Saturday, May 26, 2012

Number 14, get out NOW!

I'm at the Oceanside rink watching the game before JW's, which was not that interesting until a fight broke out and they called the game early because the score was 0-11. Clearly someone is in the wrong division. It was someone from the winning team that was kicked out of the game, so that's kind of crappy. Poor winners.

My team played this morning at 11:15 am. We lost pretty badly. It was a frustrating game- their goals seemed to come off of fluky bounces and we couldn't put it in the net. I did go balls to walls, despite my lack of balls, so it wasn't for lack of trying. I'm a lot better at trying to carry the puck up when I get it instead of just dumping it. It is definitely a beginner thing to want to get rid of the puck the second you get it.

Okay, I'm back from JW's game. They won again, but it was a close game just like yesterday. The team they played today has a bunch of players who are friends of ours from our Lakewood team, the Dirty Martinis. It was fun to watch JW playing against guys he normally plays with. There are a lot of L.A. teams here. Tomorrow my team plays the Polar Cats, who have a bunch of women I know from playing in Panorama City. There are a lot of local teams too, and teams from other Southwestern states, but there are also teams from around the country (Oregon, Texas, Chicago, Baltimore, New York, Washington D.C.) and teams from Canada (3 from Calgary, Edmonton, 2 from British Columbia, Alberta, Montreal, Nova Scotia). There are some funny names too- Phoenix Mid Ice Crisis, Bay Area Angry Dolphins, San Jose Brown Trouts, Anaheim Sleestaks, Burnaby Fighting Hedge Sparrows, Colorado Booooze, Las Vegas Hockey Mob, Phoenix Project Mayhem, but I'm going to have to give the funniest team name to the Las Vegas Hookers N Blow. How could you not laugh at that?

We're done playing for today. Tonight we have our team dinner at a place with an electrical bull. I've been waiting all year to go back there! We have the team dinner there every year. JW has to keep an eye on me because I loves me some tequila shots. A couple years ago I got a tad violently ill the next day and was a little sick for our last game. You'd think playing four games over the weekend would require you to be in great shape and take care of yourself, but you'd be wrong about that. If hockey players weren't such heavy drinkers on a regular basis, I'd say that tournaments are really where we do our annual binge drinking. That is true, but it's maybe only slightly more than some people drink regularly. I always have high hopes of losing weight over the long weekend, but that soon goes out the window with having to eat out and all the shots and how ravenous I am after playing. I am inspired to get in better shape when I get back to L.A. The stronger your thighs and core, the better and longer you can skate. Upper body strength helps you fight back when you're being pushed around. Building up your stamina with cardio helps too. Basically, the better shape you're in the more you can push yourself when you're on the ice, and bursts of speed to get to the puck first and fighting for the puck and position in front of the net is what it's all about. Onward!

No comments: