MG's salvage season

[Martysgirl74]

Due to stupidly breaking my ankle in the first month of the season I've missed, by my calculations, a minumum of 20 games. Not to mention losing my spot in two of the four leagues that I play in. More details on that later. So, this season I'm playing for my women's team, the Helena Ice Pack and my over 50 men's league team. Stay tuned for updates on both teams....

[Martysgirl74]

My seaon got back on track when I made my return to the ice Dec. 29 playing for the Ice Pack vs. Bozeman Wild Weasles. It was an ugly game on my part. My legs were weak and stiff from lack of skating. I didn't even skate a practice before that game. My movement was severly hampered and I feel that I was probably only playing at about 45% (yes that bad). All I could think about on the ice was not hurting myself. I just wanted to make it to the end of the game still alive and in one piece. I was fighting off pucks as best I could, but it felt so awkward. I hadn't struggled that much since my first season in the net.

It was with just over 5 min. left in the 3rd period that my team scored to take the lead 1-0. Up until that point, I hadn't even noticed what the score was. I was only focussed on keeping the puck out of my net. I actually thought to myself, "wow, I've got a shutout going." Normally I wouldn't even allow myself to think such a thing, but I as so taken by surprise that I couldn't stop myself. Thinking that I may have jinxed myself, I played that last 5 min. with a renewed determination. My movement improved and I held on to the win. When the buzzer sounded I couldn't believe it. My first skate in 3 months with a bad leg and I had myself a shutout!

[Martysgirl74]

It was wonderful to return my 50+ league (of which I'm an honorary 50 yo). The guys welcomed me back with open arms. This team is the most fun of all the teams that I play for. The games are friendly, but highly competitve. The skill and speed are good as well. So far I've played two games.

The first, was a little shaky to begin with. My movement was nearly back to normal, but I was losing my net which was responsible for two of the goals that I allowed. On the first one I had drifted too far and gave the shooter too much room on the far side. The second one I made the save, unfortunately I was 2 feet deep in my net at the time, lol. But for every bad goal that I allowed I had at least two highlight reel type saves. The most impressive one was a 2 on 0 where I stopped the initial shot, but the rebound came out to the trailer. I dove a crossed to my left and bam, glove save! I'll be the first to say that there was a lot of luck on that save, but I guess I was rewarded for my effort. The game ended tied 4-4.

The second game I didn't feel as strong as I did in the first. The action on my end was slow to start out with and it was difficult to get a rhythm going. I focused on my fundamentals and put in a good performance, though, and got the win 3-1. Movement was good and my BF slides were improved. It still hurts to drop to BF, but the pain was much less with this game. I was pleased with that.

[Martysgirl74]

I continue to pwn in my Wed. night 50+ league. Last game's score was 10-3. I wasn't even tested this week as I think I saw less than 20 shots total, and no shots for the first 8 min of the game.

[Martysgirl74]

After two miserable weeks of practice with my women's team I was left wondering if I really wanted to continue playing with them. I've been frustrated by the lack of commitment that I'm seeing from a good portion of my teammates. It irritates me that they don't seem to want to improve. I wouldn't leave them in the middle of the season as I'm the only goalie they have, but I've been thinking that this may be my last season playing with them. All of this would be nothing if I was enjoying myself out there, but I'm no longer having fun with them.

Tonight's practice was not a big improvement over the last two, though the srimmage teams were a lot more even. My teammates are complaining about everything that you can imagine. Generally, as a goalie, I'm able to ignore all this kind of stuff. Unfortunately, this season the bad will is seeping its way into my crease. Somehow, I've got to find a way to change my attitude and fast. We are hosting a tournament in two weeks!
If I can't find my happy place its not going to be pretty.

[Frozendisc]

Take solace in getting ice time, use it to work on improving your game, pick little things each time out......reverse the old shooters attitude, "well we need somebody to shoot at", to......"I need people shooting at me to work on my game" and do just that... work on your game, forget the team BS...

[Martysgirl74]

Take solace in getting ice time, use it to work on improving your game, pick little things each time out......reverse the old shooters attitude, "well we need somebody to shoot at", to......"I need people shooting at me to work on my game" and do just that... work on your game, forget the team BS...

I'm trying to do this, but unfortunately only about a 1/4 of the players on the team can really challenge me. And if I do try to do something fun like play without my stick or from my BF they assume I'm not ready and don't shoot at all. I've tried to explain that as long as I'm looking at them and fully geared up its okay to shoot, but they just don't get it.

