Head Tale

I’ve just finished week four of my return to beer league hockey after a seven year absence so I thought I’d give a completely useless update since hockey is consistently the most despised topic on this blog when I do my annual survey.  (Hmm, when’s that due again?) 

Week One – Scrimmage
– we only have one sub per team and play four-on-four as it is.  I am amazed that I don’t puke.  Seriously.
– oh, and I realise too late that my helmet is the only piece of equipment I don’t have in Regina – it’s somehow ended up at my parent’s in Indian Head.  So I play old school without a bucket, risking concussion or worse.  Luckily, I rarely get into any situation where danger from puck or player is imminent. 
– there are about three guys remaining from the days when I used to play and a bunch of young “kids” in the dressing room when I show up. I realise with some sadness that I used to be one of those kids, making plans for bars to hit after the game (or coming in from the bar directly to the game), not caring about having to get home right after the game ends or that you might get less than eight hours of sleep.   
– I pot one goal going five hole on the goalie.  (No one has to know I was aiming for the top corner.)

Week Two – First Game
– I pay up for the first half of the season ($80 for 11 games) having decided to only play during our home ice times on Thursday night at 10:15, not the “away” games that are scattered throughout the rest of the week.  My official reason is that I want to spend time at home with Shea and Pace which is mostly true.  But also, I’ve become a person who thinks getting home at midnight on a Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday night is not a fun thing when you’re usually getting up at 6:30am the next day. (Note to self: check for Friday away games – our home ice time used to be Friday at 10:15pm and that was perfect – no worries about class or work the next day, you could go out afterwards but weren’t tempted to go out at 8pm like so many of your friends, it was something to look forward to all week and helped kick off the weekend in a very fun way.)
– I pot one goal when the puck goes in off my foot as I stand in the crease.  Kicking the puck in intentionally is illegal but since I don’t have the coordination to purposely do that, the goal stands. 

Week Three – Game Two
– we have three full lines and a rotation of three defensemen meaning that I can actually skate pretty hard and have plenty of time to catch my breath rather than going out, doing one rush then dogging it for the rest of my shift until I come off gasping.
– having three full lines also means that we get to stay with the same players and I end up playing with a couple of the old vets from back in my younger days (they were old vets back then so you can imagine what they’re like now.)  But I have pretty good chemistry with one guy who always had a nose for the net and get about five assists passing to him plus a goal when he passes to me.  (The fact that I’m averaging a goal per game isn’t that good when you realise that our final scores would make a neutral observer think we’re playing football instead of hockey – 24-10, 15-14, 30-9.)
– we win which used to be quite the rarity but seems to be less likely to occur now that the players filling the “kid” role also appear to have “talent”

Week Four – Game Three
– we’re short again but this is the first game where my legs feel half decent and though I’m nowhere near the cardio level that I used to be, I can at least finally feel that I’m getting better after almost having a regression the last two weeks. 
– we get our butts kicked (this game is the 30-9 cited above) and I realise that I’m a lot less competitive than I used to be. 
– I don’t get any goals or assists and think I’m lucky to get two or three shots on net the whole time.  Our young guys, overcompensating for us being short and getting hammered by the other team, end up trying to do it all themselves which doesn’t work against a team that passes well and often.

There.  One of my most boring blog entries ever.  Yay!