Hockey with friends, won't you?

We started our new season last week, and so far it’s going pretty damn good.  We’re undefeated, including our first regular season win against Team America last night.  We beat a fired up Islaynders in a shootout win 4-3 (we scored 3 shootout goals to their 1) last week.  They are really putting great games together.  The game against Team America was a real tough one…  we don’t really get along with these guys.  Lots of contact, lots of chirping, lots of chipping, lots of penalties.  Team America cried all night long, complaining to the refs anytime one of them went down or got touched.  We had a few defensive breakdowns, and Adam saved our collective arses on a few breakaways.  The game went scoreless until there was less than 10 seconds on the clock, when Z moved the puck up the ice to Eli, who made a great pass to Justin who buried it.  It was awesome!  Of course Team America called shenanigans and said the play was offside.  I think the refs had finally had enough and shut them down.  Good stuff!

A good scooter friend of mine- Jared- has joined our team this season.  He’s still finding his legs, but he’s been having a great time.  With the horrible snow last night, he picked me up with another friend, Gary.  Gary has an AWD truck.  Gary joined us for the night- the first time he’s played in a few years.  It was pretty cool.  The three of us are doing the Jan-Feb DU Learn to Play Hockey course as well.  Finally more than one night of hockey a week! 

REPEAT!

Whoa…  Imagine my Keanu Reeves impression there… Whoa.  We not only won the D4 Championship again, we pretty much totally destroyed Team America in the process.  We won 7-2!  Let me say that again... 7-2.  I don’t think we ever had less than a 3 goal lead in the entire game- except maybe for a few minutes in the 2^nd period, when the score was 3-1.  It was one of the best game the Icemen have put together, ever.  
 

I have to admit, I had some reservations that we were going to repeat in a straight D4 championship, especially against Team America.  We didn’t beat them all season- although we always gave them a tough game.  I was really pleased that Big Bear changed the final schedule. We were supposed to play on the 24^th of November.   If we’d played on the 24^th, half our team, including me, would have been gone.  I’m guessing that Team America had the same issue, so we got rescheduled for the 2^nd of December.  We had a full bench of three forward lines and two defensive pairings, with our incredible goalie Adam in net.  
 

I played right wing with Justin in the center and Herman on the left.  I’m not going to say we were the best line in the game, but we did score.. oh, 5 of the goals in the game!  Herman had 3 and Justin had 2.  I assisted on 2 of them.  I also had a load of shots on goal, including a couple that should have scored.  I was only a +4 for the night though, since I left the ice right before Justin scored his second goal.  We scored our first 3 goals in the first.  I assisted on the third, and was just to the right of the goal when it went in.  The Team America goalie lost his mind.  He slammed his stick on the post and started yelling at his team.  I thought he was going to go after them.  
 

The penalties were about even, although I think Team America had a couple more times on the PP.  They scored one of their goals a man up.  We did get called for one bad call (a supposed Holding on Brian, when he was just going for the puck), but they didn’t score on that one.  Still no penalties for me.  
 

I played a really good game.  In the way I do, I blocked loads of shots as Team America tried to leave their zone, and was able to plunk the puck to someone on more than half of them.  I was also able to get the puck into play when Justin won a few face-offs in my direction, including a nice drop pass to Sean in the third.   I lined up against a couple of TA’s newer players- at about my level.  Towards the end of the game, the left winger I lined up against in face-offs would just grab onto me to keep me from joining into the play.  I eventually just started swerving on him, which surprised both him and me- I’m getting better on my skates.  In fact, I think I’ve gotten to the point that I can spend less time thinking about my feet and start paying more attention to my stick. I missed a few pucks that I could have sent towards the net or the TA zone.
 

After we won, the time keeper took our photo and gave us our winner beers and t-shirts.  We celebrated on the ice for so long that the Zamboni driver had to wait for us, just sitting there while we reveled.  We continued our celebrations in the dressing room, and then about half the team went to a local sports pub for more beer and wings.  It made for a great, but late night.  We may very well be on our way to a dynasty!  

Once more into the breach!

We're in the finals again!  We beat The Punx 4-2.  It was a pretty rough game, but we really kept our cool, and they spent most of half the second and a lot of the third in the box.  I had a couple of shots and an assist.  I also whiffed completely on a perfect pass from Z.  The shame!

We play Team America again for the championship on the 2nd of December.  We haven't beaten them yet this season, but I know we can beat them.

Back to back

I've played in a few of the South Suburban pick up games that the other Paul sets up.  There a great time and great practice.  I need to go to more.  The night after a game though... I may have to rethink that. 

