I downed some oatmeal and headed to Starbucks. Triple venti latte, save me!

Remember my post about ice cuts and a locker room for the weekend? This morning's game started with an on ice roll call followed by the national anthem. That was pretty awesome.

The game itself is mostly a blur to me now. The thing I remember most was dashing down the ice on a 2-on-something, getting the perfect pass and the puck on net, some sort of pileup, seeing the puck well over the goal line and the goal post loose. The officials called it a no goal. Why? Because they were far enough away that the only thing they saw was the net come loose. Apparently, we skate too fast for them.

That's how it goes. The officials missed a possible goal by the other team later in the game for the same reason. Did it go in? I don't know. I wasn't there to see it.

In any case, it didn't affect the outcome. Final score: 2-0. That's right, WE'RE GOING TO NATIONALS!!!

And boy does that put a grin on my face. :)

I came away from this game mad. Had I written this post three hours ago I'd have ranted about how the refs were biased and the other team played dirty. That would have been the mad talking.

Not that I didn't have reason to be mad. Getting cross checked after the whistle in full view of a ref who did nothing about it seems like a pretty good reason to me. Seeing that same player continue to get away with pulling the same crap on my teammates made me even more mad.

Yes, mad. Not angry. Mad because wanting to take people out is, in my book, not quite right in the head.

But whatever, we shut them out. And I scored, which made me a little less mad, at least until the next instance of uncalled after the whistle crap.

Final score: 7-0. We actually didn't play all that well compared to the previous two games. Slow and sloppy.

My left quad hates me. Aspercreme quiets it down though. Thank goodness.

During the Zamboni break, one of our coaches came over to talk about my reaction to the cross check. He's used to me being calm and was surprised to see me react with anger. He wanted to understand what was going on in my head and what I said to the other player. Then he explained that while I need to protect myself in those situations, it's not okay to do something that negatively impacts the team. He understood why I reacted the way I did, and I understand that I need to keep the big picture in mind.

I mention that not because of what we said, but because I was surprised that he picked up on it. I'm grateful to have the coaches we do.

Tomorrow morning, we play the Heartbreakers again for the championship. It'll be a hard, fast game. Everything this weekend was to bring us to this game. And now, those last three games were just practice.

Win or go home.

This game was considerably faster than the one last night. It was definitely a bigger challenge, but we picked it up and got it done. Final score: 6-2. I know that looks like a large goal differential, but this was not an easy game.

I suffered the stupidest injury in the first period when my right skate became untied and I fell on my left knee. I wasn't wearing my knee pad because I needed room for the brace, my shin guard had slipped down, and I landed completely on the tip of my quad. Owww.

Despite that, I skated through the pain. That's what I told myself, actually. Skate through the pain. I didn't finish with any points but I worked hard and made good things happen out there. I'll take it.

We'll probably face this team again Sunday morning. We didn't execute as cleanly as we could have because of the pace today, but I hope we'll have that down for tomorrow's game.

Also, we get to keep our locker room for the weekend. No schlepping gear to and from the rink.

I feel like a pro! After all, I have a (negative cashflow) contract and everything. All I'm missing are fans asking me to throw them a puck. Oh wait, no I'm not.

Those butterflies returned today, although this time they fluttered for a different reason. They fluttered because I didn't want our season to end after this weekend.

They say the trick is to train your butterflies to fly in formation. I asked mine to do the Flying V. Turns out my butterflies are actually ducks.

I skated hard and focused on doing everything I'd been taught. I tried to make purposeful passes, forecheck, backcheck, get in the other team's passing lane, take shots, crash the net. I was a general pain in the ass to the other team when we were on penalty kill, and even caused a turnover to earn myself a shorthanded scoring opportunity... which I couldn't do anything with because I was completely out of gas from being a pain in the ass.

I finished the game with a goal and an assist. The goal wasn't anything pretty, just crashing the net as I was told and going for the rebound as hard as I could. Not that it needed to be pretty. Garbage goals count just as much.

Final score: 4-1. We played well together as a team. As always, we (and definitely I) could stand to make harder, crisper passes. We used our D well for regroups, though.