The worst thing about this is that its starting to have an adverse affect on my game. Last night after practice I subbed in beer league. I let in 3 softies before I finally shook off the hangover from my women's team. I'm losing confidence and starting to doubt myself. I very rarely have this problem. Even when I have a bad outing I take it as an off night and tell myself that next game is a different game. Now, however, I'm having trouble doing that. :(

[Cerberus1]

Man, I know exactly how you feel. My Womans team is pretty much the same. Our Captain is horrible and we can't keep a coach for very long 'coz the players always have some kind of problem with them (like he makes us work :rolleyes:). Once we played a team of under-13 year olds for practice and we only just won like 1-0. I had a ton of shots which I saved easily and we only had like 3 shots on their little goalie. How can they not skate around 10 year olds?!
Anyway, I know its really hard to keep a positive attitude. I mostly just tryed to keep the score as low as possible with no defence and used it as practice for the other grades I play in. I'm not sure how you can change other peoples attitudes. Maybe if you tried to show them how much it means to you they might put in more effort for you? If I find something that works with my Womans team I will let you know.

Good luck, and I hope things get better for you :)

[Frozendisc]

That's the thing......If I play a game in which we are dominating, well...I just do not see the action or shots, this makes it very hard to keep my focus, so THAT becomes the GAME...keeping the focus. It is same with teams that really can't shoot very well, you always give up a goal that is just stupid or what we all call soft. Well, that is just not having focus, which is something we all need to work on constantly. I love playing "down" because of this, it really makes me work on focus, and the speed of the game is so slow, you really can work on angles and such, being as close to perfect as possible. Then BAM....you give up a goal.....you were not focused, and they made you pay for it. Knowing WHAT to do, and ALWAYS doing it, is what really decides who is good, and who is great.....I'll stop the philosophy now, and I hope I didn't get too coach oriented......

[Martysgirl74]

First of all I'd like to thank Frozen and Cerberus for their help. I'm trying to take what I can from every game or practice, but it isn't always easy.

Its a totally different thing to play with a women's team, as Cerberus knows. I'm proud to say that I play with some wonderful women, however, at this skill level most of my teammates are not as athletically minded as myself. The majority of women just don't get it, and if they don't have a concept of team strategy or how to read the play they will never learn it. For this group of women it's enough to come out and skate every week and enjoy the exercise and social aspects.

Unfortunately, for those of us who understand the subtle nueances of hockey, this kind of ambivelance toward the game that we love is frustrating to say the least. If I evaluate my teammates, the ones that are competent players have a history of playing team sports. The ones that struggle had never played an organized team sport until they started playing hockey. Sadly this group of players makes up the majority of my team. I'm not trying to be harsh on my sex, but that's how it is.

[Martysgirl74]

Wednesday night was not to be my night. It started early with two softies on the ice that I should have had. Still I maintained my cool for the most part only letting out one F bomb after the first goal. No stick slamming just focussed on the task at hand....stopping that next shot. I played solid....not spectacular, but solid for the remainder of the evening.

Unfortunately, my teammates weren't so focussed. The next goal was the result of a 4 on 0. Yep, that's right 4 on 0! In retrospect my only chance on this play may have been to poke check, but as my poke check is rather enemic I didn't go for it. I doubt that if I had the result would have been much different. The rest of the night continued the same way with a host of odd man rushes. I continually saw 2, 3, and 4 shots in a row(I've got to work on my rebound control). When the buzzer sounded, I found myself on the short end of a 6-2 loss. I'll chalk this one up to a bad night all around and hopefully next week will be back to normal.

[Frozendisc]

I have a great poke-check.....maybe I should come out there and show you how a poke-check works.......LOL

[Martysgirl74]

You know...you're the third guy to offer that to me this week. ;):p:D

[Frozendisc]

Only the third......you must not need much help then, because most guys would be willing to help out a girl if he thought she really needed it! LOL
Back to topic: You sound like you have a great sense of humor, take that out on the ice. Remember when you play with the team that mostly isn't into it, that they are there for fun.....so you should just have fun also. Of course, in our goalie world (you know we goalies live in our own little world) you will still be focusing on the proper technique, angles and such.....working on your game.....

