Playoffs, The Finals (Game 2): Mark It Zero vs. Nice Marmot
Made a few more signs for this one:
In the hours leading up to the game, Justin emails us saying we’re going to be short on personnel for this game. Juke’s birthday was that night, and Ben was watching U. Arizona beat Duke in Anaheim. Both are suspect excuses (basketball being awful) when contending for a BEER LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP, something people will be talking about for generations to come.
I would get an opportunity early on the first shift as we stormed into their end on fresh ice. Todd, playing right wing since Miller was relegated to defense for this game, forced the puck through the slot area and it went un-touched as I rushed to get to the left post, where the biscuit was headed. I got a good shot off from in-close but the goaltender was equal to the task, after this it was all Marmot for a while.
Feller returned this game from his mysterious absence and wasn’t as dominant as we expected him to be, but he didn’t need to be. Marmot got out to a quick lead and we were staring at an 0-4 tally by the time the second period arrived. Marmot was playing sound defense the whole game, and did a great job of limiting shots. Andy had a few looks from the point, two of which Darren got great wood on for deflections, but they went over the crossbar or wide of the net.
This was a frustrating game for any Mark It Zero player or fan to watch. People were out of position defensively all game, allowing odd-man rushes galore and a couple breakaways. Justin actually did a fantastic job keeping this one somewhat within reach as we would make a 3rd period run of sorts. He would stop the first, second, third shots, but we would somehow leave a player open and he would score. Sometimes, on the backcheck, I would cover a man, and realize that there wasn’t a 2nd defenseman back, and that guy was open. It was like this all game.
We would finally get on the board in the late 2nd period. Gorski gained possession in their zone and had looked my way. I weaved into the slot and Gregg fed a pass over which I one-timed into the top left corner. Sounds filthier than it actually was. I didn’t get good wood on the shot, so it acted as more of a change-up flutter shot that found the twine. Whatever, we’re on the board. A quality pass by Gorski, who is playing very well of late.
A conversation was had during the 2nd intermission about Steve being put back to forward, perhaps even at the expense of me playing D, but we simply didn’t have enough guys to shakeup the lines.
Early in the 3rd period, we sensed that we had the momentum and that Marmot was becoming stagnant. Taking the puck into their zone and into the left corner, I made my way around the net bringing it to my backhand, freeing up my right hand to protect it. A Marmot defenseman aggressively poke-checked (read: slashed/speared) and I caught his stick with my right hand and threw it back in his direction. Ryan M. would later tell me that his stick went flying out of his hands. I found Miller at the right point and he let a shot go that went off the goalie’s pads and into the right corner. Being on that side already, I gathered the puck before the goalie could get positioned and threw a low shot at the net just inside the right post. I was amped up. As I turned to the fan section. Severi was looking right back at me from the other side of the boards - absolutely fired up. It was 4-2, the whole fan section was alive, and our team found new life as well.
But the mistakes - oh the mistakes. Justin would do all he could to keep us in this game, but Feller would end up scoring on a shot from the high slot (I know Justin wants this one back, and it really was his only mistake), and a couple more boneheaded goals were scored as well.
This loss falls on our atrocious team defense. We’ll be ready for Game 3.
STATISTICIANS:
Playoffs, The Finals (Game 1): Mark It Zero vs. Nice Marmot
Had a few minutes of downtime at work so I put these signs together:
Expecting this to be a great series, although Feller (their leading scorer) wasn’t there for this game. He wasn’t available for their first round matchup against Da Bulls and they smoked them like 8-1 in the first period, so we wanna pounce on this team quick.
VS NICE MARMOT
Todd got a rebound goal - his specialty. Don’t remember when, but I remember he got it. Sweeeet.
On another opportunity, the puck found me in the slot, and I took a slapshot that missed the left post (I don’t know when my slapshot will get better, but will keep pluggin away), caromed off the end boards, and found Miller’s stick right on the right doorstep. He put it away and I gave him a hugable.
