Slap Shots & Chip Shots

My team’s last game was this Sunday. We got into the 2nd round of the EAHL playoffs before losing 5-0. It was a painful thing to watch. There were 10 available players for the game, so there was a lot of ice time for everyone.  There would’ve been 1 more player, but I had to watch from the bleachers.

See, that’s me in the chair with the stylish cast. My season ended a week before when our team was up 4-0 in the 3rd period of our first playoff game.  I challenged an opposing player for the puck just outside our zone. I raced toward him then turned to stop. Apparently the stop wasn’t as successful as I thought it was going to be. There was a collision and, with all my weight on my right skate, I fell back. Since it’s physically impossible to keep your skate dug into the ice while laying on your back something had to give, so my tibia snapped and my fibula broke in 2 spots.

That was not the way I wanted to end my season. After an ambulance trip to the hospital, lots of pain meds and surgery, I’m now hanging out on my couch with my casted leg propped up. There’s now a permanent rod in my tibia and I’m off my feet for a long while.

Not my leg, but an example of what my leg is llike now

I was really impressed with the reactions by everyone involved. As soon as I hit the ice, one of the refs went straight to the scorer’s box to have them call 911, someone from the other team gave me his jersey to put under my head and Jesse Badder, the League Director, was on-hand to remind my family of the benefits of my USA Hockey membership. I was also impressed with the West Metro Firefighters who lifted me onto the gurney with as little pain as possible while standing on a sheet of ice. Thank you everyone who made a horrible injury as easy on me as possible!

I miss skating already. I’ve been going at least once a week for the past year. Going to watch my team play, just being next to the ice felt good. My injury hasn’t scared me at all, it just made me realize how much hockey has become a part of me. I’ll do ANYTHING to get back out on that ice. I can’t wait until my doctor’s appointment on Monday. I want to get the rehab started and I want to do it right.

Tonight we lost 6-1. I was generally happy with my play. I actually got some shots on net and almost scored on a breakout. However, we seemed to spend a lot of time in our own zone and had a hard time transitioning into  a breakout. This fact was highlighted during the second intermission when one of the veteran defensemen said something along these lines:

“I’m getting annoyed that I have no one to pass to. I’m just going to start icing the puck. Forwards need to get open for a breakout pass.”

He also mentioned some other things that sounded important and smart, but didn’t quite make sense at the time: shorter passes, hashmarks, etc. I was still a little gassed from my last shift, so I wasn’t paying full attention. I took the criticism for the constructive type that it was and, during the third period, spent my time in our zone trying to get open for my defensemen while playing my position close to the blue line.

We didn’t fare any better with our breakouts, so after the game I watched the highlights from the NHL Conference finals games and paid attention to the forwards in their defensive zone. They spent most of their time between the face off dots and the tops of the circles. When they received the puck from the defensemen for a breakout, they were usually near the hashmarks. I looked up breakout drills on Coach Nielsen’s site and the Weiss Tech Hockey site. I noticed that all the drills start with the forwards getting the puck at, or near, the hashmarks….

“Shorter passes….. Hashmarks……Aha!”

I need to get lower in my zone to help out my defensemen and to make the breakout passes shorter. I’m looking forward to putting my “Aha!” moment to the test during my next game.

Update: Found a couple of other sites to reinforce my “Aha!”.

• The Do’s and Don’ts of Hockey Breakouts – Schoolyard Puck
• Dukes Hockey Breakout Review

I started playing in my first hockey league about 3 weeks ago. I was slated to play on a team of free agents and I was hoping to play defense. As it turned out, I’m playing on a team that’s been around for a couple years and I’m playing as a winger. There’s a core group of about 5-6 players, but the rest of us are new to the team. There’s only 1 other player who is new to the sport besides me. It’s an interesting group to say the least.

Game 1

We should’ve worn “Hello, My Name Is” stickers for the first game. I didn’t meet most of my teammates until the game started. It was a fun atmosphere to make new friends as we won 5-2. Mostly thanks to a hat trick by one of our substitute players and to our goalie (I think his name is Brian) standing on his head multiple times. I had no shots on goal, no assists and I wasn’t on the ice for any goals, for or against, so I’ll take that as a small victory for my first game.

Things I learned after Game 1:

• I CAN SKATE! No really, I was concerned if I could keep up and stay up. I realized after the game that I never really gave much thought into what my feet were doing. I was very relieved.
• I need to focus more on offense. Our defensemen gave up way too many odd man rushes, but my job as a forward is to get pucks to the net, so I need to focus on that first.
• Line changes are easier than I thought. We just go out in rotation.
• I need to work more on my stickhandling.

Game 2

We lost game 2 with a score of 4-8 on Mother’s Day. To make matters even worse, our goalie brought his mom to watch the game. I felt bad for him. On the positive side, my line scored 3 of our goals and I got my first assist! Well at least I think I did. The stats aren’t up online yet to my dismay. I still haven’t registered a shot on goal.

Things I learned after Game 2:

• Being a forward and all, I should really shoot the puck at some point.
• In order to shoot the puck, I need to put myself in a position to score.
• I’m getting more confidence with the puck.
• I need to work more on my stickhandling.

Regardless of how well I play or how well the team plays, I’ve learned one VERY important thing. I flat-out LOVE hockey! This game rocks.