12 February 2001
I played two games since I last wrote: Consolation Game #1 on Thursday, and a makeup game against Excite 2 on Sunday morning.

Thursday's game was pretty exciting, and we played a heck of a lot better than we did the previous Thursday. As the clock wound down in the third period, we were tied 2-2. I'd already had a couple shots on goal in the game, but in the final 30 seconds I all of sudden turned on the jets and had 3 more chances. I also risked a penalty by going in hard at a defender and knocking him down. It was a little scary, actually, to know that I was capable of taking it up a couple notches like that. Maybe exhilarating is a better word for it, in the way that Space Mountain is exhilarating. I'm now considering whether I can skate like a demon all the time...

I didn't convert on any of my shots (though to be honest, I was more excited to have the chances than disappointed that one didn't go in), and when the buzzer rang at the end of the third period, we were still tied 2-2. Since playoff games can't end in a tie and there's no overtime in our league, a shootout ensued.

Normally each team sends their 3 best skaters out to try to score against the opposing goalie, and one team or another gets more shots in. Gary went first for us and easily shot over Mike's shoulder; the next two skaters for both us and Black missed their shots, but the third Black skater got his in. That left us tied again at 3-3. It became a sudden-death situation, with a chance to decide the game after each pair of skaters had a shot. I think we went through about 4 more skaters on each side, and a whine from Shaun (who was refereeing) that we hurry up and end this, before we had a final score. Yep, that meant it got as far down as me. :) The goalie blocked my shot (which was actually pretty good), and the Black player who went next got his in, so in the end we lost by a goal. It was such a great game, though, that it felt like a win to me.

I was happy to see that Teal won the Stanley Keg Game, as Jason is my favorite (and the most proficient, IMHO) goalie in the league, and Teal is his team. Also, they seemed to be on a roll after the ass-whipping they gave us last week.

White won Consolation Game #2 against Al's team (White played Red and we played Black because White and Black had played each other last week), but I have to admit I didn't see much of it. I took a few photos when Al was on the ice, but I spent the rest of the time talking to Shauna, Scott, and Ilynn up in the lounge.

Jason brandishes the Stanley Keg

Al muscles a white player out of the way

Matt and Jared work the bar
(they also ref games, help out at the clinics, and play in the Juniors)

[Normally a photo of recent bruises would go here, but I'm covered in them at the moment, and it's hard to tell the snowboarding bruises from the hockey ones.]

Gary and Big John hang out in the lounge

Yesterday's game against Excite2 was also pretty good, and also much better than the previous week's effort. Since the game was at 8:10am on a Sunday morning (earlier than I usually get up on a weekday!), turnout was pretty low. We had to borrow a few guys from Inktomi, who had played at 6:45.

Our regulars included me, Big John, Rob (who skated out), Colin (who played goalie), Mike, and Alexei; Daniel came in the middle of the first period, and we took Derek, Alan, Jim, and Ed from Inktomi. I don't think we played particularly well as a *team*, but individually we worked hard, and that was almost as good. The score was much closer than last Monday (4-3 rather than 8-1), and I almost wonder if we'd played full 15-minute periods rather than 12-minute ones (we were running late, and a kids' game was scheduled after ours) whether we'd have won.

I was a little disappointed in myself that I resorted to knocking the puck out of the zone rather than skating it out (an old habit), especially since that invariably meant giving possession to Darren (77), 67, or 57 on Excite 2. (It turns out that 57 and 67 are brothers, which is why I didn't realize for so long that there were three scary defenders on that team, not two.) I did, however, make a couple nice passes across the ice to Daniel—one as he entered the slot, and the other when he was open at the blue line. I was proud of myself that I took the time to look around and see who was open before passing.

There wasn't much passing from Rob yesterday, which is unusual. I figure that he was just so focused on scoring that he forgot the rest of us were out there. Probably the fact that we all changed in different locker rooms contributed to that feeling, and to the lack of team play in general. I'd never considered it before, but I think changing together probably helps us all get an idea of who's going to be out there with us.

My right knee was really wonky from snowboarding on Saturday, so every time I pushed off pain shot through my body; it was kinda like twisting an ankle over and over again. Once I got moving, though, I could skate fairly well. It's still tweaky today (I can't pivot on that leg when walking, and going up stairs is tough), but hopefully a little Advil will get me through tonight's game against Excite1.