Quick Hits: Sleep, radio, novice game, hits, Playing Like a Pro

Watching Rangers/Ducks. They showed some highlights of Gaborik goals recently and man, he sure does make it look easy. I like him better on my fantasy team than I do on the team I actually care about though.

(Wow, helluva save by Valiquette. Talk about a guy who flies under the radar, but has a sweet gig.)

(Took me so long to write this, the game ended with a shutout for Valiquette. 18 saves, but still really sweet.)

-----------

I caught up on much needed sleep this morning and still feel like I could do with some extra winks. Also rewatched/listened to the archives of last night's Aeros game. Ubersad that Brusty is hurt, but he's rocking the radio gig pretty hard. Always good to get a player's insight during the broadcast, but of course, I'd rather hear from a goalie because that's the perspective I can relate to.

They talked about how weird it is when a shot hits the outside of the net and you know they've taken a shot, but it makes no noise and you don't feel it. There's that split second of, "Oh fuck, did that get past me?" Man, that's fun.

My second thought is, "Haha... stupid shooter."

Ego problem? What ego problem?

------------

Got the final game of our summer season tonight. I haven't had a single butterfly in the tummy yet, which concerns me. I may be feeling a bit too mellow to play well if I don't get a little amped. I'm gonna try and wake myself up a little later by whacking the tennis ball around in the garage, get the hand/eye going. Seems to help my pathetic glove a bit when I do that before a game. The dog should enjoy that, too.

Need to get focused though. My mental state was so good on Tuesday. I'd love to get in that quiet-mind state more consistently. Gonna go back and read the piece that The Goalie Guild happened to post just a few hours before I played Tuesday: Do you Overthink your Performances?

Um yeah. It's #5 on that list that gets me.

------------------

Interesting piece here trying to give some perspective to Clutterbuck's hit record last year. Bottom line is, he's still an epic BAMF no matter how you crunch the numbers.

But he got hurt last night, so the Wild are suddenly a lot less interesting to me for a while. They suck right now and the only reason I bother to still watch them suck is because of Cal. Now they're sucky AND Cal-less. FAIL.

------------------

Next Saturday, I'm playing my first game in goal at the Toyota Center as part of the Aeros' "Play Like the Pros" deal. I did it once as a skater and it kinda stunk, honestly. Our team was bad that day, our goalie got lit up, it just wasn't much fun.

But one of the events that spurred me to want to be a goalie was watching Coach Stalin's first game at the TC. I just remember watching the goalies and thinking, "Damn, I want to be out there doing that." So, it's kind of a big deal to me to see that part of my journey come full circle. I should have no problem mustering up the butterflies on Saturday.

Naturally, it's free to come watch but with OU and UT playing at the same time, I doubt many will be out. I've even told Mr.C not to sweat it, because this game isn't about being seen; it's about playing in the same paint as the guys who inspire me every hockey season. The TC is a lifeless, sterile venue, but that crease is hallowed ground to me. I'm SO excited!

------------------------

Swear to God, last night the Aeros announcer introduced Craig Weller as "Brian" Weller. Poor guy. I hope I misheard but I don't think I did.