Hockey School Dropout

Too bad we were on the wrong side of it. :)

I actually felt pretty good throughout the game, even though we lost 8-2. Yeah, ouch. I had a friend record the action in our end, so I can see my positioning, movement, and what actually happened on some of the goals against.

Goal #1 came pretty quick in the game (yet again). Our opponents wore red, so I'll refer to them as the reds. Red player came across the blue line and ripped a shot at me. It was coming right for my head, so I brought up my trapper to grab it. I somehow missed it, and it smacked me right in the cage. Shot was hard enough to leave a dent in the cage. I lost sight of the puck, and between looking for the puck and wondering why there was no whistle (other leagues around here blow the play dead after the goalie is hit in the head), reds picked up the puck and put it past an unsuspecting goalie - me.

Goal #2 was red player coming across from my left to my right in the high slot and shooting back against the movement. I felt it hit the bottom of my trapper, and it continued on between my glove and left pad. The evidence:



I was at the top of the crease and had a decent angle, just missed the stupid puck.

Anyway, we got one back and made it 2-1 on a shot over the opposing goalie's blocker. Too bad the comeback didn't materialize.

Goal #3 I'd rather just forget, but it's captured for all time. Winger came in from the right side, and I backed up too far and went down too early, put it high blocker side. Nice shot, coulda had it though. The game tape:



Goal #4 was another bad one. Just off the face off, shot comes in, I saw it all the way, and it went 5 hole. I felt it pass under my knee stack as I landed. The video shows I moved my stick aside and up, which didn't help my cause. Video replay:



Goal ##5 was started by a serious error from my defender. I made the save on the initial shot, and directed it to the corner. He retrieved it, and decided to throw a pass right up the middle. Easy interception, good shot, I missed it, score 5-1. You can see it here:



Goal #6 I didn't see. The angle the video was shot from doesn't show it, but the red player was directly in front of me and I butterflied to get a view, and good thing I kept my glove up as it hit it, but kept on going. Again, the proof:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcUktg9MbZM

So, they were up 6-1, and were pressing hard for more. Very classy. Their D were pinching hard, and we broke out on a 3 on 1. Naturally we scored and it was 6-2. I was glad to see that.

Goal #7 was a partial screen and really a nice redirection just past me. Apparently I was too far toward the center of the net. Not sure why as there was no one to my right from the red team.....I should have played more to the left, away from any screen and to close the hole that was evidently there on that side. :) Exhibit F your honor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpNTXD02w9E

Goal #8 was another screen goal. Another shot from the slot that I couldn't see, that went up high. No video on that one though.

At the end of the game, I didn't feel down on myself. Redirected and screened goals are hard to stop. The others I had more chance on, and I recognized my mistakes right away. First mistake, assuming the rules were consistent across the leagues in the city. Now I know for next time. :)

I was pleased with an improvement in redirecting pucks to the corners with my stick. We'd worked on that in my last goalie academy, and I glad it's starting to integrate into my game. I still have some glaring weaknesses, but I'm slowly working them out of my game. Baby steps right? Heck, I never would have thought that after 3 months of playing goalie I'd be on a team in a league! I'm almost 5 months in since I started, and I'm feeling more comfortable each outing. I still need work on positioning/angling, sliding, and rebound recovery. Once I can get a slideboard the butterfly sliding will come along greatly. The other two will come mostly with experience and some more goalie school in the fall (no adult programs around here in the summer). And improving my flexibility will help as well, which is a work in progress.

I played pickup Monday morning, and had a great outing. It's starting to build!

I'll leave with a couple of nicer saves I had from Sunday night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jv-6DpSz6o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLjpH2H5kQY