Christmas and Roli and Fatso and Sawchuk

Confession time: I don't much like Christmas. I'm a terrible gift giver because I don't ever shop "for fun," which means that unlike people who tend to be good gift givers, I never have a chance to run across something that's just perfect for so-and-so. Another way in which I'm such a dude.

Which means I have to come up with ideas out of thin air. And I suck at ideas. I'm great at executing other people's ideas, and occasionally I have a flash of brilliance that keeps people thinking I might have a few good ideas in me, but it's all smoke and mirrors.

Also, I'm just straight up really, really self-absorbed. So if you're not into what I'm into, then I have no idea what you like. My family members are all getting Clutterbuck jerseys and tequila this year. It's the thought that counts, right?

Mr. C and I decided our gift is a mutual one this year: our new TV. And that's peachy. I might still order myself a Dubielewicz Team Canada sweater just for being a good girl. I mean, who doesn't want one of those?

Anyway, I finished my shopping at the liquor store this morning and we'll head to my parents for Baby Jesus Day and then it will blessedly be over and I can get back to being self-absorbed in a more guilt-free way. I love my family and don't see them enough, but still, my favorite part of Christmas is the drive home, car full of loot, a fresh year at my doorstep when I get home. It's a good feeling.

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I play again tonight for the first time in over a week. At least I think I do. Nobody's told me not to show up, but I missed last week due to my dead car, so who the hell knows what's going on. Anyway, I've missed it. Mr. C asked if I wanted him to come with me and I felt bad, but I really kinda want to go alone. It's my last chance at having some time to myself for a few days and I feel like I need to savor it.

Looking at the calendar, I notice there's an Aeros game on Monday. Seriously hoping my Monday drop-in doesn't want me to come out because I will absolutely have to turn her down, but it will hurt to do so.

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A couple of unreal goalie events last night.

First was Dee-wayne Roloson's Stick and Chimp Saves.



The level of compete to get back and even make the first save, much less follow it up with that dangling monkey crossbar save just blows my mind. And the guy is 97 years old.

Talk to me about Roloson for a second... how underappreciated is he for what he brings at his age?

Here's the thing about me and loving goalies: I love for my team to win, but I watch a LOT of hockey, so I appreciate some entertainment value. (Logical question here is, "Why the fuck are you a Wild fan, now?" Yeah, I know. Sometimes your team chooses you rather than the reverse.)

So, if I have a choice of an extremely technical, positional, calm, steady goalie or a Turco/Thomas/Roloson who maybe has a crap game here and there and maybe doesn't play the prettiest kind of goal... well, there's really no question for me. Put some offense up front and just beat me senseless with insane goaltending.

Which is why, even though he is truly an exceptional goalie, Backstrom has never lit my fire. He's so good but so uninspiring to me.

I suppose I have the best of both words, right? MY team has the really steady boring goalie. I'm watching them anyway, so I don't need him to be that entertaining for me to dig it.

But if I'm gonna watch Bruins, Islanders, or Stars where I don't really have any skin in the game, gimme the goalie who tackles players, swings like a monkey, or sometimes skates so far out of his net, you think he's joining the rush (don't you want to see Turco do that sometime? Just take it to the net? Richards centering Neal and Turco? Oh hell yeah.)

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The other biggie is, of course, Marty Brodeur surpassing Sawchuk's shutout record. Say what you want about the defenses he's played behind and blah blah blah, but this guy is just a sexy beast of a goalie and there will never be another one like him.

What fascinates me about Brodeur is that I can't fucking figure out what he's doing out there. He just stops pucks. All my training has been butterfly this and that but he's just doing something else out there. There's a reason you never hear someone is a "Brodeur-style goalie."

But enough is said of Brodeur, so I would encourage you to learn more about Sawchuk if you are learning about the game and its history still. He was a reclusive guy, so there's not a ton out there about him, but his life's story is sad and amazing. Stu Hackel at the New York Times wrote a great piece on him when Brodeur tied the record earlier this month and it's a great Sawchuk primer.

Included in the Times article is a review (and recommendation) for a book I reviewed here last year after it came out. And it continues to be one of my top TWO reads of all the hockey books I've read, along with The Game by Ken Dryden (who is smarter than you).

Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems by Randall Maggs is just a beautiful book. I have a number of hockey books, almost all of which I'm happy to loan to anybody who is interested, but this one is staying with me. Go get your own.

