8 May 2002
I'm back! I'm back! Actually, I was back last Monday night, after a 3-game absence. My hip bruise has faded to kind of a grayish blob (it's actually very similar to the brownish blob I had on my shin for several months after getting hit with a slapshot), and it doesn't hurt anymore. (I can actually sleep on my right side now!) My shoulder is also doing much better; it's not 100% yet, but I can play with it.

The orthopedist wasn't sure whether I'd cracked my clavicle or just separated my shoulder (thereby pulling the ligaments), but as the prognosis was the same—the injury would heal itself in about 6 weeks—it didn't much matter. Last Monday was four weeks since the injury, and I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to play. After the game my shoulder felt like it had in the third week post-injury, but ice an Advil after the game took care of it. This week I didn't even have to ice after playing; it was a tiny bit sore, but easy to ignore.

me at the faceoff in Airdrie

Last night we played Guidant; the wonder twins and their dad were absent, but Lars was there (he must've been practicing his hockey moves while in physical therapy for his leg, because he's gotten really good). Apparently Guidant has beaten Hoffman (my old team) twice, but we've beaten Guidant twice. Last night the score was 7-1, and I had a hand in the seventh goal. I had either just come on or was back covering for a D pinching in, because I was up at the blue line when someone who was trying to break out up the middle lost the puck. I drove in and picked it up, looked toward the net, saw a teal jersey, and shot toward that side. Derek had great timing and knocked the puck in cleanly. He said later that it might have gone in without his help, but I said I'd take the assist on a score that sweet. :)

It occurs to me that until the preceeding paragraph I hadn't mentioned that I switched teams on Monday. The story is that this season is a little different from how Mondays have been historically; since Excite@Home is no longer a company, they no longer have a team, but several guys from Excite still wanted to play. This meant a bit of team-shuffling, and a new team (Guidant) joining the league. Big John gave me and Al the choice of continuing to play for Hoffman or moving to Coastside. We chose to stay on Hoffman, not realizing that most of the remaining Excite players were now Hoffman players, and most of the former Hoffmans were now on Coastside. The Excite guys were bemoaning the fact that they were now on a loser team and that the locker room wasn't as much fun before and after the game (probably because it's not the frathouse they're used to), and Rob J. and I were a bit sad that some of the rag-tag good nature of the previous team was lost. Basically, the Excite players missed Excite, and Rob and I missed Hoffman.

The first game with this team went OK, but I found that I didn't have nearly as much fun as usual. It worried me a little, but I figured it would get better. It didn't. The next week was much, much worse: we gained one player that I really liked, but there was another that made me so angry it drove me to distraction. I didn't like his style, I didn't like his attitude, I didn't like the way he expected everyone to follow his lead, and I didn't like the snarky way he punished people for not following. I seriously considered quitting altogether after that game; I was completely miserable, but I wanted Al to be able to continue playing with his friends, and I didn't see how we could make both of us happy. Al suggested that we ask John if we could be traded, and I agreed. John agreed, too, and the next week we switched to Coastside.

It was great right off: the joy was back. And so was Hoffman, in a way: all my former teammates were on Coastside, and they seemed happy to see us. Rob G. makes a great team captain: he's an excellent and generous player with a very easygoing manner. I swear nothing fazes him; during last night's game, in fact, he went hard into the corner to fight for the puck, and came out with both the puck on his stick and a juice box in his hand. None of us could believe it when he bent to pick it up, but it didn't slow him down any. (Turns out the juice box had fallen out of referee Shaun's pocket.)

We've got a great goalie in Mark Bonner, a well-balanced team, and I get to play with Al (it's turning out to be more fun than I thought it would be). The bonus: after every game the MVP gets a little yellow elephant squeaky toy to keep in his or her bag. Quite an incentive to go out and give your best, no? :)