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.    

So this is what it feels like...

We were the short bench last night, and I have to say, it was pretty exciting!  We played a team called Dirk Danglers- a mash up of a D3 team with said name and a few players from Here For Beer.  We had 11 skaters- two forward lines, plus an extra winger, and two defensive pairings.  They had about 324 players.  Ok, it was probably closer to 17.  I was on the ice so often, it felt like a rotation pick up game.  I started on the right wing, behind a couple of our best players Steve and Eli.  Tony and Paul H were our centers.  The two left wingers were Vickie and Allen, who play at my level.  We switched up about halfway through the first period, and I joined the left side.  Our defensive pairings were some of our best- Sean, Jordan, Matt, and Flink.  Tyler was back in goal, and once again saved our bacon on so many plays.  It's also probably the first time I knew everyone's name.  Heh...

The game was one of those smash and bang games where tons of penalties get called.  Tempers were kept in check for most of the game luckily, until two Dirk Danglers players were thrown out at the end of the game.  They were more irate with the refs than they were with us, though.  I am still without a penalty, although if I'd been half a step faster, I probably could have gotten a tripping call at one point.  Quite a few of the calls were pure hookum.  It's like the refs had been told they were down on their penalty quota for the month.

The Dirk Danglers scored first.  We came back pretty quickly after- Steve, I think, knocking in a loose puck in a scrum in front of the net.  The score stayed there for the rest of the game.  I was in the play quite a bit, including knocking a puck that was heading for the crease.  As soon as I did that, though, I hit the brick wall that was Sean.  Ow.

We went to a shoot-out to end the tie, and it went ten rounds.  Ten!  We went though our whole bench, except Flink, who had been in the box when the game ended.  I was our ninth shooter.  Another first- my first shootout chance in a game.  I blew it big time!  As soon as I touched the puck, it popped up on it's edge and started rolling.  I tried to knock it down, but couldn't.  I ended up making a half-hearted shot right at the Dangler goalies chest, to shouts of 'knuckle puck!' from both benches.  Next time.

The hero of the game, however, was our tenth shooter- Vickie.  She skated up to the crease incredibly slowly, and shot right at the top of the crease- right in front of the goalie.  Honestly, it should have been an easy save, but she somehow snuck it through the five hole!  She fell as soon as she scored, and stayed down for a while. We thought she couldn't get up- turns out she was digging the puck out of the net to commemorate her first shoot-out goal.  Tyler won it for us, ultimately, on the next shot- shutting down all the Danglers shooters.  A crazy finish for a crazy game.  Celebratory beers at Lowry Beer Garden were a must.

This puts us right in the middle of the pack in the standings, I think.  We're 3-3 right now.  We were all pretty sure we'd get our asses handed to us all season, but we're making a run at it!

Lose one, win one

This season is pretty brutal.  We are playing really good teams that have been together for awhile and really know how to move the puck.  Our last couple of games have been pretty interesting.

We played Ten Blades last week, and we had a team of subs.  We got beat 0-6.  They pretty much out skated us all night, and the few chances we had were smothered by their excellent goalie.  We had a sub goal tender who did pretty well considering,  In one rush, he was knocked into the net, and one of our D-men, Jordan, took  exception to it.  He was only given a roughing penalty though and not thrown out. 

Last night we played Fighting Sue.  We won that one 9-5, but really only because their goalie didn't show up.  They played with six men, including a defensive player in or around the net.  It was harder to get past him than you'd think, since he was fast and was able to stick check any breakaways.  They were also incredible skaters and passers, scoring a few times right off of face offs.  The season of Chico's Bail Bonds continues.

The Mads have Voodoo!

Before this blog went nearly full time hockey, I spent lots of time and space showing my MST3K Bots builds. I’ve also written about how important MST3K has been to me, and how big a fan I still am. I’ve also written about how lucky I’ve been to meet the cast on several occasions- StarFest in 1992 and at the two Conventio-Con and ExpoFest-a-Ramas in 1994 and 1996. At the first Conventio-Con and ExpoFest-a-Rama we got to see live riffing of This Island Earth, which would become MST3K: The Movie. An incredible experience of seeing a movie riffed live. I’ve been to a couple of the live simulcasts of RiffTrax and Cinematic Titanic, but never thought I’d get to see a live show again. However, I got the chance to see Trace Beaulieu (Dr. Clayton Forrester and Crow T Robot) and Frank Conniff (TVs Frank) at a little improv comedy theater called Voodoo Comedy Playhouse.

The Voodoo Comedy Playhouse is a small theater in downtown Denver that does improve shows, classes, and workshops. It was started and is owned by Steve Wilder, and he and the staff are great. Both Trace and Frank were hanging out before the show, so I got to talk to them a bit. Trace even complemented my Best Brains, Inc. shirt.

