22 October 2000
Wow, it's been a long time since I've added to my hockey journal. It's probably because I'm making all the hockey observations I usually make here in e-mails to Al. Bad for anyone who's been waiting for updates, but good for me—it means I actually managed to make a friend outside of work. :)

Anyway, in hockey news, my Thursday team is doing well so far this year, but I'm worried that I'm not having as much fun. It could just be that I've come to expect the kind of clockwork line changes and fast play of Monday nights, and by comparison Thursday games seem disorganized. The criticism that one of my former bosses once expressed about me popped into my head after our last game: "Lori does not suffer fools gladly." Thursday, it seems, will be as much about learning patience as it is about learning new hockey skills.

Speaking of learning new hockey skills, I obviously still need quite a bit of work in that area. We had the early game last Thursday, and then I subbed in for the short-handed black team at 10:20. I was twice as inept as I usually am in that second game. Maybe it was that I was tired, but I couldn't seem to make contact with the puck (and when I did, I didn't have much power). I did make one really fantastic pass, though.

I've noticed that aside from coming off the ice smiling, my other goal with each game is to identify one thing that I can be proud of and one thing that I want to work on for next time. My one thing to work on from the black game: knowing where the puck is when I swing at it. I'm missing far too often. I already mentioned that the thing I took away from the yellow game to work on is being patient... and it could be that these two things are related. What I felt proud of from the yellow game was my physical play. I fought hard for the puck along the boards and didn't give up—but I also didn't get a penalty. Nice balance.