Going to the Net

We had to face Baboon tonight.

Part of me hoped we wouldn't see him, and part of me wouldn't have it any other way. Keep in mind, Baboon is one of my few, really good friends. The guy is a freak of nature -- most of us have little fear of injurry, little fear of pain. Baboon has none. He sometimes used to warm up by having his big shooters shoot at his head so he could deflect the shots off his helmet.

So, I told out manger, "You gotta throw a lot of rubber on net, or this goalie's gonna kill you."

First period, we did. We threw a lot, and we got two lucky bounces. They threw a lot too, and got one, when a shot I never saw bounced off some feet in front of me and went in.

Second period, they came on with a vengeance, and we started to fall back. We still controlled the puck more, but we weren't getting scoring chances from it. They got two, both on breakaways or odd man rushes.

Third period, we looked timid. We got the puck a lot, but we didn't do anything with it. We didn't go to the net, we didn't attack with purpose. Baboon's team did. In fact, they never got a touch on the puck that they didn't immediately think of getting a shot. They picked up one more breakaway goal, to end things 4-2.

This is one of the longest losing streaks of my life. I think I, and the team, really need it to end soon.

Unhappy streak

The Moose played their 4th game last night, and we've made some improvements. Not enough to win, but some improvements, none the less. Last night's loss was 4-2, which continues the trend of fewer goals against. On the bad side, we're still getting scored on early, this time, 2 goals in the first and 2 in the second, before a scoreless third.

First goal was shot through legs as the shooter cut left to right in front of me. I got most of it with the glove, but it skipped off and snuck inside the far post. Second goal was a partial screen, but it was along the ice, and I should have had it. I think that either my stick was floating or I didn't get the pads all the way down in time.

Third goal was a low screen shot that was tipped and went up and over me. I never saw it until went in. Our players that could see it all said it was kicked, but we couldn't get the call. The fourth goal was when a player got a breakaway, I stopped his first shot, but no one back checked on him, so he got to shoot his own rebound.

There were more penalties in this game. We took a couple of trips, one of which led to the second goal. The other team took an unsportswomanlike conduct for shooting after the whistle. I never would have complained, because the shot was so weak (just a little back-hand flip), and I wouldn't have wanted to let on that I was bothered by it. It was the kind of thing that someone does just to be a jerk, and I was happy to ignore her. My D apparently were offended for me, though, and they bitched. We scored on the power play while the offending player sat her penalty. Later in the game, Tough Girl broke into their zone with seconds left on the clock, and the last player she had to beat was the woman from the other team. It was funny to see, in the "men's" amateur league, a woman-v-woman showdown to end a game. Tough Girl beat her easy, then beat their goalie, giving us a 2-4 loss, which is at least 1 goal more respectable than a 1-4 loss.

Which brings me to another interesting point or two. There are more women playing this year, and they're better players than the women we've seen in the past. You'd see a couple of women play each year the last few years, and most of them could not keep up with the men. That's changed. There are some very good female players now, who are holding their own. That's a good sign for the leagues, I think, since it increases our player pool. One thing that is still a little odd is how teams handle their own, and each other's, female players, and what roles the women play. Tough Girl got banged around a lot last night, and it wasn't just the usual, friendly, incidental contact. She got leveled at least twice. The woman from the other team got treated about the same as the guys from the other team did. People played the body on her, but no one really tried to line her up for a cheap shot. She did, however, take on the role of going to the net and setting a screen, and she had good hands, and got tips on a few slap shots. Time in front of the net is usually painful, between goalies working over your legs with the stick to get you to move, and defensemen cross checking you to move you away from the goalies.

On the flip side, I also noticed that their female player didn't use their team dressing room, while Tough Girl asked before the first game to dress with the rest of the team, and we all immediately agreed. She has changed with us every game, and it hasn't been an issue. There's just too much team bonding that happens while people are changing and bullshitting to leave someone out. There was also a major difference between the way the teams used their female players. The other team spent the night trying to feed passes to their female player, or get her in position to tip shots, while our Tough Girl plays a role like the other guys play, including providing us with a pretty decent fore check, something I've not seen other women do in the league. No one tries to baby her by setting her up for easy breakaways; she mucks it out along the boards like all the guys do.

Just a small example of the way the game is changing. I think it's changing for the better. I also think it probably serves these women well when they come up against problems off the ice. I'm a big believer that how you play is how you live. But that's another story...

