Archive for the 'hockey' Category

Playing goalie: why do they do it?

Published on December 10, 2008 in hockey. 4 Comments

Goalies have a reputation for being crazy, insane, or a little “off”. What drives an individual to jump into the position? Is it an inherit personality trait? An unfortunate accident? I have my own reasons, of course, but I wondered what makes other people do it? I asked a few goalie friends of mine, and got some interesting responses.

It was an accident. Most of the people I talked to were former defensemen. Me too, I suppose. One day the goalie can’t show up, or the team loses a goalie, and the next thing you know you’re volunteering to strap on the pads. I find that you either take to it right away, or you don’t like it.

They love the thrill. Being able to trash-talk to friends about stopping all their “weak” shots is certainly fun if you’ve got friends that can handle it. (Hehe!) And there’s the ecstatic feeling of making that one stupendous save that makes everyone in the arena cheer. I’m sure every athlete regardless of sport or position knows what that feels like.

Bring on the pressure. Probably the most logic-defying reason to play goalie is actually enjoying being the last line of defense for the team. A player can not score goals and the team can still at least tie game, a defenseman can miss a check or a pass and the team can still win, but if a goalie errors more than once, it could easily spell defeat. A goalie is relies on the skill of his team to win the game as much as the team relies on the goalie to play to perfection as much as possible.

Personally, I’m a mix of all of the above. I started playing hockey when I was 22 and played defense my first year because I was one of two people on the team who could kind of skate backwards. Our goalie announced she was leaving at the end of the season and I volunteered to be goalie next year if we didn’t find another one. I played street hockey that summer in preparation, as well as some pickup here and there. I took to it right away and absolutely loved the pressure, the glory and the action. Don’t get me wrong, my team was horrible, but it certainly gave me a lot of practice. :)

Thanks to joecwik, joeboughner, hockeycardshow, kezbat, GhostOtaku, alaskanchick and jasonboche for their responses.

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8 Annoying Oversights Arena Designers Make

Published on October 30, 2008 in hockey and rants. 1 Comment

Normally I detest top X lists, but I started making this one in my head tonight as I parked in an arena for a late game, and I figured it would be a fun post for a Friday. :)

1. The parking lot is 5 miles from the front door. Seriously, hockey players and especially goalies have to carry a lot of crap all the way from the automobile to the door. There’s a reason a ton of hockey bags have wheels now, but that doesn’t make it okay to require us to walk to the arena from Timbuktu. And wheels suck in the snow.

2. The doors are “regular” size. Dude, hockey bags don’t fit through doors very easily. Oversized doors and/or working sliding doors are an amazing invention. Use them!

3. Stairs between the ice and the change room. (OMG, I have become Canadianized, I don’t say “locker room” anymore!) Believe it or not, I’ve seen this on a few occasions. And one arena near Waterloo, Ontario actually super narrow stairs with a turn-around in the middle of the flight of stairs. Try getting through there with goalie equipment on. I’m 5′ tall and it’s a squeeze.

4. No visible board for change room numbers. Even worse is when they make you give your keys for a room key, and it’s a late game, so the attendant is no where to be found when you need to get your keys back.

4. No bar. For Pete’s sake, this should be a requirement!

5. No benches or viewing area. If it’s a super-cold rink, the very basic glass dividing the foyer and the rink is much appreciated by fans.

6. Boards that are ridiculously high — not suitable for jumping over. There’s an arena (in London, Ontario I think) that, I kid you not, the boards come nearly up to my neck. Not only that, but the doors are half the size of normal. Line changes are not swift.

7. Tiny change rooms. You have to have enough to fit 10-15 hockey players and their equipment.

8. I saved the best for last. Only a urinal in the change room. No toilet. I’m not kidding. Almost as bad is when there’s no door!

I’m sure there are more. Feel free to add your own!

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Congrats…Ducks?

Published on June 7, 2007 in hockey. 0 Comments

I’ve always maintained that Alfredsson is a weenie. His antics in Game 5 were no exception.

I was rooting for the Ducks in the series, but only by default. The only team in the NHL I absolutely can’t cheer for is Ottawa, and Alfredsson is the reason for that.

Someone please take him out back and give him an attitude adjustment.

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Hockey and the internet? Count me in!

Published on April 11, 2007 in geekiness, hockey and life news. 0 Comments

I finally found some time to sit down and breathe a bit and actually post to my blog. I’ve been working all hours, trying to fit my life around work, and getting little sleep. I’m actually supposed to be working right now, but I figured I needed to step back for a bit and then tackle it with a fresh mind.

I’m really excited to be working on hockey.com as it combines the two passions in my life - hockey and the internet. I can’t really say anything here other than it’s going to kick ass (and the design will be 1000% better than what’s there now). It had better kick ass because I need and like my job!