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Unless I need to unburden myself of tonight's drop-in, this is probably it for a few days. Have a safe and happy and healthy holiday. Enjoy some time off and too much food and too much drink (but please don't drive) and too much family and more blessings than you can shake a stick at.

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X-Rated and Miscellany

• I have such a hard-on for these Bauer X-Rated leg pads. The design is just wicked. If I were buying again, I might have to insist on these. The adjustable knee lock and lifts sure would be nice, too, since my knee area is a little high on my current pads. And the 33+1 is probably more appropriate than the 34s I have. Oh well. Hindsight.
• Looks like I might get to replace all my funky (and I don't mean that in a good way) used gear soon. My shopping cart at Goalie Monkey has a new glove and blocker and chest protector in it. Plus a couple of "tall boy" water bottles so I can drink thru my mask. Just need the bean counter to say yes.
  
• Figured out why I felt so bad at practice last week: Panic attacks are back. Yay. Amazing how I'd forgotten all the signs, even though I battled them all thru my 20s, but that's definitely what that was. I don't think I'm panicking about playing goal per se, but the usual performance anxiety triggers the panic and I get all spun up. It's no fun at all. Gonna stick half a xanax in my pocket to pop if I start freaking on the way out there. Hopefully now that I've figured out the problem, I can control it without the happy pills.
• In the meantime, no more sodas or coffee for me. Caffeine. :( I love you, caffeine! It's not personal! You just turn me into a crazy person.
  
• It's really hot here. I keep having to change seats around the living room, like flipping to the cool side of the pillow, to escape my own heat.
  
• Not only is it Brusty's birthday today, it's Ken Dryden's. Every 35 years on this day a goalie I adore is born. I'm pretty sure those are statistically significant odds. No use in arguing with me on this point.
• Whitney Houston was born tomorrow. BOBBAY!

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Quick Hits: NHL gets it right!; goaltending; milk

I've had a lot of sugar in the last hour so forgive my randomness...

First of all, even though Riser thinks it's not enough of a suspension, I'm delighted that the NHL actually gave Cody "Hockey Spice" McCormick 2 games for cross-checking Cal in the head.

Bitch. Don't be messing with my boy. I'll cut you.

I really really really really really hate the Avs. Skunky little bastards. The way things are going, they're gonna outpace the Ducks for my #1 hated team before long.

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Been off the ice for a while with vacation and all, so I put on the gear yesterday and banged around in it. Did a few up and downs and just generally got used to having it on again. And today I went to Memorial City and worked on my backwards skating from the face-off circles to my posts and from the slot into the net. I haven't quite learned how to STOP while going backwards, so most of the time, I overshot it and would have caught myself in my own net had there been a net on the ice. Dork.

Also, on goaltending, I'm very slowly reading through Ken Dryden's "The Game," which is arguably the greatest hockey book ever written. There's a chapter in which he goes through his game day and then in-game mental and physical processes. I was heartened to see that the goaltender experience is fairly universal. Either that or Dryen and I are just really in sync and should probably go have a beer sometime (call me, Kenny!).

He talks about going through the gate from the bench to the ice and thinking, "Don't fall!!" (Seriously, it's a chore to go through the bench gate in goalie gear.) He talks about how, when that first shot on goal doesn't come for a while, it becomes too big an "event" in your mind and shakes your focus a bit. Here's a quote that spoke to me:

"And whenever we get a penalty, whenever I see them come this way, I get the same unnerving twinge of panic, my mind nagging the same doubts, my body finding the same phony ready posture. I can't get comfortable. I'm not bored, but I'm not enjoying this very much."

Anyway, genius book and I kinda have a hero-worship thing going for The Honourable Mr. D. Thank goodness he's not a scout, that's all I'm saying.

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I've found another reason to love Canada. The dairy farmers of Canada are pushing Chocolate Milk as a sports drink. What have I been saying? Chocolate milk is the BEST thing post-workout. Moo, bitches!

I swear I feel 100x better on Monday morning when I have a big glass of chocolate milk after my hockey game (and no beer) than when I don't. I know, that's heresy for a beer-leaguer but I'm willing to put my neck out for this.

My other milk excitement for the day is that my CVS now carries Horizon Organic Milk. I may never go to the grocery store again!

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