Down with the sickness

I spent most of the day lolling around in bed as the beginning of some unfortunate illness has begun to sweep over me. Fever, sore throat, tired as hell.

It really ramped up in the afternoon and I was not feeling like strapping 40 lbs of gear on and getting peppered for an hour+ at 9:15 tonight. But I'm glad I did. It was a fun game and I played well most of the time.

Something about not feeling good, you just relax and play a simple game without any pressure. Almost always ends up in a good game. I was counting on that phenomenon for sure.

I even played the puck twice. One actually worked out really well. The other, no goal, but only because the shooter missed the completely vacated net.

Got a whopper of a bruise-lump on my inner thigh. I just don't know how the puck finds a way through all that padding to leave a mark like this. But I stopped it so it was all good.

One of the really good guys wasn't there, so that spared me some of my usual goals against by that guy just being a beast. I was getting tired the last 10 minutes or so though, and let a couple of dumb ones in. NBD. I was happy with my game overall.

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I was pretty disappointed to get in my car and see the 0-3 score in the Minnesota v Calgary game though. I'm watching the game now and honestly, it's not such a bad showing. Just a few bad minutes but still lots of quality chances for the Wild. If this game weren't on top of all the other bad games, I wouldn't think much of it. Kipper was absolutely phenomenal, too. Also nice to see Havlat looking more like a hockey player than like a Pouliot.

That said, I'm so impressed with how quietly effective Jose Theodore has been. It's a relief to just say, "Okay, we can give any game to our back-up and he'll do as well as (or lately, better than) our starter." Wild are luckier than they deserve in that respect. Or maybe Theo is unluckier than he deserves. Ha.

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Tomorrow night is the women's league championship. Looking forward to the game. Kinda hoping I still feel a little bit crummy, but not awful. I'm playing for the green team. They can usually put the points up pretty well, so if I can just keep the puck out of the net, I feel good about our chances.

Either way, I have no complaints about my first season of women's league. It's been unique, fun, and an interesting new challenge. I was worried when I started that it was going to make me worse with the slower and lower level of play, but I actually think this league has improved my ability to stay focused (or re-focus quickly) because the play is so erratic and unpredictable.

Anyway, just gonna keep doing what I've been doing there. In spite of being the championship, nothing really changes. $2000 saves, puck focus, stick on the ice, battle hard, free beer if we're lucky. ;)

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Camp Brusty launch and this week's games

Before I get to my games, I'm excited to finally announce the kick-off of Camp Brusty! I've mentioned it before but I'm doing the local organizing/promotion end of things for THE goalie camp here next summer coached by Sean Murray of Pro Formance Goalie School in Vancouver and Brusty (who also coaches for them in the summer).

Here's the link: PFGS Houston

There aren't many things I'd take on the task of promoting, but there's a genuine need for goalie coaching here in Houston. Lots of goalies, very few people who are both willing, able, and qualified to work with them. I've been incredibly lucky to have Scott as much as I have. I'm not sure how others do it. So this is a great chance for goalies to get an intensive week of high-quality work without having to leave town for it.

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Hockey is done for the week. On to another great "key" -- turkey. :) Got my parents in town and enough food to feed an army. Plus 2 extra dogs, which is making things sort of a circus and why I'm up at 5 a.m. throwing Major out so I don't have to listen to him whine.

Drop-in was so-so on Monday. Waves of good saves, waves of letting everything in. Almost every fast regular was there except Crosby, so I saw a ton of shots. There's this one dude I call Big Bird because he's super tall and has really cute shaggy hair, and I dunno how he's not bored out there. If he's playing at more than 30%, I'd be shocked.

I feel kinda bad because he made me look stupid twice, scoring on breakaways and the third time, he was about to do it again and I was so fed up, I just hooked him by the shins as he glided past me after faking me into going down (EVERY FUCKING TIME... I hate myself for biting on that). He didn't go down and I hope I mostly got shin pad, but I still feel badly for it.

