1 September 2000
We lost again last night, but at 3-2 it was another squeaker. I felt totally ineffective for the first two periods; I hardly touched the puck at all (except when it ricocheted off my skate in front of the net, effectively doing the opposing goalie's job for him), and I was having trouble staying in position when we were on defense.

Shaun (who was refereeing) came over when I was on the bench to remind me to stay up at the blue line and cover the man there when my team was on defense, so I could be ready for a pass along the boards. This was something I knew I was supposed to be doing, but for some reason I wasn't—I kept drifting up instead. I finally figured out why after Shaun's instruction: *there was no guy at the blueline*. At that point I was totally confused. Should I stay back and near the boards to wait for a pass, or should I find the guy who was supposed to be back there with me and cover him? I asked Gary when I game off the ice, and he assured me that it was more important to cover the man.

By the third period I'd finally started to click, and I was able to grab the loose puck and pass to my teammates a few times. I still haven't scored a goal, but when Tom got one in after I'd worked hard to keep the puck in front of the net, I felt like I had. Woo hoo!

The mood in the locker room after the game was the best I've ever seen it. Everyone realized that we'd played hard and passed well, and that it didn't matter that we'd lost. As a team, we had nothing to be ashamed of. (Personally, I walked away with a list of things in my head that I want to work on. Just goes to show that I'm harder on myself than anyone else could be. Yelling at me just makes me focus on the critic rather than the criticism.)

My colleagues from the Minnesota office were waiting in the front viewing area, so I got dressed quickly. (The fact that we'd had three sets of forwards meant that I hadn't sweated as much, which made it easier to pull on my street clothes.) It was so cool that they wanted to come to the game—I had my own little cheering section, and Hank said he didn't think that I sucked as much as I thought I did. They were all very supportive. I'm *so* lucky to work with such great people!

I considered going to Oakland tonight for stick time, but between the demands of my new position at work (which I totally love, I want to say for the record) and the late-night games—not to mention the trip to Baltimore and back this week—I'm pretty sleep-deprived. I plan to be asleep at midnight tonight, rather than driving across the Bay Bridge.

A scuffle in the zone

Racing up ice

Dave and I try to stay with the puck

The view from the stands

My cheering section: Ahti, Brian, and Jeff
(Hank's behind the camera)

Me after the game