We had our last regular season game on Wednesday, against the Islaynders.  It was a good game, with lots of hard play.  They scored first, but we were able to come back for the win, 4-1.  I played pretty damn horribly, truth told.  Now on to the playoffs, against the Punx.

The pick up game was loads of fun and hard work, all around.  Besides Paul, there were a total of 5 of us Icemen- Tony, Brian, Darren and me.  We all wore white, in the hope that we could get some passing and breakout practice in.  That happened a bit, but the dark team had some really really good players, so they dominated mush of the night.  I felt much better about my play last night. 

Damn feet!

We had a tough loss last night against the Punx- 3-4.  It was a crazy one towards end with loads of penalties and Flink getting tossed out of the game- which was a load of crap.  He got roughed up behind the net and had some words with the guy who did it.  As he was heading to the bench, the guy came back up to him to continue the chirping, and there was some pushing- so he was gone.  The worst part was, the Punx have a troglodyte who is as close to a goon as D4 can get.  He's also incredibly mouthy, who bitches every time someone touches him.  He should have been thrown out as well, but...

I, however, had one of my best games ever, at least for the first two periods.  I was all over the ice, and had a few takeaways, a couple of breaks up the ice, and was able to start loads of breakouts.  I even got a puck off my skate, control it, and get it up the ice.  I was also  able to control the puck in the offensive zone corners, including one instance where I had the puck for a good 30 seconds without any pressure and finally got a decent centering pass.  No joy though... 


It wasn't all good though.  I ran out of steam in the third, and one of out our penalty kills, I blocked a shot with my thigh- nice bruise there- but the puck dropped to my feet and I couldn't get my stick on it.  A Punx player poked it from between my skates and was able to score.  I felt horrible.

Another first- I finally spent some time in the penalty box.   They weren't my penalties, though.  The first time I sat, it was with Dave, who had a minor and a major.  I sat for the minor and then got out on the ice.  The second time was for a bench minor.  I was supposed to serve 2 minutes and wait for the next whistle, but the Punx scored, so I was only in there less then a minute. 

It was a crappy way to lose a game, but I was happy with my play for the most part.  We have out last game next week, against the Islaynders, and then we'll meet the Punx again in the playoffs. 

On the breakway... getting ready to shoot... and pickpocketed... by my own teammate.

It was the first time I yelled at a teammate in anger.  It happened in the third period.  I got a loose puck in our zone, and the Team America defense was pinching, so I had a clear run up the ice.  I got control of the puck and and was heading for the goal and a great angle from the right.  Then Herman came up behind me from the left and took the puck off my stick, and then lost it in the corner.  I  was pissed!  I probably wouldn't have scored, but it was a crap move on his part.  Sometimes Herman plays like a 6 year old on a soccer pitch- just chasing the puck around, never playing in his position.  At least he got a load of shit from the whole team.  On the next shift, he did toss a puck to me when I crashed the net, but I couldn't score, so there's that at least.

We have still not beaten Team America.  Last night's game was a great one, though.   It was scoreless through the first and most of the second.  TA scored on a scuffle in front of the net towards the end of the second.  We tried everything we could to get the equalizer, but their goalie was really on his game.  Nothing we tried- and we tried everything- got through.  We ended up losing 0-1.  I had quite a few good chances in front of the net, but nothing.  On one play, I pulled a flying shot, too.  I was following Sean up the right wall, when he and the team America defenseman went down to the ice, I picked up the puck, but couldn't avoid the pile up and flew to my stomach, but did get the shot off.  I wish I could have seen it. 

We'll probably meet them in the championship again, so here's hoping for the same result as Spring 15!

Cough... cough.. hack...

I've not been playing for the last couple of weeks.  The last game I played in was a tight one against the Islaynders.  I can't remember anything about it, honestly.  We won 4-3.

I tweeked my knee a couple of weeks ago, so I sat out the game against Team America, which we lost 2-3.  Then I got a really bad cold, which kept me out of the game against The Punx, which we won 8-2.  Flink told me it was a boring one, like a practice.

I'm still feeling a little poorly, but decided to play last night.  I'm glad I did.  The Islaynders were on the rotation.  We had a full bench with 3 forward lines and 3 defensive pairing.  I was playing right wing on a line with Herman and Brian.  I have to say I was happy about that, since I'm not feel great, and a lot of lines means more time to rest between shifts.  I was just hoping I didn't throw up.  The Islaynders scored about half way through the first, in a muddled scrum in front of the net.  Even though we kept great pressure in the Islaynders end, we weren't able to  score.  I missed out on a chance, that was similar to the first goal- just crashing the net.  I just couldn't get the puck on my stick and get it past the goalie.