At least the puck didn't go in that time. Doesn't exactly deincentivize my bad behavior. :\

Then women's league last night was ... OK. My parents were here watching me play for the first time (they'd been to a practice last year, but I was still REALLY raw then), and that was actually okay. Not the distraction I was worried it would be.

I allowed two goals but didn't see many shots and went long stretches without seeing any and then would get a flurry. First one was through a screen and deflected, but I got a solid piece of it. Somehow that makes it so much more annoying to me that it went in.

Second was an odd man rush I played about 2 feet too deep and beat me glove side (naturally). They've got this Canadian gal and she's really good. Accurate shot, if not crazy fast. It was a tricky one because of the 2 on 1 but she beat me clean and if I had any kind of glove, I would have gotten it. If I'd  been out of the blue paint, I wouldn't have needed the glove at all.

I'm just bummed because I really like that team and wanted to see them advance. But then, I like both teams, so I guess it doesn't matter. The championship next week should be interesting. Not sure who I'll play for but it should be spirited.

All that said, I did have some stops I'm pretty proud of. Hard to focus on those sometimes in a loss, but I'm okay with the way I played. I just hate losing.

Only two ice times next week. Monday and Tuesday, since novice is off for Thanksgiving. Happy for the break. Should be pretty hungry for the ice by Monday.

Happy (American) Thanksgiving, everybody! Enjoy your turkey and pecan pie coma... I know I will. :)

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Hextall-riffic & Feeling Good

My theory of Limited Luck is holding up. All my teams lost tonight and I played really well (until I didn't -- more on that later).

But at least Brusty kept it interesting, making 40 saves and salvaging an OT point for the painfully inconsistent Baby Sens. Not only did he kick ass in goal, he gave the Wolfpack's Tim Kennedy some serious business for running one of the Sens into the boards behind his net.

Check out how delicious this is. When do goalies EVER stick up for teammates like this any more? Luckily only 2 min roughing penalty for it. Guess the refs felt it was a legit response. Good on 'em.



And I'm told the fans chanted his name after. Chanted his freaking name, y'all! FMD, that's awesome, and frankly, as it should be. I may have to shell out my $4 for the archive of this one.

My favorite quote from the night from the coach:

"It's a shame that he had to, that he was the one who had to realize something needed to be done," Kleinendorst said. "But it doesn't surprise me. I think he would have chased the guy down to the far blue line if he had to, but that's a good thing."

First time I watched it, I wondered how long he was going to end up chasing him. Wouldn't you love to be in Kennedy's head when he's spun around and face to face with GIANT ANGRY GOALIE? New breezers, please.

Beauty.

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So, we tied 4-4 tonight and 3 of my 4 goals came in the third period. One of them, I'm okay with. I made the first stop and lost sight of it. Next thing I know, it's in the net. I don't even know what happened but I don't know what I should have done differently. I needed my defense to talk to me there. I thought I had it, for all I knew.

But I had two that went 5-hole on me, which is pretty unusual. But in both cases, they were shooting from 3-4 feet in front of me and I was trying to be patient because they were moving and I didn't want to go down too early and give them deke options (sometimes I forget it's novice league).

So, those were frustratingly soft. I guess I was lifting my stick. I need to put lead weights on my stick so it's too heavy to lift. Ha.

The last one is one I have tended to have problems with lately and I think I've figured it out. When I've got a shooter coming down the ice on my glove side and they carry the puck on their left, I'm not squaring to the puck. I'm drifting to the shooter's body and they're knocking it in just inside the far post every time. Those feel bad because they're easy easy stops if I'm where I should be.

However, I did have some awesome stops and my pads were my best friends tonight.

This doesn't happen to me much but I'm pretty sure the best kind of save is where the shooter is so convinced he scored, he actually starts to skate away. And then turns around and goes "AWW!" when he realizes the puck is still in play.

The coach on the other team (I call him Brent Burns because he looks like him and he makes everything look so easy, being so tall and rangey and handsy) picked up a rebound and thought he had himself an easy tap-in. But I somehow got my leg out in just the nick of time and kicked it out. He's already headed up ice and realizes, "No whistle?" Hahaha.

