GoalieInGlasses

So from July of this year to middle of October, all my game experience was based on pickup ball hockey games. This mostly took place in an arena setting, but I also play in a parking lot with a bunch of guys on Sundays. Pickup games were nice and relaxed (aside from the occasional player who took things far to seriously and had rage issues), and there wasn't really much for strategy. A lot of the times it was launching the ball from across the rink, shooting whenever and wherever, lots of breakaways, not a whole lot of defense, etc.

Earlier in October, I was sending out emails to various leagues (both ice and ball hockey) to get information on how to join and such. Now, I wasn't expecting to play in a league at this point, I was mostly looking for a league to join in around January. But I got an email asking if I could goalie for a Div B ball hockey team (i.e. middle tier, lowest was C) since they needed one that night. I figured: "Eh why not? Should be a lot of fun".

Boy was I in for a rough night that first game. I knew the level of play would be higher than pickup, and especially in a middle tier division. I fully acknowledge that I should probably be playing in Div C lol. But wow, our opponents were making smart plays, passing the puck around, having tight defense. That first half I was a little flustered and let in 4 goals...with a couple of them being pretty soft ones. I recomposed midway through and played a little better, but we still lost 6-2. However, the team I played with was super friendly and I guess they were happy enough to continue to let me goalie for their team.

Yesterday was our second game. This time I knew exactly what to expect and better prepared myself mentally for it. Also, a part of me wanted to prove to this team that I could play at this level. The first half of the game, our team was fantastic. I was happy to make several important saves and only letting 1 goal in, our defense was tight, and we had lots of shots on net. We were up 4-1, but then something changed. The other team scored a goal and just started to pick up momentum, while my team started to struggle both defensively (including myself) and offensively. 2 backdoor goals, 1 screened shot, and 1 that flat out beat my glove side...final score ended with a 4-5 loss. It was very disheartening losing like that. At least my team took it in stride, and overall I was very happy with my performance. No sloppy goals went through, and I was way more focused on the game.

Next week will be interesting. I have my usual pick up on Sunday, a league game on Monday and Tuesday, and another on Saturday. Hopefully I'll have the energy for all that lol.