Bedtime. Tomorrow morning we play the San Diego Heartbreakers. I hope to continue doing what I did right tonight and tweak a few things that need improvement.

I'm treating this as my one shot. I was lucky to be added to the team this season and I have no idea what next season will bring. I'll be skating with everything I've got.

I hope to be buying a ticket to Wisconsin Sunday night.

After making a considerable amount of noise about this, we got a midweek makeup ice time this evening at the Shark Tank.

It's been years since I skated here. I don't remember what the ice felt like back then, but tonight it was crunchy. I'm convinced the pros sound powerful and fast because they're skating on crunchy ice with microphones attached to the glass. Seriously, I sounded like a 200 pound badass out there.

Or maybe I'm just that good now. ;)

On the other hand, I don't want to break an 8 year streak of documenting every game. Not that it means anything; I just don't like incomplete data.

I'll deal with that when next season starts. Knowing me I'll continue to slog through these write-ups until one day I forget for good.

So, yesterday, we played awesome and went up 3-0 in the first period. Then we played less awesome and quite literally watched as the other team tied it up 3-3. We had some good chances in overtime but the other goalie made some great saves. Then they scored. Game over. Our second OTL in three games. Final score: 3-4.

I had an assist this game. I'm feeling more comfortable taking the puck all the way around the back of the opposing team's net. Connected on a couple good saucer passes. Connected on a bunch of good passes in general; I like that they feel natural now, and not like happy surprises. Launched a strong one-timer. Had trouble taking the puck in. I need to remember to bring it in deep when I don't see a shot; I'm trying to pull up and not doing it right, which is causing me to lose possession.

That last paragraph reminded me of why I write these posts. How else would I track progress? Maybe I'll keep doing these after all.

Almost there: Back and forth transition between Tripod and Crow.

Andrea and Lucinda kept saying last week that the Chinese goalie looked like me. I didn't make much of it, until Lucinda posted a link to the following picture:

Hey look, it's me, in net for Team China!

Either that, or all look same. :)

Note to self: More patience! How many times do you have to tell yourself this? Deke the goalie, see what they do, THEN shoot.

This was the first Blue game for one of our subs tonight. She's been playing hockey for all of four seasons... almost. She scored our game winner.

Final score: 3-1. Final goal on an empty net.

Sharpening 1: November 24, 2009

After much buzz from various teammates, I decided to give the FBV sharpening a try. I went to EWH in San Carlos, asked for a 100/75, and was persuaded to start with a 100/50 cut so I don't kill myself.

My first few minutes on the new cut felt exactly as I'd heard: The FBV was smoooooth. That said, I felt my 7/16 cut had more bite, and didn't like that I was giving up some of that with 100/50. (Strangely, I'd heard from others that their 100/50 cuts had lots of bite.) Also, it seemed that the right inside edge was not as sharp as the others. I wondered if it was all in my head. Overall, I liked the added glide, although I didn't think it made me any faster a skater.

One thing I didn't like about this cut, however, was how quickly it dulled. I think this had something to do with the fact that an FBV cut is really shallow. On the 7/16 cut, I got about 15 sessions before I felt the need for a resharpening. On the 100/50, I got 8 sessions. I decided it wasn't worth the time and cost.

Sharpening 2: December 20, 2009

As I prepared to switch back to the 7/16 cut, an e-mail arrived from EWH saying they had just received different patterns that should last longer between sharpenings. I took my skates to the San Jose location and asked for a 95/75 cut, explaining that 100/50 didn't have enough bite and got dull too quickly.

Sorry, I was told, they didn't yet have the 95/75 stone (that their e-mail said had just arrived), but they had a brand new 100/50. Since I wanted to hold out for 95/75 without taking too much off my skate blade switching back and forth, I went with another 100/50 cut.

This sharpening was everything I'd hoped the first one would be. It had considerably more bite than both the first 100/50 and my usual 7/16 cuts and felt just as smooth. I was in edgy glide heaven!

This cut lasted a lot longer, too. It still had decent bite after 15 sessions, but since I was leaving town for a tournament, I decided not to risk it and took my skates in for another sharpening.