That was badass. I mean, I know I didn't beat anybody up or need the ref to restrain me (or, um, protect me? Haha... ;) and nobody chanted my name, but I did get some nice kudos from both teams after. Still felt pretty fuckin' good after those lousy outings last week.

Aeros at home tomorrow. Some other joker can stop the pucks for a day. :)

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Fun night but I need a nap

No wonder I'm playing so shitty. I've got this theory that everything can't possibly all go right at the same time and that there's only so much good luck to go around. And last night, the Wild won, the Aeros won, and Brusty got a shutout.

So the only logical explanation for my sieviness lately is that all those jokers are stealing my good luck. :)

It's okay though. Brusty can have all of it he wants and, the Wild and Aeros, I'll throw them the occasional bone just to keep from having to watch losing hockey all season.

I'm still recovering from information overload this morning. Between following two games I wasn't at, watching the Aeros, writing my story for the Chronicle (filled in for Andrew) between periods, praying my (and the Aeros) lead sticks and the Wolves don't come back, and then Yeo lobbing his "that game sucked" bomb at us post-game when I thought it was a pretty awesome game (WTF do I know?), it was a lot to parse.

I couldn't tell if Yeo was annoyed or amused at my dismay that he was screwing up my story. I'm just standing there with my recorder in his face with my mouth hanging open. "You just ruined all my questions by not liking that game!" Haha. Whatever though, it was a fun night and I didn't get to sleep until 3 a.m. Fuckin' exhausted at that.

Also, not that you need minute by minute updates on Operation Boob Lift, but the consult went well. Only it's costing more than I expected. Like, by a lot. Like, you could buy a decent used car. You could buy a decent NEW car for all the stuff we talked about doing (tummy tuck with lipo, etc).

I'd love to do it all, but man, even just the lift part of it seems like a selfish use of money. I dunno. Add that to my information overload yesterday, too. #msconductproblems

I actually have the night off tonight. Four of the last 5 nights, I've gotten home after 11:30. I love it all but I'm definitely due for some "kickin' around the house" time.

Gonna try and do my full hour of physical therapy today, too. Been trying to build back up to it a bit since my knee is bothering me so much. Hopefully I can get the knee happier and then I can start doing the awesome Rapid Response Goalie Training program I picked up the other day. Want to be doing it by January.

But that means getting off my ass. When what I really want is lunch and a nap.

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Darn. Still a Sieve.

Lost 4-1 tonight. I could blame a very short-handed bench, but they actually were amazing and kept the puck away from me more than I had any right to expect.

I can't even blame the Bingo jersey, as it was safely tucked away in the dryer after being washed today.

I can only blame me. I don't FEEL unfocused but I clearly am. I'm not seeing the puck well and you don't let this many pucks in over 2 days if you're focused. I should be pressing for a shutout every game at women's league, so 4 goals is very disappointing. None were kitten-soft goals, but none were crazy good shots or anything. I should have had all of them.

My focus has been really good the last few weeks. Battling hard, doing things the right way. Maybe I'm a little burned out. It's hard for me to muster the necessary intensity for extended periods, as it's just not my nature. But those periods get longer and longer, so that's good.

Seems like stepping away from the game a bit recharges my batteries and gets me going again. With the holidays coming up, I'll get some breaks but not much really.

Though perhaps some "elective surgery" would provide the needed break. I'm getting a boob lift consultation tomorrow. Raise the titties! We'll see though. I think it may be too expensive to justify, but I'm interested to hear what she has to say at least. The fun bags are always fun, but frankly, I'm a boob girl and unless I switch teams, mine are all I have to entertain me. Gravity can go suck it for what it's done to them. *poor darlings*

Wonder if this doc has ever had to tell anybody how soon after surgery they can get slammed in the boobs with pucks.... :)

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Drop-in Kills Bingo Sweater

I never really quite understood what it meant for a goalie to be "fighting the puck" until tonight. Now I get it. I fought the puck. And the puck won.

