Luck of the Irish

My exciting news for the day is being asked to tend goal for a new drop in. It's the same guys who used to run Tuesday drop-in, but now it's earlier and there's PIZZA! So, I was pretty happy to add another weeknight game to my calendar, especially with such a nice bunch of guys who really appreciate me being there. It's terribly nice to feel wanted, even though I've had some real boner games for them in the past.

Anyway, it was a fun first game tonight, even though the number of skaters was pretty low. I had some stupid goals but I did have some HUGE saves and played a game I'm happy with for the most part.

Here's what was crazy about it: The ice was tinted green for St. Patrick's Day. And I literally had NO CREASE. I mean, none. Not even a hint of one. Couldn't see any lines for that matter. My only point of reference was the bar in the center of the back of the opposite net and my own net and the boards.

At first, it was scary and frustrating missing that navigation point, but I found it freeing once I got used to it. If you can't see the crease, you eventually just play the angle and depth instinctively. It was pretty amazing, honestly. I hope I can carry some of that with me even once I can see the crease again. It actually felt really good to challenge that much (even though I would occasionally peek over my shoulder and go, "WHOA!" at how far out I was. Stopped those pretty much every time.

Had several amazing toe saves where I REALLY had to reach and kept some big rebounds out. The other goalie gave me some big stick taps at the other end, which was cool. I've never had (or at least never noticed) another goalie do that for me, even though I do it all the time. (Not that I do it so that people will do it back, but I just think it's good karma to give some love to your fellow tender.) He was also very complimentary after the game and really nice, so that was cool. Sometimes there's a little weirdness between goalies, but he was great.

Shit. I'm jacked. That was awesome.

Not the song I meant to have in my head but the one that showed up anyway and displaced "Dr. Feelgood." I think I must prefer something more mellow to keep me calm? I dunno:

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The Lalala Experiment Continues

You know what's weird? Playing hockey for an hour only to find out at the end that you know two of the dudes you're playing with.

That happened tonight at drop-in. I'll spare them the outing if they'll forget what a shitty goalie I am. Deal, boys?

Actually, I had a decent night considering the quality of the competition. Let some dumb ones in, but made some good saves and didn't leave hanging my head like last week. Never really felt intimidated and challenged and kept the angle down on some breakaway chances, so I feel really good about that after playing like I didn't wanna break a nail last week.

It was FAST game, thanks to having some good players in the mix and a good balance between the teams. And Fast=Fun.

Wasn't as focused as Sunday night and found myself drifting mentally a few times, especially if I didn't see a shot for a while. But that didn't happen much. I stayed busy.

Jason, the other goalie, had probably the sickest save I've ever seen outside of the pro ranks. 2 on 1 and he dove across the crease and made a mid-air glove save. The place erupted like I've never heard at a drop-in. It was a special save.

I wore my cat eye cage for the first time, too. WOW! What a difference. But one that I didn't really notice other than a complete lack of ever thinking about my cage. I definitely felt like I wasn't having to work as hard to see the puck. Felt like natural vision, rather than through a grid.For all the frustration getting it installed, it's totally worth it.

Did the music-in-the-head thing again tonight but could never settle on a song. Gonna have to be more prescriptive about that, I guess. Random choices on the radio didn't work for me. But I still believe in the strategy because I didn't find myself overthinking at all.

Underthinking was more the problem. I guess that means I should take my happy ass to bed. Ugh, shower first though. I'm gross.

One of the songs in rotation tonight. Not on purpose. I just love it and it sneaked in:

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BEHOLD!

There ya go. No more "scrollingrealfast" down the page. We're making Grammar work for you, ladies. Atta boy, Grams. Stay thirsty, my friend.

Big props to Wrap for spotting the Animated GIF beacon I sent up and busting this beauty out. You rule, as always. Go Chiefs! ;-)

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Suck it, slump!

Nothing fills me with a sense of well-being and contentedness like a good game in goal. You know that feeling when you're a little buzzed but not quite drunk where you want to tell everyone you love them and all is right with the world? That's pretty much what I'm feeling right now.