I would get a penalty in this one. It is part of my repertoire to lift opposing players’ sticks with my stick and steal the puck out from under them. Upon completing a theft, I turned up ice and learned that I was being called for tripping. I have no idea what this guy did after I took the puck, but he ended up upside-down on the ice. I think Juke probably took a run at him or something. An absurd pity call in the first period when we got a quick lead on them. Shame on the officials. Again.
Gorski got a goal in this game. Todd, who had been playing hard all game, stole it from their defenseman in our end, and led a 2-on-1 to their net. Passing across to Gorski on the right side, Gregg found the smallest opening in between the goaltender’s hip and post. I really thought he had Gregg’s shot covered, but it was a well placed shot nonetheless. Was great to get an insurance goal on these guys. Sidenote about Gorski, the man has shrunken & plumped up as part of a challenge at his gym to lose the most weight & gain the most muscle. In each successive week he’s looked leaner. He’s been using HGH though, which they don’t test for in adult league hockey. Holla!
Miller and I had been weaving on the breakout all game and it helped the D-men find us through the neutral zone. On one such occasion, Juke threw a cross ice homerun-pass to me, but the Marmot defenseman was stepping in to intercept the pass. I reached back, poked the puck, which flipped it end-over-end over his head and sent myself in onsides on a breakaway. The other defenseman was gaining a little on me as we approached one another - me on the left and him on the right. Knowing I’m near-invincible with the puck (not bragging, just from a officiating perspective) I lowered my shoulder, stuck out my right leg to protect the puck, and drove through him. The impact did push me off the puck, and play was whistled dead. I thought I had drawn a penalty, certainly. I didn’t realize until I reached center-ice that I had drawn a penalty shot.
To give you background, I once won a shootout competition in the good old days (prize: Trevor Linden Bauer stick) but had never been awarded a penalty shot. Ryan was trying to give me a quick scouting report on the goaltender before I advanced, and with a handful of my friends watching, I proceeded in on Aryan Nation*. I knew what I was going to do from games past. I have lately been awful at finishing breakaways on my backhand, as I write about in this post, this one, and this one. I was going to fake a shot, fake backhand, and stuff it forehand. I went through the motions, handcuffed the goaltender, but fanned on the finishing attempt on my forehand.
Was a bit embarrassing not to score on a penalty shot at a crucial part of the game (3rd period, fairly late) but it feels better knowing we won the game comfortably back in the first period, and I got 2 assists in this one. The only regret I have is I probably should’ve brought some more speed in on the penalty shot, and maybe should’ve looked to go five-hole, as he has awfully small pads.
We ended up winning, I believe by the score of 4-2. We need to come at them even harder next week, as Feller will be back - so say the rumors.
*My little nickname for the goaltender that played for us during week 16 when we didn’t have Justin. He was playing net for Marmot this game.
STATS
Week 13-15: Mark It Zero vs. Nice Marmot/Lebowski/The Green Hornets
When work heats up, the blog suffers. Hockey recaps stall, memories fade, buildings collapse. The latter more because of structural impurities & shoddy engineering than my being busy w/ pilot season, but I digress. Here are my recollections of the last 3 (grimace) games:
VS NICE MARMOT
I didn’t bring my usual Marmot game offensively in this one, but we were able to get a lead on these guys. I’m not sure how much we were leading them by, but they caught up so it was 3-2 midway through the 3rd period.
After about a 35 second shift, there was a stoppage and Ben asked if I wanted to come off, advocating for shorter shifts. I motioned for just a bit more time on the ice. The ensuing action was all in our defensive zone, and just when we were about to clear the puck out finally, Marmot kept it inside our blue line, and threw it on net. I remember the puck doing the following: hitting off of a back/chest, off Andy’s face, and onto a Marmot player’s stick. All the caroms left Justin out of position, and the game tying goal was buried easily. On my way back to the bench, Derek in his passive-aggressive glory uttered, “See, another :30 turns into 2:00”. I let him know I thought he was an asshole. Game’s still tied.