Now if I can just get someone to pay me to play hockey too…

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Interview with Sportsexpress

Published on April 2, 2007 in hockey. 0 Comments

A while back the editor for Sportsexpress, Ian Palmer (aka “Hockey Dude”) interviewed me about my experiences with hockey and being a goalie.

The Goaliegirl is the resulting story from that interview.

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Goalie Humor.

Published on March 27, 2007 in hockey, humor and thing-o-the-day. 0 Comments

Definitely a must-see. Clark, the Canadian Hockey Goalie, a short by George Plamondon (link via blindluck) is hilarious - especially if you’re a goalie.

Watching the short reminded me of a SNL goalie drills video I saw a while back that I absolutely loved. It still cracks me up, even after seeing it for the tenth time.

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Hockey on the internet.

Published on January 30, 2007 in geekiness and hockey. 0 Comments

There are a few hockey sites I visit, but these days I mostly use RSS to catch up on hockey news. When hockey season is in full swing, I use Yahoo! Sports and NHL News for news and game recaps, but I normally visit ESPN or Canoe for score updates. I’ve found that there’s not really a whole lot out there for reading about hockey in general. Other than Wikipedia for history, of course. But what about finding new drills for practice, or off-ice drills, or hockey-specific workouts? Not much.

The NHL has a new beta hockey community called NHL Connect, while it seems like a good idea, it seems rather bland and lacks a certain “fun” aspect.

What hockey websites to you visit? What do you like most about them?

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Seriously f’ed up.

Published on April 17, 2006 in hockey and thing-o-the-day. 0 Comments

This is just not right. Video showing a junior hockey game, and a guy in the background saying “Shake it off, son” after the kid gets hit. And it’s not just a regular check into the boards…

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Don’t say the “S” word!

Published on March 28, 2006 in hockey. 0 Comments

Winter hockey is over, for me at least. And maybe the Leafs.

That’s okay though. Those of you who know me, know that’s not going to stop me. :) Usually I play pickup in the summer, and join a regular weekly hockey session, and do a lot of filling in when a goalie is needed. I tend to actually play more in the summer than in the winter.
Wayde and I have joined the Warren Hockey league. We have played together before on the HTHL, but it wasn’t a regular thing, usually just when his team needed a goalie. The guy that runs the league is a former coach of mine, back when I played for the Waterloo Eagles. Great guy, and a great coach. He “refs” this league, and that is a very loose term. It’s basically organized pickup, but with a ref and stats/scoring. There’s not really any icing or off-sides (except when it’s really really off side). The goal of the game is to have fun, keep the puck moving and keep the game going. This is a very Good Thing because that means I’m actually forced to play the puck, and I definitely need that practice.

Our first game was on Sunday and we won 6-1. It would have been 6-0, but someone had to go and say the “S” word. The other team scored with less than two minutes left. It was one of those knuckleballer wobbly shots, and I have a hard time with those. I’ll take a nice wrist shot over that any day. :)

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You’ve got me all excited.

Published on January 8, 2005 in hockey. 0 Comments

Thanks to Clark and Steph for commenting on my last entry — now I’m inspired to actually update!

My team played Sarnia last night. They’ve been known to be a really tough team in the past, but they’re not doing as well this year. Key words: “as well”. They’re still in third in the league. We lost 6-0, which is pretty good considering I only had a chance on about 3 of those goals and typically lose by about 8 goals to them.

My friend Nancy is the other goalie for my team. Have I mentioned that I’m playing for the Woodstock Freeze now? Well, if I haven’t, now you know. Special. Anyway, she got injured a few games ago while playing Dorchester. Dorchester is the new “Sarnia” of the league. Hacking, slashing, running up the score. They cheered like crazy after scoring the 6th goal on me. Sheesh. We ended up losing that game 7-3 because we ended up playing 5 on 3 when they had a full penalty box, which allowed us to score 3 goals.

What was I saying?

Oh yeah, so Nancy is injured. It totally sucks for her. She’s the most hockey-passionate person I know (aside from myself of course). It looks like she might be out for the rest of the season, too. When she was playing against Dorchester, they ran the net and she twisted her knee. Somehow she managed to play the rest of the game, but ended up with a torn ligament in her knee. Having played goalie for 30+ years, her knees are already a mess. Wish her a speedy recovery. She’s still running her goalie clinics, so I hope that helps.

I just hope I’m like her when I grow up and still retain the love of hockey she has. :)

Work is going well. I feel like I might actually be only slightly drowning in work now, but it’s a good thing. There’s always something to learn. And my title is now Network Administrator rather than “Technician”. Woot!

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