The show was great. They did a couple of cartoons from Frank’s weekly Cartoon Dump show, and then did Glen or Glenda- often considered Ed Wood’s worst film. They did a couple of Ed Wood films on MST3K, but never the film that’s been called the worst film of all time- Plan 9 From Outer Space. Glen and Glenda is worse. It was brilliant to see them riffing live. They were working from scripts, but were still throwing in improved lines throughout. The audience was not at all shy about laughing our collective ass off. After the show, they did a Q&A and I asked a few dumb questions.

After the show, everyone went to the bar, where Trace and Frank were signing autographs and taking pictures. I brought my Crow T Robot along, but left him in the car. I ran out and grabbed him, and brought him back. There’s something pretty cool about experiencing a crowded room quietly loose it over something you’ve made. I was able to talk a bit about the way my Crow is put together with Trace- the man who ran the real Crow! How cool is that. They both signed him, and I was able to get some pictures. I also let others get pictures with Crow. One of the most enthusiastic reactions came from Phil Plait’s daughter Zoe- who has a Joel signature tattoo. Good stuff!

I was initially anxious that if I left to grab Crow, they would leave and I wouldn’t be able to get them to sign it. I didn’t have to worry about it at all. We stayed and talked with them for a good hour plus, along with the Plait family. I honestly felt like I was overstaying my welcome, but just couldn’t make myself go. I know I said a few stupid things, but Alisha was proud that I didn’t totally geek out. It was just an amazing night.

 

This last photo was taken by Steve Wilder- owner of the Voodoo Comedy Playhouse.

Noob

I missed our game on Wednesday, but played in a pick up game last night.  I played with a few guys on the team, and they told me we won, which is pretty cool.  I was afraid we'd go without a win this season.  Tony said the team we played- Punx scored within about 30 seconds of the opening face-off.  We came back within a minute though, and Tony said we had a flurry of goals. We won 6-3.

I'm glad I got a night playing anyway.   Pickups are pretty crazy, but really good for working on skills.  Since there's no lines, no stoppage, or no score keeping, you get a lot of ice time, in a lot of different situations.  There was also a large range of skill levels playing last night.  For the most part, that's a really good thing for a beginner, like me, but it can lead to some annoyance as well.  Without lines, and no score tally, there's not much accountability for positioning- especially for players that just want to keep the puck and make a run up the ice every shift.  I was on the ice a lot, but was never really playing the position I was supposed to play, because everyone else on the ice was just chasing the puck.  There was some passing, but it was mainly, follow whoever had the puck- whether they were a forward or a defenseman.  Still fun.  Another thing that sort of puts me off is the complaining from some of the better players.  I've never felt unwanted on the Icemen bench, but did feel that some of the guys I was playing with last night would rather I'd not been there- because I was messing with the flow of their game.  Whatever.  We had a great conversation about Star Wars in the dressing room, so there was that. 

The reason I missed the game on Wednesday was because Alisha and I saw Belle and Sebastian at Red Rocks.  Alisha is a huge fan, and I like most of what heard from them.  We thought we'd gotten there late, but we ended up in the 2nd row, right in the center.  It was a pretty amazing show.  They've been together for nearly 20 years and have an amazing and varied collection of work.  They also put on a brilliant show- with dancers and audience participation.  It was worth missing a game for!

Ow...

I've been a little preoccupied lately.  My brother Aaron was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle.  He's been in the hospital for a couple of weeks now, and has had multiple surgeries.  He's broken both arms and had to have his left leg amputated just above the knee.  He's in great spirits, though and is healing well.  It's just made for a stressful couple of weeks. 

We played RK Mechanical last night, and we pretty much got destroyed.  The final score was 0-7.  RK Mechanical was the D3 Champions last season and they are really good.  We had three forward lines and two defensive parings, and they had seven players total- they skated circles around us.  I felt like I'd never been on the ice before.  Tempers got a little out of control at the end of the game, but luckily they all cooled at the handshake line. 

Today I am really tired and really sore.  And really wanting to be home in bed.

And we start number three...

I started my third season last night.  The Big Bear Adult league’s D3 and D4 teams have merged into one league, because one of the rinks is supposed to be closed for maintenance.  In reality, we’re the only D4 team in a group that is mostly D3 and a D2 team.  When we saw our schedule, I suggested we all get Chico’s Bail Bonds printed on the back of our sweaters.

What promises to be a tough season started with a tough game against our old rivals- Low Down Dirty Shame.  We lost 2-4, but played pretty well.  I even had a chance for a breakaway, but I was gassed at the end of a shift.  I also had a better player right behind me, so I just shot from above the circle.  It was on target, but an easy save for the goalie.  We started to get tired, and even though we continued to tie up the game through the second period, we weren’t really able to hold on in the third.  

It’s going to be a long one…