Nights like this, it's like I've handed out a "Free Goal with Every Shot!" coupon to everybody at the drop-in and they all cashed in. Hey, I made them happy, right? Never mind that I like 'em better when they're miserable.

I dunno what it was. I just couldn't find my angles, I couldn't track the puck into me, I couldn't do anything but get lit up. One after the other they just went in the net. I guarantee I let in twice as many as I stopped. Can you have a negative save percentage? I suck at math but I think I might have had one tonight.

I'd feel worse about it but I played so well last week, I kinda feel like there's a little leeway there.

But you goalies know how it is after a bad game, right? All the skaters, and even the other goalie, are kinda looking at you sideways, like, "Eww, you poor thing." It's some mix of pity and disdain.

Whatever. These things don't get to me quite like they used to. I'm both glad I have tomorrow's game to redeem myself (to myself) but worried about it, too. The team I'm facing, I see a lot of breakaways and I played breakaways tonight like I was blindfolded.

May just need to get some music in my head to try and shut off the chatter and doubt and just react. I can feel the overthinking already starting as I run through my mental list of all the things I have to do right. Challenge. Be patient. $2000 saves. Puck focus. Battle hard. Stick on the ice. Hands out in front. Move your feet. Bahhhhh. Shut up, brain!

But that's all the way to tomorrow, so I'll worry about it then. :)

This was the swan song for the Bingo sweater though. I told myself when I packed my bag, the Bingo sweater gets one last chance. I still have yet to play a decent game in it. I stink EVERY time I wear it. Getting pretty tired of that, even though it's a great conversation piece.

Random Skater: "Binghamton Senators? You from up there?"
Me: "No, but my favorite goalie plays for them this year."
RS: "Who's that?"
Me: "Barry Brust"
Drop-in organizer, who gets to hear this conversation every time it happens because we change next to each other: "SHE LUUUUUUVS BARRY BRUST...."
Me: *blushing* :) "It's true."
RS: *eye roll*

Maybe THAT'S the problem with the Bingo sweater... They get my brain off in Brustyland and I kinda don't really give a shit what the puck is doing. Lalalala....

Either way, it's back to the Aeros sweaters this winter (these AHL pracky sweaters are too hot and heavy to wear in the summer). Bingo will be reserved for recreational purposes, like curling up inside it when I'm cold or actually going a game in Bingo in January, where I'll likely also be cold. :)

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Friday night letter to the Wild boys

Dear Wild,

I don't get to see you as much as I used to. I've been busy keeping tabs on your little brother, playing my own games, and mentally fondling goalies all around North America. These things keep me busy.

Also, you haven't been very good for a while. Like, more than a year. So, you haven't exactly given me cause to miss you.

But occasionally I find a night like tonight where the Aeros aren't playing, I don't have a game, I don't have any other plans, I have sole control of the TV, and you're playing.

What's more, one of the kids is making his NHL debut and for me, those games are like watching a mother bird push its baby out of the nest for the first time. Fly, Scando, fly!

So tonight, it's you, me, a team with fucking PALM TREES on their sleeves, and maybe some pizza. And we're gonna do this thing. We're gonna get the W because you just can't give me another season like you gave me last year. You're better than that and you know it.

Cam Barker, I'd share my pizza with you because, god willing, you'll be in a suit for this game. But I don't like you, so you can make your own damn pizza.

Let's do this thing. Here's my side of the deal: I will draw an awesome picture of boobies for you if you will get me the win tonight. Really nice ones, too.

Deal? Deal.

Love (kinda),

Ms.C

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Purple victory and sportsmanship

Man, I love me some victory beer after women's league but, damn, I had too much last night. That's what happens when a good looking Canadian goalie is pouring. I can't say no to any part of that.

Needless to say, my purple gals got the win. I let in 2 goals, one of which I was completely screened on and if I can't see the puck leave the stick, because of my vision issues, it's pretty much just luck if I get a piece of it. The other was a breakaway and I played it wrong, so that was a little annoying. I really need to get more patient in 1-0 situations.

