Stick and Puck: The Do Over

Ahhh, that was SOOOO much better than the first stick and puck. I still can't do shit about these fucking passes to my back door, but I'm moving around the crease a million times better than that first one I went to back in... when? January? A thousand years ago, it seems.

There's something up with this damn chest protector. I took another bicep shot and sonofabitch that hurt. Like there's no padding at all, or just a piece of cardboard or something, is what it feels like. I need to put my c/a on at home and just see where the various pieces are hitting me. Might be I need to adjust it a bit. It's all red and swollen and ouchy now. But the shot went to the corner, so it was totally worth it. ;)

Anyway, the guys were pretty nice but seemed a little weirded out by the random, sucky, chick goalie. You'd think they'd be delighted to have any goalie at all, or maybe they thought they needed to behave with a girl around? Ha! I'll have to start dropping some f-bombs.

For instance, one shot broke my water bottle lid (like an idiot, I put a lid on it that was a more brittle plastic) and I heard one of the guys say, "Well, if she's gonna play with the boys, she'll have to deal with it." Or something like that. *snort* Okay, man. Whatever. Like I'm gonna cry because my water bottle is broken? I might nut you for it, but that's just playing with the boys, right? ;)

Another thing I liked was that some of them were much more aggressive around the crease, which permitted me to take the occasional swing or shove at them. That's my favorite part and I never get to do it in novice.

Though I did catch one in the top of my pad and couldn't shake it out, so I made one of the cute ones reach in my pad and fetch it. He got razzed for it. I laughed. Mission accomplished. Dirty old cougar embarrassing the kid hockey player. Sweet.

Anyway, it was good. I got to see lots of shots in a situation where the only pressure on me is what I put on myself. I'll definitely plan to do that once a week in lieu of public skates. I get a lot more bang for the same buck (though it does take more time). And the nice ops guy unlocked the coach's locker room for me to use so I didn't have to mingle with the stinky boys. Didn't even ask him to. My own bathroom and everything! Sometimes it's good to be a girl.

Bonus: I did my good deed today and encouraged a mom who was there with her daughter. She hadn't skated before but said, "It looks fun and I've always wanted to do it." I said, "Get out there!" She was hesitant but I told her how scared I was the first couple of times out but that then it's really fun. Well, she got out there during the public skate and she had fun. Hope she sticks with it. Told her she's gonna be playing novice league with me before she knows it.