I took another big step in this hockey scheme. I enrolled in DU's Learn to Play Hockey program. It's a shortened 4 session series- it's usually 8 sessions. I may still work with Mike, but it's gotten too sporadic, and I wanted to be on the ice with other new players.
The first session was last night, and I was pretty damn nervous. When I got the confirmation email, it said, in all caps- ALL SKATERS MUST BE ABLE TO SKATE FORWARDS AND BACKWARDS INCLUDING CROSSOVERS AND STOP... or something along those lines. When I enrolled, the only thing the registration mentioned was basic skating skills. I was a bit vexed- I'm able to skate backwards... in the most basic way, forget crossovers. And I can only stop on my right side. I called the director of the program and he said that the class would probably a mix of skills and I should go to the first session and make a decision then.
Still nervous, I went ahead. I went to the dressing room and got into my gear. It was the first time I skated in my full kit. One of the main reasons I was nervous was seeming
presumptuous with a full bag of gear. Considering that much of my gear
is used, I shouldn't have worried- most of the class had pristine bags bulging with brand new
gear. I'm going to do a review of the equipment I've gotten in the next few days.
I went to the ice, and there were about 20 others out there. The group was a definite mix of skills. There were a couple of groups who looked like they knew each other, and they were passing and shooting. There were a lot of individuals working with pucks and a few more skating around the edges of the rink. I joined the group around the edges. My nervousness only got worse watching some of the puck handlers- they looked a little more advanced than 101 types. I did talk to someone in the dressing room, and it was his first session too- so at least I knew I wasn't in the wrong place. It was nice to see that the group is a little older then I expected. There was one kid in his teens, but most of us are on the long side of adulthood.
Our instructor, Matt, arrived and called us to the benches. As soon as he started talking a storm started and he was pretty much drowned out by the rain on the roof. He shouted over the pounding that we were going to start with some skating drills. We lined up on the red line- I ended up in the first rank on the left side. Once we started the drills- I realized that I was not the worst skater in the bunch- I'd say I'm in the lower half. The nerves began to subside as I was able to perform the drills pretty well. We continued with the drills- and then BLAMO! The lights went out.
The storm knocked out the power, and as we cheered and hit our sticks on the ice, the emergency lights came on. Matt decided to continued the skating drills, hoping the main lights would come on so we could work on passing. That never happened. After about 30 minutes, the DU staff came out to kick us out of the rink (with promises of a make up session). We got changed quickly, in the darkened dressing room, because they were worried the emergency lights would go out, leaving us in total darkness. I drove home in a hard rain, excited to get on the ice again. When I got home, I threw my soaking wet jersey, hockey socks, skate socks, t-shirt and towel in the washer and hung up the rest of my gear. I plan on putting up a drying rack in the next couple of weeks.
Anyway! It was a hoot, and I'm glad I've done this. Yet another big leap in my Year in Hockey.
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