It's a calm, tempered pleasure though, because I certainly did make mistakes tonight. Four of them to be exact, but apparently 4 is exactly the number of goals against I can remember, so I can actually talk through them now:

1.  Didn't come until about 5 mins into the 2nd period and NOT, for a change, because I wasn't seeing shots in the first. I saw a ton of shots. Probably the most I've ever seen in novice. And it came from the son of one of the regular novice guys who plays junior A in Canada. He basically deked my entire team out of their jocks and came in 1-on-0 at me. I should have gone for the poke check but instead just tried to stay with him and he poked it right around my toe as I was down and sliding. Wish I had video of that one so I could have another look at it and replay it in my head.
2. Second was a chumpy goal that I absolutely should have had. I didn't battle enough to get over on the correct angle and Joe put it in short side on me. Dumb, lazy goal. *shame*
3. Third one came in the 3rd period and was a really nice pass in tight and I JUST missed getting a toe on it sliding over. I didn't read the play fast enough to get over in time. Don't feel terrible about that one. Great play.
4. Junior A boy again, broke away and, god bless her, my defenseman was BUSTING her ass to catch him and did manage to hassle him some, but he was still able to just rip one at me. To be honest, I should have had it, but I was dazzled by my defenseman's effort and wasn't ready for the shot. Got caught watching. A real pisser, too, because we were just a couple of minutes from a win. That goal tied it up and we ended 4-4. He's good, but I was on angle and it was just a mental lapse.

Now for the good stuff:
Hot shot broke away again after that goal and ripped another one at me. BLOCKER SAVE bitches. :) Ohhh, it felt good to get him, but he had no one to pass to, so I knew he had no choice but to shoot, so I just got set on the right angle (one that I often have trouble with) and nailed it. Definitely the save of the game for me, but was the only one with any particular drama. Most of them were low and right into me. A few cool saves around the posts, though.

Also, my defense was fantastic. I left some really juicy rebounds out there but they let me see everything and were ready to pounce on any loose pucks. They were amazing and gave me a ton of confidence. I was definitely 100% <3 <3 <3 for them all game. And one had never even played D before but she was a natural! Great vision.

Feel good about my mental game and employed a little trick another goalie suggested that I feel helped me tonight. What he does is get some riff of a song in his head and uses that as sort of a noise-canceling device. What he said to me was basically, "You can't stop the noise in you head, but you can choose the noise in your head."

I actually hadn't planned to employ that tonight but I ended up having a riff of a song stuck in my head and thought, "Okay, let's give that trick a try!" Also started the game with the mantra, "I can stop this." Positive thinking + one puck at a time. That lost out to the song riff though, which stuck all game. Any time I started thinking thoughts other than positive, constructive thoughts, I went to my song, sung quietly to myself, just let it fill my head and push the other stuff out.

I'd love to tell you what the song was, but I have no idea. Just something I heard either in the car or in the rink before we started. I tried searching but couldn't find it, so I'm thinking I have the lyrics wrong in my head. Haha! Oh well. Doesn't matter. It did the job.

Warm-ups were awful, which is interesting. I was letting everything in. But sometimes that means I'll end up having a really good game because it puts the fear in me a little. Also, before the game, while I sat in the car and listened to the Aeros lose in the shootout (again), I did one of my eye exercises to get them teaming and focused AND I tossed a tennis ball around for a little bit while I got dressed. Just little things that are easy to add in and I think make a difference.

Stupid move of the night was that I left my jock hanging on the wall in the garage. Luckily, I didn't have to stop any slappers with my pelvis. Not usually a big worry in novice league, but still, I definitely thought about it a few times during the game.

Anyway, fun stuff. Got me a ripping headache now, though. Stupid daylight savings time always makes me feel crummy for like a week. Gonna hit the hay and try to get some good sleep. Maybe get that hour back those bastards took from me!

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Quick Hits: The "Whatever" Edition

Lordy lordy, Aeros. Night after night, the same thing lately. Decent start, late game choke.

It's like going on a great date and then finding out over dessert that the guy wants 5 kids and is the president of the Young Republicans. 

"Um. I've, uh, gotta get up early, so... if you're done with that key lime pie... no, no coffee, thanks... I think I may have left my oven on....I need to let my dog out... *sigh* .... I used to have sex dreams about Bill Clinton and my tubes are tied... Oh, you're ready to go? Great."

I won't miss this season. Nobody's fault exactly (though I'd be happy to point fingers offline). Just a perfect storm of mediocrity. 

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Speaking of clusterfucks, that's what my goaltending has been lately but I'm feeling focused for my upcoming games. Adding a few preparation things. Yada yada yada...tap tap tap.... #nottalkingaboutit.

Anyway, we'll see how that goes. Ready to play though. Feeling inspired. :)

Speaking of goaltending, here's a cool article a goalie friend sent to me about how it's tough for goalies to be "superstars" due to the humble, masked nature of the position. Good stuff.

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Bad hockey fan confession: Enough with the headshot crap. I honestly just don't care how it gets figured out because I don't really think there IS a good solution other than players taking some accountability, but I'm tired of reading about it. Still, just in case the horse isn't dead, here's my suggestion:

Step 1: Fire Colin Campbell and hire someone else to basically hit the Reset button on league punishments so that "consistency" doesn't continue to mean making the same mistakes over and over.
Step 2: Get back to whining about Sun Belt teams performing poorly financially, because I enjoyed that discussion more. Which is really saying something.