The second was another thing all together.  On my lines second shift, Herman got a hold of the puck behind the net and was able to pass up the wall.  I snagged the puck on my backhand and was able to spin around, sending it center.  I ended up on my arse, but the puck went right to Brian's stick and he plunked it in.  We won the very next faceoff, and I ended up with the puck on my stick again.  I centered again , and this time Herman was able to score.   Two goals, with my assists, in under 30 seconds!  I'll take it!

We dominated the game from there with two more goals- a beaut of a one timer from the point by Sean- the best shot on the team, and a good passing play that ended up with a goal by Eli. The Islaynders were getting chippy at the end.  You can tell they are getting frustrated, only winning one game so far this season.  Crazily, there were no penalties called at all, so Ive still not spent time in the box.  Next game. 

Two tough ones with mixed results.

We finished getting through the other teams last week when we played Team America.  They were also undefeated when we met.  It was a a tough tight game throughout.  The final score was 1-2.  We nearly tied it up at the end, but couldn't quite get the goal we needed.  In fact, Team America only scored once.  The second goal was tipped in by Flink.  He was pretty pissed off.

Last night we played Punx again, starting through the rotation again.  We were down 5 skaters and Adam, our goalie, wasn't there.   Our captain, the other Paul, scrambled for us and we got a stand-in, which was nice.  It was still a really short bench with only two forward lines and three defensemen in total.  Punx had about the same size bench, though.  It was a hell of a hard hitting game, complete with bad blood.  Matt spent a long time in the box, especially at the beginning in the third.  About eight minutes... no idea why.  I think the box door got stuck.  In the end, we won 6-4.  Our 6 included a hat trick by Z.  I nearly had a couple myself.  I was totally gassed by the end of the game though.  I could barely skate.  Anyway, we're in second place.  Huzzah!  

Did you bring some Lagavulin?

We played the new team last night- The Islaynders.  It's an obvious play on the Islanders, and they wear orange sweaters with a version of the Gordon's Fisherman crest, and they were all pretty much wearing Islander socks.  I couldn't resist the scotch joke, since the name is spelled with a y.  No one really got it though. 

Anyway, the Islaynders is made up of mainly beginners, with a couple of decent players.  They played their guts out.  It was cool to see.  I'm not really much better than many of them, actually.  I did play one of my best games though- well, at least though the first two periods. We spent a considerable amount of time in the box in the third, and when I was on the ice, I spent a considerable time on my arse.  I even collided with Eli.  I was gassed after a long shift, and when we saw we were going to hit each other, we just sort of resigned ourselves to it and blamo. 

During the first two periods, I kept finding myself in great position with the puck in the offensive zone- usually in the corner, which they weren't protecting very well.  I was able to make good centering passes, although it never ended in a goal. It didn't really matter.  We won 4-1.  We joked that we actually shut them out, since their one goal was actually tipped in by Hermann.  We are undefeated, which is pretty cool.

 

Hey! I know you!

We started our new season last night, with a couple of new players, but a short bench.  I played left wing with Hermann, which was tough, since we were both playing pretty short shifts.  It was a fun game though. 

We are back in straight D4, with 3 other teams. We played a team called the Punx, who played with us in the D3/D4 summer league.  I must have been on heavy drugs during the summer though, because one of the Punx players is a fellow scooterist I've known for ages- Paul Italiano.  File that under 'small world, ain't it?' 

We played a pretty physical game, and I think I was in the action pretty much all night.  I even had an assist.  Some of the guys also thought I scored a goal, but I was just screening the goalie when one of our D-men, Josh, sent a slap shot form the point.  We won 6-0, which is a great way to start a season. 

Pardon my French, RK... but, you're assholes!

We played RK Mechanical in the semi-finals of Summer D4/D3.  They shut us out again- 0-6.  They are a good team.  The pass well, handle the puck well, and cycle in the offensive zone well.  They also know they are the better team, and they are total jerks about it.   They constantly talk about how good they are on the ice, and do anything to drive up the score.  They complain, chip, and laugh at other teams.  It didn't help that the refs were their sixth and seventh men on the ice.  We went to the box 7 times to their 1.   No one likes playing against a team with a cocky ringer, and RK is a team of them.  They're total assholes and I'll be glad when they get moved up.

Beyond that, I played some good hockey I think, including my last shift, where I was able to spoil a near goal.  We had a great season all told.  We didn't expect to do as well as we did, and everyone was pretty stoked about our performance.  We should be back to the appropriate level next season. 

Well, ok... if you insist.

