I quickly backpeddled into the net. I wasn't sure of my angle though so I was quickly checking behind me to verify. He blasted a quick shot low blocker side that I should have had, but butterflied awkwardly. That was the final nail in the coffin as the time wound down in the game.
All in all not a terrible game (like that 8-5 loss) but still one I'd like to have been better for. I think we could have beaten that team and I hate to lose those ones. Guess tonight I'll be making sure that I have my lucky under-clothes!
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