On the next shift, Derek - who doesn’t pass - lost the puck as he was busy dangling near our own net. The Marmot player stole it, fed it in front, and Marmot was ahead 4-3 with about 4 minutes left.
Justin was talking about how one of the Marmot scoring plays were offside but the refs didn’t blow the play dead. I’m guessing he’s talking about when they tried to keep it in our zone during the shift Derek was timing from the bench.
Speaking of, one funny moment was when Miller and I looked on from the bench as Derek predictably brought it into their zone himself, had the puck in their corner as he looked to our open defenseman (good players pass at this point), CARRIED the puck to the right defenseman, then CARRIED the puck across to the left defenseman. At this point Miller snaps, yelling “PASS THE FUCKING PUCK!” in a quiet rink.
It’s a horrible loss to be a part of, but it didn’t eliminate our chances of finishing the season with the #1 seed, we just made more work for ourselves and “made things more exciting”. Bleugh. I went scoreless for the first time in a while, but thought I played well. Frustrating…
VS LEBOWSKI
Derek wasn’t available for this game, so we were sure there would be a lot of passing in this one.
Miller brought the wood this game, notching 4 goals. I’m trying to remember them all, but I assisted on 3 of them officially, one of them unofficially, and a teammate’s goal unofficially. The prettiest one came when I was angling on the right side of the slot, circled back, and found Miller’s forehand with a nice, backhanded thread across the slot. Steve released it quickly to the top shelf. That assist was credited incorrectly to Darren, but I can’t be pissed because Darren’s the man. I take this lapse of officiating as a compliment, actually, at how sick the pass was. The ref just didn’t think it was plausible that it was me who made that pass but rather someone in closer proximity to Miller…whatever I cry nightly about it…
This game got out of hand early. We had scored about 8 goals (at least) in the first period. Justin took the high road at the first intermission, telling us that we should take it easy and work on passing. We came out the 2nd period looking obviously different. A bit more passive, working it to our Ds. We still played, but the urgency was obviously not where it was in the first period. When the second intermission came, some representative (I’m guessing their captain) came over to our team huddle and told us to destroy them - to keep playing. We had respect for that, so we obliged.
A later goal Miller notched (his 3rd or 4th), was a product of our forechecking. Their defenseman had the puck in their corner and panicked as I brought the pressure. He committed the cardinal sin on defense by throwing the puck right in front of his own net, where Miller was waiting. BOOM! I was exited at both my influence on this play and his excellent read & positioning that I had my hands up after what was probably the 10th goal of the evening, so some Lebowski bench players had some words for me for acting excited to play the game. I understand how this behavior could’ve been perceived as irritating, but what did you think was going to happen when you tell us to run up the score?
Final score - Too much - Not Enough
VS THE GREEN HORNETS
The way our league is broken down, Da Bulls, Nice Marmot, and us are in a dogfight for 1st, and The Green Hornets & Lebowski are the bottom feeders fighting for the last playoff spot. This one was anticipated to be another ugly one but you never know when one of these teams will surprise you like when Lebowski had a quick 3-0 lead on us earlier in the season.
I can actually provide accurate scoring information on this game as I have the scoresheet (framed) here.
Goal 1: Miller and I are in the high-slot on our respective sides of the ice. Steve’s carrying the puck and tries to get it across to me, but it’s a high pass (perhaps deflected) fluttering towards my chest. I gloved it to my stick, and shot it through.
Goal 2: This one started very typically with me coming into the zone hot on the left side off a sick pass from our defensemen. They played this one well with two defensemen back. I passed it across to Miller when he entered the zone, and crept behind him. He found me with a sick backhanded saucer on the right side and all I thought was DO NOT MISS THIS. Filthy play.