[Martysgirl74]

Here's an article on my women's team. Yes, the writer is a douche. You shouldn't pay attention to my bad form either.

http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/02/14/sports/top/50spl_080214_hockey.txt

[Punisher]

Here's an article on my women's team. Yes, the writer is a douche. You shouldn't pay attention to my bad form either.

http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/02/14/sports/top/50spl_080214_hockey.txt





This weekend will see Kirkeby try to stop pucks.

Hahahahahaahhaahahaha Do or do not, there is no try.

pun.

[Martysgirl74]

Hey, I said the writer was a douche didn't I?
:p:D

[Martysgirl74]

Played three games today switching between two teams. The first game was with the Helena Ice Pack Gray team. It wasn't a good game teamwise. The defense was flat and the offense non-existant. Worst thing about it was that the team we were playing was short and borrowed players from the other Helena team. I was playing my own teammates. I managed to limit the damage, but when it was all said in done I was on the short end of a 2-0 score.

The second game was the Helena Ice Pack Blue team vs. Missoula Frost. Blue was a better team than the gray. Strong defense and some power on the offense. The game had good pace. I felt great in the net and I was tracking the puck well. Fought off 22 shots and got the win 2-0. I was pleasantly surprised to come out of that game with the shutout.

Game 3, Ice Pack Gray vs. Missoula Frost will becontinued later as my brain has gone to mush at this point, lol..........

[Martysgirl74]

Alright where was I?.......Oh, yes game 3. The Frost is a good team and after the morning game that I played for gray I had expectations of getting smoked. Fortunately, my team showed trememdous improvement over the first game that i played for them. The defense was solid and we were finally able to get some offensive pressure. We went down 2-0 on a couple of backdoor plays, but near the end of the second we scored from behind the net (bank shot off the goalies skate) to make it 2-1. They pulled me late in the third and while my teammates were able to put a couple shots on the net none of them went through the goalie. It was disappointing to lose, but we played well and were in the game till the end.

Sunday morning dawned and I found myself in net facing the Frost again, this time for the Blue team in the consolation game. I made several good stops in the early part of the game to keep us in it until we could get our legs under us. We ended up winning the game 2-1 and claiming the third place trophy (a fully stocked rolling cooler).

Overall, I feel good about my play. I don't know that the competition was as challenging as it has been in the past(of course I only played two teams), but I used the slower pace to really work on puck tracking and rebound control. There were a couple of goals that I'd like to have back, but those are outweighed by the quality saves that I made. Final stats: 1.5 GAA and .935 SV%.

[Martysgirl74]

Monday night I'm going to get a taste of San Diego area pick up hockey wearing borrowed gear and skates that are at least a size and a half too big. Bolty says he will try hard not to laugh. We shall see who's laughing when the night is over. :D

[Martysgirl74]

Sorry, if I'm a little slow in posting this, but a hectic schedule and computer problems delayed me. Pickup hockey in San Diego was a fantastic. I borrowed everything, but pants and skates from Goalerjones of gsbb fame and I send many thanks out to him! I skated well despite my skates being 2 sizes too big (it kinda felt like having speed skating skates on). Goaler has a nice cushy set of Brown pads that really were like wearing pillows on my legs, very comfy even if they aren't my style.

The ability level of the skaters was varied. There were enough upper level players to make it interesting, though, and not too many pylons. If I had to compare it to the pickup that I play at home I'd say that they were similar. Remarkably there was even some defense played. Always nice to see at that kind of skate.

I must say that as a female playing a male dominated sport, I'm always a little bit anxious about going into a new situation. These players don't know me or my game and I tend to worry about gaining acceptance. Lets face it....if you don't perform well as a goalie the forwards are the first ones to point fingers. It didn't take me too long to prove myself. I made a breauty of a glove save and followed it about a minute later with my trademark right pad save to which the guys responded, "She's all over it." Over all I was strong in the net and I think I did myself proud.

It was an absolute blast, especially playing opposite BoltThrower. Fun to be up about your own game and cheering for the person at the other end as well. However, the next time that I go to San Diego I'm going to take my own gear and really show em how its done. :D

[m00npies]

Glad you had a blast.

Where in San Diego did you guys play at? I lived down there for a few years for college, playing mostly at UTC in La Jolla, Iceoplex in Escondido, and SDIA in Mira Mesa. I miss being down there.