Regardless, I was happy to win. Didn't have to work too hard in the first two periods but finally saw a flurry in the third but made some good saves to avoid the tie. Got my glove ripped off trying to cover the puck at one point. This ref is usually pretty snappy with the whistle because he's a goalie himself, and gave me a total freebie last week, so I don't mind that he didn't blow when I thought he should have. But I'm happy to have all my fingers today.

Of course, then I find out the team wouldn't have exactly minded losing because now they're stuck playing Thanksgiving week in the playoffs. :) Ah well, I was playing for pride and beer and got both.

Nothing too spectacular from the game. Best part is after a win, when I can relax and shoot the shit with the cult of hockey. I'm one of those "keeps to self" goalies before games. I'll pipe in a little but I need to keep it low key. All bets are off after though. Especially when my beer glass stays full.

Feeling a little rough today though. Sunglasses, greasy food, that sorta thing. Feels good. ;)

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I was expounding on the virtues, complete with hand gestures, of hockey player ass to my friend at lunch today. You can talk about babies or sunsets or mountains or whatever all you want but pretty much a hockey player's ass is probably the most perfect thing in the world.

I'm not saying they're all the same, but they're all great and the one you can see in front of you is the best one at any given moment.

She's charged me with making a post of hockey butt pictures so she can fully appreciate what I'm talking about. That's a project I can sink my teeth into.

Here's a preview (click to see full size). Wow.



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Loved this interview with Tim Thomas. On top of having to learn pretty much everything about playing hockey and goal from scratch, one of the most surprising challenges was learning sportsmanship.

You take for granted that, hey, I'm an adult. Surely I can behave in a way that others deem appropriate. Well, not the case for me. Between the difficulties of the position, the pressure to learn and perform (and my lack of talent, athleticism, and skill), plus just being an emotional player on top of everything else, I earned a little bit of a reputation as a bitch.

I'm not proud of it but I accept that learning to be a good sport was (and still is) just part of the overall learning curve for me. And people can either see the growth and "get it" or they don't. Whatever.

I'm so much more relaxed in goal now and if someone puts a good one past me, I tell them. And if the other goalie makes a great save, I give them stick taps. It's all good. I still give some lip when I stone guys who beat me fairly regularly. I know they can take it. And I still get excited about sexy glove saves. You don't have to play with me for very long to understand why. They're rare as unicorns. I deserve to be excited about them.

I still get rattled from time to time, but I play a MUCH less emotional game now and it feels a lot better.

Anyway, back to Timmy, it was just nice to read that even a guy whose been playing as long as he has, he's had to modify his behavior and reactions a little bit.

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Drop-in success and Girlfight

Drop-in was just straight up rad last night. I had a few little flurries of suckage, but I saw a LOT of rubber and breakaways and odd-man rushes, so I don't feel bad about those.

They're worth looking at though. Early in the game, I wasn't being patient enough and I wasn't moving my feet enough and, the one that most annoyed me (but also got me going) was one where, if I'd just battled and flopped instead of hoping I could reach a toe out on a back door shot, I woulda had it.

I went down a beat or two before the shot on one. It was a guy who I've never seen snipe before, but he sniped me good. I gave him props for that. I gave him the daylight but it was also a great shot, especially for someone barely out of novice.

But then I found my rhythm and got in a groove the rest of the game. The only other bad spot was a couple of shots where they were coming down the wall glove side shooting the puck just inside the far post. My angle was just plain off, but I corrected it after those two goals. Weird how that happens though. I need to remember my power point that Scotty made me about where to be when the puck is above/outside or below/inside the faceoff dot. I think that was the key there.

I honestly don't remember more than bits and pieces about the game. I was just in there, doing it and feeling good. It was a blast and even the really good players were like, "Damn you're on fire tonight!" Had one glove save that was super sexy... one of those where you drop into the fly and then have to reach way down the length of your pad to snag it. Oooooo foxyyyyy.

And another where Crosby was on a breakaway and I challenged him big time and slid into a b-fly as he was moving across to try and put it around me, but some how I got a piece of it with the tip of my glove and he was long gone.