Goal 3: This was essentially a breakaway, even though there was a defender on my right side the whole way. I was bearing down on the goaltender going about 9/10ths speed, faked across and went to stuff it in the left side backhanded. The fake worked, sending the goalie flying to the right, but I had run out of space and stuffed it outside the post on the side of the net. The puck sorta stayed there for Miller, who made a heads-up play in taking out the trash. It just occurred to me that I could’ve scored a hat trick in under 10 minutes.
Goal 4: This was Ben’s goal, but Miller and I assisted. Are you paying attention? Miller and I have a 4 goal point streak alive right now. WTF? I wish I could’ve remembered this goal a bit better but the more memorable one came later when Ben roofed it.
Goal 6: I have a vague recollection of this goal. I know I was on the left post and that I had been given a sick pass across. Turns out it was from Miller. GO FIGURE. Hatty.
Goal 8: This was Ben’s roofjob. Sick. He fit it over the netminder’s shoulder in the smallest opening. At least from my perspective it looked small but maybe it was a better idea from where he was standing. Love it either way. Steve and I got assists just for witnessing this. It made sense at the time. This is how the refs work.
Goal 9: On this rush later in the 3rd period, our lines did a half-change and I found myself on the ice with Ryan and Gregg. Ryan had the puck and either missed the net or dumped it - perhaps both - and it ended up in the left corner. I pivoted and saw both players bearing down on the net. I threaded it to Gorski (in better position), and he put it away. The assist goes to…Ryan. Whatever, bro.
Goal 10: On the power play, Andy and I were together 2-on-1. We played catch with it for 4 passes as the goaltender was trying to figure out who would shoot. Andy did.
Miller (1g 5a) and myself (3g 4a) scored 13 points combined. This output was a new career high, but even in a blowout success like this: what stays in my mind are the missed opportunities. I tried to wrap one rebound I corralled in front of the net around the sprawled out goaltender, and hit iron. One clean breakaway I just blew (I think I lost possession), and on the broken scoring breakaway where I missed a wide open backhand put-away after juking the goalie. That one needed The Finisher to come in and git’ er done.
We play these guys again next week, but at the moment we’re gearing up for Da Bulls tomorrow. As you can see they have 5 players that are top scorers in the league, where we have 3:
They have some fast guys and will send 4 players up on offense (at least) so we’re going to have to play loads of defense. Should be a fast pace.
Posted February 9, 2011 at 10:09am in recap hockey mark it zero league nice marmot lebowski Green Hornets
Week 10: Mark It Zero vs. Nice Marmot
The big game. While Da Bulls (and everyone else, for that matter) seem to have improved, we’ve never beaten Nice Marmot and they will always be the true test. Miller, unfortunately, was unavailable for this huge game as he got arrested for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and striking a police officer*. This really sucks, as we’d like to field a full team against these guys, but the fact remains that I tallied 6 points against these guys without Miller, and ever since he’s been on the scene I’ve become a pass-first, less aggressive player. Passing will still happen but we gotta keep an eye on Feller (1st in the league in points) defensively this time around or things might get out of hand quickly.
VS NICE MARMOT
I was able to get dressed and get out there for the pre-game skate, but we had about 3 or 4 players on the ice warming up. Most of the team didn’t make it out until the 1st period started, and even Justin didn’t face any shots before the game. which was notable. True to form, we gave up two quick goals at the start of the first period. This was another hole we’d have to get out of, but at least the predicament is a familiar one.
Halfway through the 1st, Ben was carrying the puck through the neutral zone and I was doing all I could to stay onsides as he bore down on the blue line. With excellent awareness, Ben noticed I was about to go in before him, so he reached the puck out as I crossed the line, pulled it back in and charged the net. I’m not sure if he got an initial shot off, but he had the puck behind their net, fed me in front, and I lifted the puck on the tip of my backhand over the goaltender’s shoulder. It would stay 2-1 Marmot going into the 2nd.
The 2nd period was mostly uneventful scoring-wise. I got a penalty for bumping their man off the puck. Nobody fell down, I just positioned my body in between them and the puck and stopped his momentum. The ref deemed it, of all things, interference. Interference, for the uninitiated, is when you hit somebody when they’re away from the puck. This call was disgraceful.