Sharpening 3: January 20, 2009

The day before leaving for Vegas, I took went back to EWH in San Jose for another 100/50 cut. I was glad that the same person who sharpened my skates the last time was there for this sharpening also. I told him how happy I was with the last sharpening.

The next day, in Vegas, I put my newly sharpened skates on, stepped on the ice, and tried to stop. WHOA! What was wrong with my inside left edge? It was way too sharp. Way, way, way too sharp. I spent the rest of the tournament trying to (1) dull down the edge and (2) not die.

Sharpening 4: Goodbye FBV

The verdict? I love the Flat Bottom V cut. I really do. It bites, it glides, it lasts a decently long time... *if* it's cut right. Unfortunately, I don't have any place to go for a consistently good cut. EWH is the only place that offers FBV in this area and two out of the three cuts I got at both of their locations were bad. Back to 7/16 I go.

We lost 3-4 in overtime. I felt like I should have been able to do something to tip that outcome the other way.

It's not losing that bothers me. What bothers me is my not playing as well as I know I can.

Phoo.

The game was awesome. The crowd really came alive toward the end when the Red Wings tied it up after a goal review. Then came a fight, overtime, shootout, and a Sharks win. What more could I ask for?

Timbits, that's what! They had those, too. :)

WFCU Centre

Before I go into details about our games, I want gush about the venue. We played at the WFCU Centre, a facility with four sheets of ice, two gyms, a Tim Horton's, and a bunch of meeting facilities. It's also the home of the Windsor Spitfires. We got to play on their ice for a couple of the games. We didn't fill the seats, but it was still really cool to play in an arena.

Game 1: Windsor Sharks

We opened the tournament Friday night with a round of Sharks vs. Sharks. I opened the game by hitting my head on the boards while falling backward about ten seconds after the puck drop. My first thought was, "Oh no! Concussion!" That was followed immediately by a strong feeling of déjà vu, which in my world is always interpreted as déjà rêvé. This sent my brain into a tizzy trying to remember what happened next, i.e. "What happens next? Do I die?!" Then I finished my shift and got off the ice. My balance seemed okay, I wasn't crying for no reason, and my head didn't hurt much. Phew.

We played terribly this game. We skated slooow, made crappy "passes", and got outplayed. Still, we somehow managed a 2-1 win. I attribute that to luck.

Game 2: County Blues

At noon the next day we faced another local team, the County Blues. We played a touch better, but still not as well as we should have. Final score: 0-2. We've never been shut out before. Boo!

Game 3: More County Blues

At 8:30 on Sunday morning (that would be 5:30 AM California time o_O) we played the County Blues again in the 2nd vs. 3rd place game. We played much better, although we still had trouble putting the puck in the net. The decider was one really good shot by the other team, from the outside, over our goalie's shoulder, and just under the crossbar. Final score: 0-1.

This team was solid, but we've played better teams before and scored at least a goal or two. We just couldn't adapt to their style. The teams we faced in this tournament go straight for you when you have the puck. I swear, in the second game I received a pass, looked up, and saw three players making a beeline for me. In fact, that's all I saw; my teammates were all hidden somewhere behind them. What am I supposed to do with that?

Pond Hockey!

Given that we played only three 32 minute games (the periods were 10, 10, and 12 minutes long), we weren't at all tired, so a bunch of us found a pond to play on in the afternoon. When we arrived, there was a father out there teaching his young son how to play. We all played a fun friendly scrimmage, then took a group photo when it was time for father and son to go.

A few of us lingered after the main group left to play some 2-on-2 and work on passing. I understand now why pond hockey creates such good players. If your passes aren't to your teammate's tape, you'll be digging the puck out of the snow. As for ice quality, it wasn't that much different from Belmont on a bad-but-frozen day.

While the four of us were out there, a man walking his dog came down the trail next to the pond. The dog bounded over and greeted each of us. "Watch out!" the man yelled, "He'll steal your puck!" We laughed, then laughed some more as the dog bounded over to one of our water bottle goal posts, picked it up in his mouth, and ran away with it.