[Martysgirl74]

I played Monday night pick up at SDIA, though I did get to see all of the other rinks in the area, too. The ice was fairly good, but a bit softer than I'm used to. I got hit in the face with some snow off the shooter's stick blade at one point and it was like getting hit by a snow cone. LOL! :D

[Martysgirl74]

Last weekend I traveled with my women's team to the "Get Lucky" Cup tournament in lovely Bozeman, Mt. We drew the short straw, having to play both host teams in our first 2 games. A quick tidbit about the Bozeman women's hockey team. We play them at most of the tournaments that we attend and we usually have to lend them players as they aren't able to scrape up enough for a full team. However, when it comes to their own tourney, they were able to field not one, but two stacked teams (and I'm not talking about their bra size.)

My team was hopelessly out skilled in both games and we spent at least 90% of the game in our own zone. Bozeman was methodical in their cycling of the puck, so I was on my toes the entire time. Even with their puck controlling dominance I still think that I could have stopped all three goals that I allowed in the first game that resulted in a 3-1 loss. At the very least I could have come out of the game with a tie. The second game was more of the same though my team was in it more than they had been in the first game. We were down 3-2 in the waning minutes of the game when I was beat on a well placed shot high over my blocker side. The game ended 4-2.

With no points in the tournament and little hope of making the consolation round, my team decided to have a bit of fun for our final game Saturday afternoon versus the Cutler Lake Fighting Perch. As a joke earlier in the season, one of my centers had bought a bunch of thongs (with fake fur hearts hot glued to the front of them) for my teammates. She brought the whole bag of them to the tourney and passed them out in the locker room. My teammates pulled them on over their hockey pants and made their way out to the ice. Our strange attire received approving smiles and laughter from both our opposition and the refs (not to mention a dollar or two stuffed into the thongs by the opposing coaches.) With our "rally rags" in place, we played as if we had nothing to lose. We were dominant in the game and I got some rest from the constant pressure that I had received in the first outings. The end result was a 4-1 win.

With the win we were now tied for 4 place in the tourney. It then came down to gf/ga. We were initially told that we were out of the consolation round and as a result a few of our member left town and went home. But someone had done the math wrong and in the end I had allowed fewer goals than the other goalie and we advanced to the consolation game against the Missoula Frost down 4 players. We picked up 3 players from the team that we had beat out, but they weren't the same skill level as the players that we lost. Though my team fought hard, we were out matched again and ended up losing 6-1.

I played alright in the tournament, but not spectacular. 1/3 of the goals were off of deflections, 1/3 came off of odd man rushes or players camped out on my back door. and 1/3 were ones that I really should have had. This has not been an easy season for me playing with this team. I love my teammates, but I want to play some competitive hockey and right now I can't see that happening with these ladies unless something radically changes.

[Martysgirl74]

Well, for as craptastic as my season with the women's team was my Over 50 season was great. After shaking off the rust from my injury, I ended up with a 7-3-3 record and played some of my best hockey ever. For the most part, the teams are fairly even in that league, but every once in a while someone brings in a ringer to sub for them and the dynamic is dramatically changed. I'm happy to say that I did quite well against those ringers leaving one in particular to scream "f*ck, f*ck, f*ck!" on a regular basis after I'd stopped another of his shots.

Initially, when I returned to the league this season, I was really feeling the hole left by the death of my friend, coach, and league founder, Rick. It just wasn't the same without him. A lot of my enjoyment was lost, but with time I was able to rediscover the fun of playing net again. The guys I play with in Over 50 had a lot to do with that. Now as I look back on the last 12 games I have lots of good memories and I'd like to thank my teammates and opponents alike for making this such a fun season. I'm very sad to see it end.

[goalie33]

keep working on getting back into game shape. I tore a thigh muscle last year, and did not play at all. takes a long time but this yeartook a little time but i feel great now. DONT GET DISCURRAGED, you will bounce back

[Martysgirl74]

Thanks goalie33,
It was a difficult season. The broken ankle kept me out 3 months, but it now feels pretty good. Just a little achy at times. The passing of my hockey mentor was more difficult to deal with. He was a great guy and the reason that I'm a goalie today.

Fortunately, I've muddled through all that and managed a decent season. I've played some really good hockey of late. However, tomorrow after the 7pm game the compressors will be turned off and the ice will been down until late July. Lets face it, dryland just isn't as much fun as game time. Oh well, I'm sure it will pass quickly.

BTW, I had my last skate of the season today, just a fun skate with a bunch of team mates from different leagues. Played very well in a 6-1 victory. Good to go out on a high note.

[goalie33]

hey martysgirl74, thought about looking for summer ice time. I play every wed night in Woodstock till the end of august.