We played Ten Blades again last night in our first playoff game.  I was pretty sure it was going to be our only playoff game... I was wrong.  We won 4-2 and move on.

We had a great bench and really played our guts out.  We skated with them all night and were able to shut them down in our zone more often than not.  They played a really physical game, which included them getting sent to the box more than once.  One of those times included a massive hit on me.  I was so intent on getting the puck up the wall, the hit really didn't affect me.  I went down hard, got up fast and then headed down the ice.  I'm sore today though. 

And I removed that plastic... why?

I wasn't feeling very well last week so I skipped the game.  We won 10-3.  Last night, in our last regular season game, we played Ten Blades, another really good team.  They had a really short bench, but they skate really well.  I was using the skates my brother gave me for the first time, and they weren't really working all that well for me. I'm going to go back to my Grafs.  I also played in contacts for the first time- top notch!

I wasn't skating all that great, but was able to be in the play whenever I was on the ice- including a blocked shot that went off my thigh.  My pants were not fitting all that well, with the plastic shield in the thighs, so I took it out long ago.  I think I'll be getting a nice bruise.  There was an up side.  The puck bounced off my thigh and landed right in front of me.  I got a hold of it, and was able to pass it to Jordon, who was able to run it up the ice for a shot.  No joy though.

The game was really toughly fought, and a load of fun.  We scored first, but Ten Blades were able to equalize and then score again.  With about a minute left, we took a time out, put our best skaters on the ice, and got Adam- our goalie ready to come off the ice.  After a bad face-off we got another chance and were able to score with the extra man on the ice.  It was sweet!  We went to the shoot out, which Ten Bladed won 1-2.  Playoffs are next week, and since we're in 6th, out of 8 we'll be playing one of the better teams.

And that better team turns out to be Ten Blades again.  

Yeah... that's going to leave a mark.

We played RK Mechanical last night, and the result was the same as the first time we played them- getting shut out.  This time, though we did a little bit better.  Instead of a 0-7 score it was only 0-3.  RK Mechanical is a tough, big team that has some really good players- great skaters and great puck handlers.  I'm guessing these guys will be moving up a league in the not too distant future.

We had three forward lines and five Defensemen- so it was a good bench.  I think we played pretty well on the whole.  RK is such a great puck handling team, though, that we got caught more than once chasing them around.  I played left wing and spent a lot of time watching the point- where I was constantly being deked.  I did manage a couple take-aways though.  I also got involved in a few breakouts, and even got the puck to start one- but got back checked while looking for an outlet pass.  Considering that we were completely outmatched, I think we played pretty well, and it was a great work out.  

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And another one...

We had a really short bench last night, just eleven of us, including our substitute goalie, so we played one shift on, one shift off.  We played our old nemesis Low Down Dirt Shame, and it was exhausting!  We play two twenty minutes periods and one 15 minute period, and I'd guess I was on the ice for about 25 minutes of that.  We had a little bit of a break during the couple of penalties we took, but it was still a constant back and forth.

The game was a rough one, which even included a scuffle in front of our net.  One of the Low Down guys kept banging at the puck after the play was blown dead, and Jordan took offense to that.  They both ended up in the box for that.  I was able to be in the play most of the time, and even had two assists.  I was really dragging a few shifts in the end though, and even lined up wrong at one point.  I also crashed the net when ever possible, and have sorenesss to show for it.  Low Down is a really fast team, and some of their players really have great passing chemistry. In the end, our short bench was able to prevail, mainly because our goalie, Adam, played brilliantly.  The final score was 7-5.

Watch out for that tree!

We played She Hit Me First last night.  Holey crap what a fast and physical game!  We lost 2-4.

I spent a lot of time on the ice, was skating pretty well, and was in the middle of the play quite often.  I even had a chance for a breakaway, but the She Hit Me First defense just edged me off the puck.  I also almost got hit in the face with a broken stick blade.  That was interesting.  

It was a fun game, and even though it was physical, it never got out of control- everyone kept their cool and there were only like four penalties called throughout the game.  These are the kind of games that I really enjoy.  They push my skill level, and I found myself doing things I wasn’t sure I could do- like quick stops on my weak side, moving from forward skating and backwards skating pretty effortlessly, and taking the puck up the ice.  I still have a lot of work to do.

In other news, I visited my brother recently.  He’s finished up his surgeries for a while and is in an assisted recovery center for a couple of weeks before he begins a month of intensive physical therapy.  Anyway, he played hockey, but hasn’t played in a long time.  We have the same build and foot size, so he gave me a pair of his skates to try out.  They are old CCM 652 Super Tacks, and I’m interested to give them a try.  I’ll post some pictures later.