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.