I'm proud of the way I've been challenging lately. It feels great and ballsy. But eventually they're going to wise up. Right now they're used to me shrinking back into my crease, so now when they look up and I'm way above my crease, they kinda don't know what to do about it and just shoot and there I am. Unless they beat me 5-hole or something, they've got nothing. But they'll figure me out eventually, which is why I need to work on being smarter about it.

Big Nick put one in my melon again last night. I guess I was due for it. Luckily it hit pretty high on my mask and just deflected up. It's still startling though, so I kinda yelped and everyone was asking if I was okay. Told 'em I was just trying to make Nick feel bad. Haha. He apologized a couple of times and I told him the same thing. But really, the way you see pros dropping like flies from concussions lately, I'm feeling paranoid about my noggin.

He also hit me in the arm, just above the bend in my elbow. Now THAT hurt. I was stinging for 5 minutes after and it's a big purple lump today. Not complaining though. It was a laser and I stopped it and that's all that matters to me.
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I've been back doing my PT since last week. I'm doing at least some part of it every day, even if it's just the "at home" part and not the full hour-long sequence that I would do if I were going to the PT office. And some days, all I fit in is the hamstring stretch and that alone makes a huge difference in the way my legs and hips feel when I play.

And now I'm reading that Maria Mountain, hockey trainer/goddess, is coming out with a goaltender workout that's 2 days a week only (or 3/4 if you want), that I can do to supplement my PT work. Very excited about that. She has another one that's much more intensive and pretty much a daily commitment. Sorry. Just not how I roll. But 2x a week? Heck yeah. I can do that.
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Women's league comes to a head tonight. The top two teams are basically tied and play against each other tonight to see who goes into the playoffs with the #1 spot. I'm playing for purple and I'm looking for a shutout. A real one. I want these girls to finish the regular season on top. I'm even having my lucky burrito for linner and saved my favorite undershirt to wear while I play. My serious gray shirt. Not my frivolous pink shirt. BOOM. $2000 saves and battle hard. 

Why am I only just now learning of this song? Crap. This is awesome.


Brooke Valentine - Girlfight
Uploaded by EMI_Music. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

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Jaeger interview & goalie porn for the guys!

First off, I wanted to pimp what I thought was a pretty interesting interview for InGoalMag with my boy Brett Jaeger, who's over in the UK playing for Coventry in the EIHL.

We had a long chat last week (Skype is awesome) and it was interesting to learn about that league as it doesn't get much attention over here.

I think it's good to hear from players who are not necessarily NHL prospects and may bump around the minor leagues their whole careers, but do pretty well at it. He's a real student of the position and works really hard to hone his craft. It's just interesting to hear what all goes into it.

Anyway, I thought it turned out pretty good, if a bit long. But there was a little something in every question that I thought people might find interesting, so I didn't want to cut much.
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Also, since I'm normally spazzing over hot goalies, I figured I'd throw something out there for the boys.

Other than being quite fond of boobies, I'm a fan of the penis and wouldn't play for the other team, but damn... as someone with a goalie fetish, these pics from The Fourth Period pressed my buttons pretty good.

Enjoy, fellas.

I, uh... I gotta go take care of something... *ahem*

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Pimping Maalivahti

If you enjoy the rantings of an amateur goalie (like you mostly find here), please to read my girl Maalivahti (Finnish for "goalie" because she's crazy for the Finns) and her awesome blog. She had me giggling today with this:

After randomly musing [on Twitter] about the way Lundqvist reportedly has his skates cut, I got this IM from [a friend]: "You understand that reading your tweets is like walking directly into the chasm of the Goalie Brain, right?" Hmmm. He's right. So be it.

It's honestly how my brain works. It's kind of like this: work thought - work thought - work thought - check twitter - work thought - work thought - OMG holy crap I just figured out something I was doing wrong on the ice!!! - work thought - work thought - Rask - Rask - Lundqvist - VarLAmov - work thought - Lehtonen - Rask - Kiprusoff - Rask - work thought.... etc.