The penalty expired thankfully without damage. On one rush late in the period, I was being harassed by the defenseman in front of the net. He hit me in the back and shoved me to the ground, as I threw a pass backward through my legs with my remaining balance. I went face-first into the ice but turned around to see the puck find the twine with :10 left in the period. I would find out later that Ryan Murphy got a stick on it, and we’re tied 2-2 going into the final stanza.
The next shift was huge for us. Juke joined the rush and I was behind him entering the zone. Making his way through the Marmot defensemen, he had lost his handle of the puck (or creatively left it for me) and I shot it through the two-person screen he had set up. 3-2. On the ensuing face-off, he was again leading the rush and we found ourselves in a similar situation, except it was a 2-on-2 with me to his right. Juke’s pass was in my skates but only because the D was playing me well and that’s the only place he could put it. I quickly kicked it to my stick (past the defender), brought the puck across to the backhand, and shoved it in the far side of the net right as they were announcing our last goal. There are few feelings as cool as scoring while your name is being announced as the last goal scorer. Never thought I’d ever experience this.
There was still the entire 3rd period in front of us, but Nice Marmot never fully recovered from that shift. They would add another tally to make it closer at 4-3. We got excited on offense and they had an odd man rush on the counterattack. I think it was a 3-on-1. Really bad news. Justin made a huge save on the initial shooter, but our guys hadn’t gotten back and covered all 3 of their forwards so the 3rd guy scored on a following chance. I got another penalty, this time for tripping. I had zero penalty minutes coming into this game and I got two in one game. Luckily (or skillfully) we did a great job killing the penalty and we got an insurance tally in the waning moments. Derek, who played a good game but hadn’t found the net, made a sick backhanded pass to Ryan at the side of the net for his 2nd of the match.
Final score, 5-3 Mark It Zero.
We beat Nice Marmot. Finally.
CLOSE CALLS: Derek had about 80 chances (some of them beautiful) to score in this game and either shot late or took too long in the process of shooting. He seems to favor his wrister rather than snapping a quick shot off. As the first period came to a close, I drew the puck out of a defender’s skates as we were all scrambling in front of their net for possession, and had about 3 chances to score point blank on their netminder. They were low quality, as I just tried to bury it underneath him, but in hindsight I probably should’ve just tried deking around him. There was another opportunity in the 3rd where I finally had the chance to unload a slap shot from the right hash mark. I got a new Synergy for Chanukah so I was ready to utilize my new toy on the far left post but I missed wide. I’m going to score on one of those and it’s going to be a nice, warm feeling but I’ll have to wait on that.
We have two weeks off before our next tilt against the Green Hornets. We’re now tied for 1st place, but have played one less game than the other two teams. Standings in the stats link below.
*I’d tell you the real reason (I don’t know it) but it wouldn’t be as cool.
stats (season)
Week 7: Mark It Zero vs. Nice Marmot
This was a big matchup. A battle for first place. Nice Marmot has lost twice and we have only lost once (to Nice Marmot), but they have a game on us, so it all equals out eventually. Autumn was looking to come watch this tilt, and Ryan was going to come by after his softball game. I watched some Don Cherry vids to pump myself up, and off we go.
VS NICE MARMOT
It was important to get a jump on this team right off the bat, but things went substantially awry when we blinked a couple of times and looked at the scoreboard. 5-0 Marmot. How the hell did this happen?
I really don’t remember all the goals but generally they are all related in that we didn’t play tremendous team defense. Generally, we got caught up the ice as 4 Marmot players would counterattack.
We dug a large hole for ourselves early, but it was still about halfway into the first period, so we did have time on our side, and put together a run. I’m pretty sure Andy, Ben, and Todd scored, and I got the 4th simply just hammering at the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rebounds in front of the net. It was a disgusting garbage goal that was scored solely by willpower alone. Once I scored, I stood over the goaltender, glaring at him knowing I’m not getting a taunting penalty in adult league hockey. It was a classless move that probably was executed poorly but it felt kinda good anyway and we were within one goal.
