One of the recent highs was a game late on Wednesday, September 1st. 10p at The Ice, the new rink in Cumming, Georgia. That's a long haul from the west side of Atlanta!
It's always interesting to see what kind of turnout we will get for late weeknight games. We play for the love of the game and we all have day jobs. The game itself will take about an hour and a half (three 25-minute running time periods, if you're curious). I might not leave the rink until 11:45p or midnight. Get back home at 12:30a. Then I won't be able to fall asleep until 1:30a or 2a--it's hard to fall asleep when you're still revved up from playing the game.
So it wasn't surprising that we had a light turnout, but we were pretty depressed when we saw that we only had 6 skaters and a goalie. Remember, a hockey team has 5 skaters and a goalie on the ice at a time. We would have to play almost the whole game, all of us. The other team would surely skate circles around us.
The other team (Eagles) had 9 skaters plus their goalie, so they were a little light themselves but they still had a big advantage. And we did pick up a 7th skater when one of our guys arrived halfway through the first period.
So it was a long night ... but WE WON! Score was 4-2 (really 3-2 + ENG). We were EXHAUSTED but it was a very satisfying feeling to win in that situation.
In addition to James (goalie) we had: Steve, Ville, Stevie, Andy, Rick, Ian, and me.
Steve was amazing, as usual. His legs were bothering him (charley horse) but he picked his spots and kicked ass. We played solid defense. One of the most satisfying wins I've ever been a part of, because it was so bleak to start.
James was very good in net. Rick, Ian, and I mostly played defense. Sometimes Rick stepped up to forward and at times Andy was back. Steve and Ville really played great. Both really possess the puck well; people can take chances when they have the puck because they're not going to cough it up.
It is a tough sport, though. Here are two bruises which continue to bother me. These pictures were taken on September 7th.
One was from the game mentioned above, when I blocked a slapshot that hit me on the inside of me left knee. It was just above my shin pad and just to the side of my thigh pad. This will bruise go through all the colors of the rainbow before it's gone.
The other bruise is more serious. It occurred when I was "helped" to the ice by an opposing player in a game on August 29th. For what it's worth, the other player picked up a penalty on the play. I was skating backwards and pivoting away from him, and he unexpectedly caught me completely off balance with an illegal hit (the puck was nowhere near us at the time). The hit wasn't hard but I fell awkwardly on the ice with all my weight squarely on my left hip.
Weeks later, the muscles in my hip still bother me. This is a DEEP bruise. Once I warm up the pain goes away a little. But it is still difficult to walk. And it probably slowed me down (not much, but maybe a little) at the recent U.S. 10k (If it's Labor Day ... I'm at the U.S. 10k, September 10, 2010).
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