30 June 2000 * Later
Skipped out of work at 10:40 to attend the 11am Skate & Shoot. I was a bit intimidated by the other skaters on the ice—all of whom could stop, skate backwards, and take seriously hard shots. I wouldn't even take a shot for a while; I told myself it was because I needed time to get used to minding the puck. I think it was really because I was scared to death of the goalie.

After about half an hour of skating around and shooting the puck at the boards, I started practicing shooting at the empty net at one end of the rink. I wasn't too bad at pushing or flipping the puck into the net, but I didn't really get the whole wind-up-for-a-slapshot thing. The one time I tried it, I went down in a heap (to my great shock). I landed hard with my left skate under me; it took a few minutes to get my legs back after that.

I may have gotten my legs back, but not my nerve, it seems. A second goalie appeared and took the net I'd been shooting at. The protocol seemed to be for everyone to stand in a semi-circle; when the goalie turned his attention to you, it was your turn to shoot. Or, in my case, to shake my head and turn away. Back to shooting at the boards.

Note to self:
Maybelline Express Finish holds up better up better than Kiss Colors. Repaint pucks asap.

I came off the ice with a serious case of helmet hair, but with a smile on my face.

2 July 2000
Set the alarm for 7am so I could get up and drive across the Bay Bridge for the 8:30 Stick Time session at Oakland Ice Center. I'd never been to Oakland Ice before; it turned out to be pretty easy to get to, and the facilities were great. They have two rinks: one NHL-size and one Olympic-size (and four locker rooms per rink!).

This two-rink setup allowed for the more advanced players to take to the NHL surface for pickup while those of us who need more practice could have the Olympic surface for skate & shoot. This worked better for me than the Ice Chalet's skate & shoot-followed-by-pickup schedule; it made the ice less crowded, and it cleared out the most intimidating people. The hour and a half format was also great, especially since I have a cold. I could stop every 5-10 minutes to blow my nose and drink water and still have enough time to practice skating and stickhandling.

Tried the mouthgard for the first time today and hated it. It wasn't very comfortable, and it was impossible to talk with it in (which might be good news, as it kept me from saying "sorry" all the time). I figured this out when John, a hockey coach who had accompanied his girlfriend Leslie to the beginner clinic at Ice Oasis, flagged me down to say hi. I couldn't get the damn mouthgard out at all at first, and then I got it snagged in my face cage, but I eventually managed to spit it—along with a huge gob of drool—out so I could respond.

John offered to give me pointers if I wanted them. I took him up on the offer and asked for help with backwards crossovers. Turns out that I had it right in my head—you do need to go at them on your edge, just like forward crossovers—but in practice I'd been following Shaun's straight-up-and-over example (which is great when you're standing still, but not when you're moving). John also suggested that I bend my knees more on the forward crossovers. I practiced the forward variety quite a bit while trying to keep track of the puck. Weirdly, I'm able to handle the puck much better with the back of my stick blade (that is, skating counterclockwise) than with the front. I either lose the puck off the tip or the heel of the blade when I'm going clockwise. I can't seem to keep it centered.

I had a great time shooting at both the boards and the net (no goalies this time—they were both over at the pickup game), practicing forwards & backwards skating, and just zipping around with the puck. I'll definitely do this again on a future Sunday, and possibly a Friday evening, too.