At this point, Marmot scored again, padding their lead a bit. During the Mark It Zero moments I’m noticing a significant crowd reaction. I looked up from the bench to see that not only Ryan, but Adam Severi, Pete Saroufim, and Mark Ramos had come to root us on. The momentum had swung our way, and we were noticeably skating harder.
On one scoring chance late in the 3rd, a pass came across to Miller, as I myself was crossing through the slot. This helped screen the goalie, but I could tell Miller was going to either one-time this pass or shoot it very quickly after receiving it. As I turned around noticing what was happening, I jumped and hoped he wouldn’t hit me. He didn’t, and apparently put it through as he bear-hugged me before I knew what had happened. The Closer doing what he does.
Later on, I found myself on the ice, but all the forwards were lined up, so I played the left point. The position itself is a fimiliar one, but I was just as desperate as the next guy to send this piece into overtime, and time was quickly winding down. As Andy had the puck down low in their end, I pinched down and had a great scoring chance but the goalie made a nice save, and action went the other way. None of the forwards saw that I pinched, so it was a 2-on-1, or maybe even a 3-on-1 going the other way. I tried like hell to get back, but for some reason I hadn’t brought the speed that game, and it felt like I had a parachute behind me. Marmot* scores again.
Some would say we lost, some would say we simply ran out of time. The league would say we lost.
Final score, 7-5 Marmot.
If we don’t have that miserable first period, we beat these guys. Perhaps the next time we play them we should actually start conservatively and have it be us counterattacking once we get the pacing down. Next on our slate is Lebowski. We didn’t beat them by much last time, so we’ll look to lay the hammer down on dem fools next week. The good news is that since Nice Marmot’s on a bye week, and if we win against Lebowski, then we’re back in a first place tie. Mmmmm.
CLOSE CALLS: I left a few chances in the 3rd period on the table, including a slapshot which got away from me and into the netting, the aforementioned, ill-advised pinch attempt, on one play I had it behind the net and tried banking it off the goaltender’s pads. Also, on a 2-on-1, I thought to pass first instead of taking a higher percentage shot from the slot. That one is the opportunity I most regret coming out of this one. Earlier, in the 1st period, I fed the puck across into the slot on the power play to Darren, who got a decent shot off, but the goaltender was there for it. On the brighter side, we dodged a bullet when Feller blew a slapshot by Justin cleanly, only to hit the crossbar. I was ready to line up at center ice after that shot blew by him but somehow it stayed out. Nuts.
*When I say Marmot, I should just say Feller. Pretty sure he scores all their goals. Him and some other turkey.
stats (season)
Week 3: Mark It Zero vs. Nice Marmot
I was waiting all week for this one. Steve’s triumphant return to the game he loves so dearly, a clash of two undefeated Lebowski league teams, the storylines were there. Autumn came to watch this game, and her sole request was that we both score. We figured that wasn’t too much to ask, but we were more concerned with getting the win. Watching Nice Marmot play after our Bulls game, it seemed like they weren’t a skating team but more of a passing team. They play their positions well, which can’t be taken for granted in this breakaway & odd man rush league. If you play your position in an adult league, you save yourself a lot of wasted effort skating around like a douchebag.
VS NICE MARMOT
Two undefeated teams and not a defense between ‘em. This game worked wonders for each goaltender’s GAA & Save Percentage, as it was back-and-forth all game long.
I should start keeping the scoresheet, or at least taking a pic of it. I don’t remember the scoring timeline, but we were never more than a goal or two ahead or behind. We came out flying in the first period. Steve and I had that same chemistry, and we had several scoring chances on the first rush. Marmot looked flat and it would’ve been nice to get a goal out of their passive play out of the gate. Miller was pleasantly and unpleasantly surprised by the game’s pace. He tells me “This is like varsity!” I guess, except nobody is playing their position.