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Here's my $50 idea for the day: A microrecorder that a goalie can somehow keep on themselves during the game and keep notes about goals against or whatever they want.
Of course, it has to be something that's inside the mask, like a wireless mic (that transmits to something in a protective shell that straps to the water bottle?).

I have a miserable short term memory, which is great for forgetting goals but also terrible for learning from them. Would be nice to take some notes.

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Still haven't gotten the screw posts in order to put my cat eye cage on my mask. Grrrrr. Lame sauce. I still don't get why they wouldn't include new ones of those along with the new screws when you buy a new cage. I love you, Hackva, but that makes no sense at all.

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Alright. Naptime maybe, or Aeros game. Or both. Or neither. Whatever.

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Jeff Deslauriers? Yes. YES! Phuck yes!

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Brain litter and more goalie porn!

Here's a post that demonstrates why Dan Ellis, Preds goalie and goofball, is my favorite NHL Tweeter. As usual, goalies represent and Mike McKenna is likewise the best AHL Tweeter. He was sewing up his dog's toys with dental floss the other day. Christ, that's adorable.

Don't be afraid of the Tweets, my friends. Twitter is fun. And anybody who harshes your mellow? You just unfollow their tweety little asses. Thank God for that. Of course, that goes both ways, doesn't it? :)

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Speaking of goalies, Backstrom is hurt, Harding sucks, Brusty is broken. So, could Khudobin go to Buffalo, Dubie start in Houston, and Scruffy get a call up? Oh my.

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And now for something completely different. This is a masterpiece of cheesiness that just seems worthy of .... something..Probably NSFW, but still relatively tame all things considered.





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John "Grammar" Grahame was back in action in Milwaukee Wednesday and Chris "No Homo" Jerina was a good sport and snapped a few more money shots for our enjoyment.

"Goalie hard work. Grammar thirstyyyyyy..."

"Mmmm... nom nom nom"

"Ahhhh. Okay, camera guy looking? Here we go."

"See how hot Grammar is, ladies?"

"You gettin' this, picture boy?"

"Just reinforcing how hotttttt Gramar is. Am I steaming?"

"Ahhhh, ready to get scored on some more"

Seriously though, Grammar, swallow some of that water next time.

Oh and if that wasn't enough, just to finish 'er off:

Ohhhh sweet Grammar Grahame. Thank you for amusing the goalie lusting faithful with your thirsty, hot, wet, flexible, camera-friendly self. I don't care how many goals you let in (but seriously dude, that was a lot), you're still a winner in my book.

And as always, many thanks to Chris "Aim to Please" Jerina for the photography.

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Jeff Deslauriers & Inspiration

I've got goalies on the brain. More than usual. Which is a lot, if you know me by now.

I realized last night, that with Brusty not playing, I've got no "inspiration" goalies to watch, and I find myself really missing that, both as a fan and a player.

I realized this while watching Jeff Deslauriers in goal for the hapless Edmonton Oilers last night. He was unbelievable. Doing everything I find completely charming in a goalie. He battles his ass off and does everything he can to get in front of the puck. Some saves are so unreal, I think opponents don't capitalize on rebounds because they're so shocked it didn't go in.

Not to mention the personality stuff... scrum near the net and he doesn't wander off. He gets in there and pokes a guy with his blocker. A couple of quirks I've noticed is that he lifts his mask a LOT, and he wedges his stick in the thigh rise of his pad rather than under his arm when he needs to free his hands up.

Silly stuff, I know, but man, so many NHL goalies are so boring, it's a complete delight to discover one who is a little different.

But bless his heart, he's not perfect. His team is a putrid mess and no matter how focused and disciplined he is, it's really hard to to hold up under that kind of pressure. And as this excellent article points out, he can be his own worst enemy at times.

But he's a rookie who has truly been thrown to the wolves. It's one thing to be thrown into the #1 spot on good NHL team (Hi Jimmy Howard), but another thing entirely to have to make your name backstopping a disaster like the Grease.

And yes, I know they beat the Wild. That's not the point.

The point is, I'm impressed as hell with this kid. The Oilers have bent and bent and bent him and he doesn't break. Compare him to Carey Price last year. Beat down by his bad team, the Montreal media, etc. Swept up in the high profile nature of his position. He lost focus badly. But Deslauriers, though not in the fishbowl of Montreal, does his work in a hockey mad Canadian city and still exhibits confidence and moxie and competitiveness this late in a futile season.

To me, it's glorious. I don't know what will happen with him down the road, but I'm completely inspired and I can't wait to see where his career goes.

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