It's ok though, because on Twitter I've found a little cadre of people whose brains all work the same way. Mostly. Just substitute "Brust" for "Rask" in one person's case. Actually, substitute "Brust" for all of them. (hee hee hee).

I don't Brusty know who Brusty she's talking Brusty about there Brusty.

Anyway, I can count on one hand the number of blogs I stop everything I'm doing and read every word of when I find a new post, but hers is one of them.

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Back to novice tonight after missing the last 3 weeks. A game, thankfully. Don't feel like being bossed around today.

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BangBangBang: A brain dump

• I wrote some stuff about Aeros winger/Wild prospect Carson McMillan here, because my jaw dropped when I saw that he's tied for the Aeros scoring lead. WTF is that about? I think that's awesome for him, but possibly very foreboding for the Aeros. 
• I also wrote some stuff about the Aeros for PHN. I'm told it's going live at 3 a.m. Thursday, so click the Pro Hockey News link at the top of the page tomorrow for that. (I would have thought that was THIS morning, but apparently it's actually 3 a.m. Friday morning?)
• I'm not a Devils fan but man I feel bad for that team. I'm so grossed out by hot shot dicks who are willing to sink their team in the name of cashing in. What an absolutely ridiculous situation for that team to be in. I was thinking about it driving home from hockey last night and my stomach literally turned. What a jerk.
• Of course, that stomach turning could have been my lousy women's league performance. The scheduled goalie couldn't make it so I filled in. Team played great, but I didn't see many shots and 2 of their 3 good chances got past me. Though the one I did stop was a seriously gnarly blocker save. Only lost 2-1 but even a 2 goal game can feel bad after.
• Though I did feel better today when I realized their best player probably put 4 decent shots on me and I stopped them all. Coulda been worse.
• Interviewing my boy Jaeger tomorrow for InGoal Mag (via chat, so I'm not sure how that will go), but he's just blowing up the EIHL right now and has everybody in a frenzy over this crazy back door glove save he made Sunday. I need to put some questions together as I have a whole bunch rattling around my head, but I'll forget them as soon as we start talking. I'm the world's worst interview choker. 
• Luongo. Is. Overrated.
• I hope Marty Brodeur doesn't hang on too long. I know the team is bad so maybe this isn't on him, but he hasn't looked good lately. I wonder if his heart's still in it. He's reached so many goals, set so many records, and now his team is a mess. It's gotta be hard to get up for that every night. Maybe if they changed their name to the New Jersey Sisters-in-law....
• Or the New Jersey Bacon Cheeseburgers...
• Kidding. I don't even think he's fat. Which is why "Marty is fat" jokes are so funny to me. I love you, Marty, you know it. I only tease the ones I love.
• It's COLD here! Like 50s cold! Fuck me, I love this weather. Even better, it's cold and gray and rainy today. I just want to bundle up and watch hockey and bake stuff and wear fuzzy socks.
• My boobs hurt. It sucks being a girl.

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Glovey Glove

I was all set for a good drop-in last night. Got the skates sharpened (though it's clearly time to go sharper... still felt like banana peels out there) and actually did pretty well at first.

Then that fucking heart racing thing started that usually only happens when I've had caffeine. Man, that just drains me of all my energy seemingly in an instant. It isn't dangerous but it's just the worst feeling. Feels like you're moving through water, everything is so much harder.

That started about 15 minutes in and didn't stop until I got off the ice. I managed to let in some pretty awful goals before I started feeling better, but then made two really sexy glove saves that helped redeem the night.

On one of them, the shooter was coming in at an angle on my glove side and had help on my weak side. So he tried to saucer it over to them as he got to the top of my crease, but I challenged him big time at the last second and his shot went a little high and I just plucked it out of the air on the way across. Robbery!

The other one was very late in the game and I was feeling so bad, I actually don't even remember the situation. I remember a crowd around me and I know the shot came from somewhere in the lower half of the circle on my blocker side. It was a hard shot, too, because I recall being amazed it didn't just bounce right out of my glove like they usually do.