Marmot must’ve been behaving last week when I scouted them a bit, because they were sending 4 guys into the offensive zone pretty hard in our game. The result manifested itself in goals on both sides as well as a lot of odd man rushes on their lone D man. I don’t seem to remember my first goal, but it was scored in similar manner to the 2nd goal, which was off of a rebound. In my brief experience in this league, goaltenders seem to be picking up the first shot rather well, so I’ve been cashing in on rebounds. My initial shot was low-blocker side (this goalkeep was a lefty). The puck found it’s way back on my stick and I buried it.
The third goal was pretty nice, as Steve and I collaborated on it. We had discussed beforehand that if there was no clear pass across, that we would take a low shot at the net to effectively pass it to each other off the goalie’s pads if it didn’t go through. Miller was coming down the right wing and I was bearing down on the left post. The angle was disappearing and it was unclear whether or not he’d have enough time or space to be able to take the shot on net. I wasn’t looking at Steve at all. He had a defender draped all over him, and even I wasn’t so sure it was going to work on this rush. I stared at the goaltender’s pads for a few seconds, and a puck squirted on net and trickled across the crease. Following it all the way, I picked it off the ice on my backhand and either tied it or put us ahead*.
Miller took the leash off his beastly backhand and corralled one right into the top half of the net. I want to say this one found the top right corner over the goaltender’s left shoulder. Steve has eyes on the side of his head and knows exactly where he’s putting his backhanders. The shot was filthy good, and you felt victimized just watching it find the back of the net. The worst part is that he acts unaware of how gnarly his backhands are, which is horrible news for goaltenders because this means it’s ingrained in his muscle memory.
Stamina’s a problem area, though. Miller was huffing and puffing and I remember some exchange on the bench that sounded something like:
Steve: Dude I’m done.
Me: Oh. Now?
Steve: Yeah man I just can’t…(huff)…ca-…(puff)
The game ended in an 8-7 loss. This was painful. We know we’re better than this team and they had some lucky goals. My output this game was 3g 3a. I’d call this atypical, but Steve went so far as to say it’s the best game he’d seen me play. While flattered (he’s seen me skate for probably 17 years). It didn’t seem like I did anything differently other than focus on finishing. None of my goals have been pretty. Working on that.
CLOSE CALLS: There may as well be a section of close calls on every recap, because as well as things have been going offensively for us, they could be much much better. In the second period, I came down the right side with speed and unloaded a slap shot that was labeled for the top left corner. It was gloved easily by the Marmot goaltender**, which is when I realized he was a lefty (glove on right hand). I was pretty upset that I placed a fantastically accurate shot towards the corner I wanted, but chose the wrong corner. Bleugh. Another chance came when we had a faceoff at center ice. I was playing center this shift, and the other center took the strategy of boxing me out. I finagled my way around the center, took the puck away from the winger, went through the defensemen and let a low shot go towards the net. Didn’t score, but somehow went through 3-4 guys to get a legitimate scoring chance. As I beat the last man back, I heard an audible gasp, which I thought was pretty cool. I usually don’t hear anything when I’m playing, other than the game itself.
To say we had no defense might not be fair. I thought we played rather well defensively as a team. We only had one more player than we’re used to having, giving us 2 forwards and 1 defenseman on the bench. I know I blew a few defensive assignments on the backcheck that didn’t immediately result in any goals, but I still know is unacceptable.
I can’t believe it took me this long to write a recap. Our next (and first) game against Lebowski is tomorrow night.
*Man, these posts would be much more dramatic if I actually had some factual information.
**On one scoring opportunity, I looked back and the goaltender had a long ponytail coming out of the back of their helmet and someone yelled “Nice save, Tammy!”. This would lead any person of average intelligence to believe that we were shooting on a girl. The guys told me after the game that it is, indeed a man. More information when the news breaks.
stats (season)