Third Time Almost the Charm

The Moose finally played a game with a full bench, and I finally started to get my legs and timing back. Even then, it was still close, but no cigar.

They beat me on a breakaway in the first, but I then held them scoreless until near the end of the second period. Their second was a shot that hit and rolled over my left pad, and was then stuffed in by the man who was open behind me. I had a couple of great saves in the second, and managed to do some decent puck handling near my own net, which helped me feel more settled.

Third period, an opposing forward drove through 2 of my D, one of whom admitted that he never got quite turned around as he was back checking. The shot rang off the bar in the top, right corner and fell in. It was hard to fault myself for that one.

We finally managed to score, with me on the bench, with under 29 seconds left in the game. This had to bug the hell out of the other goalie. I know it would bug me to lose a shutout with 28 seconds showing on the clock. He had no reason to hang his head, though, he played a great game.

This game also saw the addition of a father-son team on D. They were a heck of a good pairing, and I hope we can keep them coming back every week. Both are big, mobile, and solid puck handlers. They rarely made mistakes in front of me, and managed to help cover for a few mistakes of mine. You gotta love that!

Michigan Moose logo

Jerseys will be a little while yet, but here is the logo. Just imagine it on a Boston alternate jersey (bottom) and you get the idea. Jerseys will be by CCM. This will be the second "animal" team I've played on. The first was the mighty UMBAA Sheep. While I hope that someday we will see the marketing of Moose apparel, I hope to avoid anything like the infamous UMBAA Sheep Thongs. I just don't want to see my fellow Moose in thongs.

Closer

The Michigan Moose played their second game last night. It still wasn't the best game, but it was a step closer.

We held them at 1-1 for the first period, and were within 1 by the end of two. The first goal was a little tough; one of my players pulled down the shooter, who had a breakaway. The shooter was about 6'3", and probably 300lbs+. I lost my focus on the puck when I saw that much skater about to hit me. Honestly, I was having flashbacks to a similar play, when the skater and my defenseman both fell on my knee, bending my leg about 90 degrees sideway at the knee - a very unpleasant memory. I don't shy away from much, and I'm pretty annoyed with myself. Part of my job is to take pain, and if I can't stay focussed in the face of impending hurt, I'm no good to anyone. I know the chance of injury is actually quite small, and I need to get over the twitchyness about getting hit.

Second period, I got beat on a 5 hole shot that actually managed to find the one unpadded area on the inside of my leg, next to my cup (thankfully, it was next to my cup!). It glanced off the inside of my leg and made it by before I could get closed up. The third goal followed two good saves, when someone shot into the empty net over a sprawling me.

Third period, they outshot us, and netted 3 more. Only one was my fault - a slapper from the top of the left circle that beat me over my glove side elbow. I should have been centered better on the shot. Still, we managed to net goals, and ended the night with a 4-6 loss. Not great, but a big step better. Once my timing and brain get back on track, I should be able to hold some of these other teams to 1-2 goals a game.

The officials sucked. One of them managed to get in the way of every single dump in or clear along the boards on his side. He got himself shot 3 or 4 times, and every time, the jerk blew the play dead and lectured the players. After the 4th one, he said he'd start giving people misconducts and ejecting them if they hit him. My suggestion is that he get off his f-ing lazy ass, skate a little bit, and do the f-ing job we're paying him to do. Or, better yet, go the hell home, and let someone that gives a damn call games. We don't need him there if he doesn't want to be there.

The era of the Moose has begun... badly.

Well, the Moose opened our collective hockey life with a game against the Good Sports. The same guys that dominated a mixed B-C league, including regularly beating A league players, is back as a C league team. (Yeah, right... C league team)

The Moose stood no chance in hell. We had 3 on the bench, they had 10, we have never played together, they were the first team to open the rink, about 7-8 years ago. We just got smoked. Final was 11-4. If you took out my mistakes, it was 8-4. One of our 4 was when a shot by our defenseman went off the end boards, off their defenseman's foot, and ricocheted in. It was awful.

There was, however, some good cheer. We have a woman on the team, and she had asked the manager to ask all the guys if it was ok for her to change in with us. One of the guys, a really big fella, replied, "Sure! We're not offended by seeing her boobs if she's not offended by seeing our man boobs!" If there was any doubt about her being there, it was ended when she scored a gorgeous breakaway goal in the second period. I just hope we improve enough to get her to keep playing!

So, it was a rough start for the Moose. Hopefully, things will get better... quick.