Officially Moosed

Well, last game sucked for a Moose like Republicans drilling in your refuge.

We played the team that was tied with us in the standings, which meant we had the chance to move up a spot. We were tied in the 9th/10th slots, and a win would have given us control of 9th place, dropped them to 10th, and it would have been the first 2 game win streak for us ever. We got really close. And we got screwed.

Nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts...

The game started in the usual Moose fashion, with my team giving up a lot of chances, and me making some stops. I made a couple of great ones, including one against a one timer passed from low-left of me to someone right between the hasmarks. The shooter was smart enough to shoot for the post I was leaving, and I still got my pad back to snag the shot, then covered it. As the ref took the puck from me, fellow Moose were thanking me for covering them when they'd blown the defensive coverage.

Ref, in funny mocking voice: "Hey, great save goalie! Sorry we couldn't bother to get back and help you!"

I appreciated the humor.

I held them off the board, and we finally got one. Then we got two. Things were looking good.

...We got screwed!

Late second period, we got scored on by one of those cluster-fuck plays that happen sometimes: three people swat at a loose puck, it pops off of two stick funny, goes up and over you, and manages to hit the top corner of the net. Just nothing but really bad luck.

Then came the penalties. The refs started calling us tighter once we had a lead, which isn't fair, but is about par for the course. The big problem was, they weren't calling the other team at all. They threw one Moose after another in the penalty box. The other team started the third period with 6 minutes of power play time, all back to back. They tied it when my D blew coverage in front again, same play I'd had to stop earlier, and this time the shooter shot to the top corner of the side I was sliding away from. That tied it.

The go ahead go was another blown call. The refs let the other team hack away at a puck that I had covered until they knocked it loose and in. That made it 3-2.

We then got to suffer through 10 minutes of icings, plus a number of really blatent body checks and trips that didn't get called. It was some of the worst officiating I've ever seen, made worse by a lot of pissed off Moose yelling at the officials.

Empty net goal, a flooky shot that went the whole length of Olympic ice, deflecting off someone half-way down to end up in the net, made it a 2-4 final.

On the good side, I looked great for the third or fourth game in a row. My form is starting to come back. Now, I just gotta try and work on my team mates and the refs.

The latest numbers:
Team GAA: 4.61
My GAA: 4.50
Team GFA: 2.35
Record: 3-17-3 (9 points)

Once in a Blue Moose

The Moose have added another "W" to the list. Last night's game, a painful 11:20pm start, ended with a 3-1 victory.

We had music durring the game for the first time in a very long time. The girl in the box doing scoring and clock played various things durring warmups, and also durring stoppages in play and between periods. Apparently U2 and Green Day (among other groups) are very good for my game. There's something kind of surreal about being on the ice at 12:30 in the morning, listening to Bono sing "Sunday Bloody Sunday," while stopping hockey pucks.

Whatever it was, it worked. I was so focussed on figuring out what some of the songs were (Who was that doing that aweful cover of that old Beatles tune?!?), that I wasn't thinking about what I or the team were doing right or wrong durring all those stops in play. I started the game by stopping a breakaway (made the big Hockey Night in Canada glove save on an old buddy from the other team), and I just never looked back. Turns out I am still a decent goalie, even at this age and out of shape, as long as I don't think about things too hard.

The refs were in a good mood, the other team was good natured, and Baboon was in net for them, which always adds a little pressure for me to step up my game. Baboon was a little off, but he played better than any of their "regular" goalies play; it is Baboon, after all, and anytime you see him at the other end of the ice, you have to worry. We got one on him in the first by picking up the trash in front of the net, and two on him in the second on power plays, but other than that, he was his usual, pain in the ass, self.

I played a great game, and had them shut out until about 1:30 left in the game. They scored on a screen shot that I can't possibly consider my own fault (never saw the shot, it went through 3 people in front of me, and I still got a piece of it before it went in). I'm also not that concerned about the shutout. It's not that useful of a stat; they are often luck as much as skill. What I care about is wins (above all), getting my GAA down (so I know I'm playing well and giving the team a chance), and my own satisfaction and knowledge that I left it all on the ice.

We definitely left it all out there last night. It was a much needed team win after the bad game the other day.

The new stats:
Team GAA: 4.63
My GAA 4.57
Team GFA: 2.36
Record: 3-16-3 (9 points)

Hoisted On Our Own Antlers

Monday night. Ouch. We played my old friends on the Good Sports (who I still think are the best team in the league over all). I played great. Stunning at times, in fact. And when I lost, it wasn't me, or even the other team, that beat me. No indeed, it was my fellow Moose, and the really aweful officiating. And it sucked.

The first face off was won straight to our manager (a defenseman), who turned it over to the best player on the other team, so I started the game by facing a very sudden breakaway that I got beat on. 1 shot, 1 goal. Even after that crappy start, I managed to make a bunch of big saves in the first period. My favorite was one I made off the shaft of the stick, just above my right hand.

Second period, one of the refs blew a call, waving off a goal that he said was a high stick. I had a clear view of it, and if it hit something above the cross bar, it wasn't a Moose. Even then, we were battling pretty hard, and we ended up still in the game going into the third. We ended up down 2-3, but pressuring the other team.

I made a couple of great, game-saving stops in the third, including one on the young kid on their team. This kid was great to play behind when I filled in for these guys, and he's almost more fun to play against. Never dirty, never a head-shot, and always ready to give you credit for stopping him. Which I did, with a really nice glove save. I caught the puck with my glove against the junction of the vertical and cross bar. The puck actually hit the corner of the pipes through the webbing. The kid that shot it was the first person to swing by the net and slap me on the helmet and tell me what a great save it was.

But, like I said, my own Moose and the refs screwed it up for me.

Right when we should have been scoring the tying goal, the other Moose were busy yelling at the refs. The refs were busy growing rabbit ears and giving us a penalty every time they even thought we were questioning them. The result? I had to defend a long 5 on 3, then a 4 on 3, to end the game. I finally got beat, making it 2-4, with about a minute and a half in the game. I was pissed. So pissed that when one of the Good Sports came down and took a slap shot in close with about 30 seconds left, I just stood with my pads together and let him see if he could hit a corner. He did, which I really didn't care about. It was kind of an asshole shot to take that late, when you were assured of a win, and it was also kind of meaningless.

I gave my ten cents worth of advice to our manager after the others had gone. Some nights, you're going to get screwed by the refs. Yelling at them, no matter what you may think, will not help, it will only hurt. I've never seen a ref that was doing a bad job start doing a better job because you yelled at them. What I do see is refs, who are often cranky and twitchy to begin with, who get tired of being reminded that they are screwing things up, and who take it out on the players the more you bitch. The best way to deal with a bad official is after the game, off the ice, in a civil conversation, when you have some chance of getting them to listen.

This is the first time that the Moose have really sort of pissed me off. I don't mind that they're not that good. Hey, I'm out of shape and not always playing well either, so there are more than enough mistakes to go around. I'm just pissed that we wasted a great game by me.

The new stats:
Team GAA: 4.81
My GAA: 4.75
Team GFA: 2.33

Record: 2-16-3 (7 points)