I'm so deficient glove side that even one snag in a game can pretty much make my night, but to have two? Aw hell yeah. That was nice.

I still look in my glove to see if it's there. And I still get that feeling... If you're of a certain religious bent, you remember when you would look in your Easter basket on Easter Sunday? It's like, you can sorta see what's there but your heart stops a little when you finally get a close look. Oooooo, so much CANDY! That's how I feel when I look in my glove and find a puck there.

"I DID THAT!" is sorta what I think when it happens. It's just so tangible, the glove save. Like catching a fly in mid-air, without the ick of fly guts on your hands. 

I was so drained afterward that in spite of being really hungry, I just took a shower and went right to sleep when I got home. In my nearly 2 years in goal, I have never done that. It's always the adrenaline buzz until 1 or 2 or 3 a.m. Wish I could crash like that every night.

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Quick hits: Weekend from Hell, Brusty, Holiday

Criminy. Life is hard sometimes. This weekend was hard. Personal shit I won't get into here, but things seem to have evened out.

At least I came out of the weekend with a brand new phone line, so I no longer have to yell over hum and static, and my internet will work consistently.

And the Aeros won for the first time at home. Awesome to see finally.

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I capped the weekend off by catching up on the B-Sens reporter's blog with my fresh internet, and it was chock-a-block with great quotes from and about Brusty, who is stealing points (if not always games, thanks to a sometimes-anemic offense) left and right for Binghamton. I see that his back-up has been sent to Elmira though, which means, I'm guessing, that Mike Brodeur is ready to come back from his concussion (and indeed, he is putting himself through his own goalie practice this morning per Joy's tweets).

And when Leclaire is healthy and Lehner is set to return to Bingo... Ugh. I mean, what are the odds they send either of the NHL-contracted guys down? No question in my mind that Brusty's a better goalie than Brodeur, and that's not just me being biased. The numbers bear it out. No pun intended. :)

Last season, they didn't hesitate to keep CHRIS HOLT! up when he was playing better than... um... whoever that guy was they also had there. So there's a precedent in Bingo for playing the best goalie. New coach though, so I dunno.

Can't worry about that now. Just enjoy whatcha got while ya got it.

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Anyway, in the midst of the drama, I missed hockey Saturday night. I was even AT the rink, but got sick while I was killing time waiting to get ready. Decided it would be best for me and everybody if I just went home. I felt horrible and wasn't remotely in the right head space to play a game (even though it was a practice). Just an awful night. :(

But I do have drop-in tonight as my only game all week. Playoffs start in women's league next week, I think. More good practice for me at staying relaxed in a little bit higher pressure situation.

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Cool thing: I sat by Bob Mason, the Wild goalie coach last night. Kinda fun getting to talk to him a bit. I could have very easily yakked his ear off about his goalies (though I'm not sure it would have been reciprocated) but I'm always afraid of being annoying with guys like that.

As if I weren't annoying enough with my gasping and squeaking (but never cheering, yo) and sound effects (i.e., "pew!" when it hits the netting behind the goal).

No really, I'm a pro.

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Finally, I'm planning a trip. Gonna head up to Boston on Jan 6 and catch the Wild game, then head over to Vermont to visit my best friend from college. She had twin babies last year, so I need to go see them and start whispering words like, "Hockey is the best thing EVAR" in their little ears.

What's funny is that during her whole pregnancy, I was suggesting hockey names for the kids. But neither she nor hubby like hockey at all, so it was all just a joke. Then she ends up naming the boy Crosby. Hahaha...

And apparently they went dressed up as a penguin and a clown last night. But the GIRL went as the penguin! Augh. Come on! :)  They're just about the cutest kids I've ever seen, and I don't usually think kids are cute. So it's all good.

Anyway, where they live is only a 4-5 hour drive from Bingo/Elmira and both teams are home that weekend, so I may actually get to go see Brusty play with my own two eyes. Lots of factors though, like weather and if he's starting and whatnot. It's a haul but I can't be that close and not try. I hope it works out.

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