Not as good as I had hoped this week. As usual, another loss. This was a 6-0 loss against the second place team. I let in two soft goals. One, a slapper from the point found some way underneath my leg pad and the other was just me thinking I had something in my glove when it was behind me being poked into the net. I got a chance to come out and play the puck tonight and show off my stick handling skills. Oh yeah… Marty Turco biyatch! At the end of the game the puck was sent back towards my zone with about 5 seconds left. I was going to skate up to center ice with the puck and attempt to launch it but I ran out of time. Anyways, that reminds me of an awesome YouTube clip… check it out! 

Next weeks game is against the first place (undefeated) team. They regularly cream their opponents with double digits so I’ve got to be solid.

I received a funny photo via e-mail today! Take a look at the size difference between myself and Dave (guy pictured). Dave is actually a goalie on our A team (Chiefs).  The dude is huge! I am even in my “big boy suit” and I still look like nothing next to him. HA!

OH! Got my skates today… they are all sharpened and ready for a morning skate tomorrow.

GET SOME! I was like a wall tonight! A wall with only 4 small holes in it! We lost this one 4-3 but it was by far the best game I have ever played. I completely robbed a dude with my glove tonight. Like, Sports Center robbed. It looked freaking awesome and it felt even better. I had to act all cool afterwards so that it looks like something I will be doing more frequently… HA! This team was a really good team. I think they have the best offense in the league. I really was peppered tonight. I probably saw 30 shots. I went in expecting to lose but I honestly didn’t think I’d hold them to 4. Anyways, the past 3 weeks I have felt as if I am no longer the reason the team is losing so that’s a positive.

I bought my new goalie skates online today. RBK 5K’s in junior 5.5’s for only $150. Monkey has them for $240 and is out of size 5.5. They won’t be restocking as the new 2009 series is coming out. So, I am saving $90 plus the tax (no shipping charges). I hope to see them by Friday so that I can make love to them and then take them down to get sharpened in time for Saturday’s game.

Today I played as goalie in a 3 on 3 pond hockey tournament. It was basically iron man hockey. Two 10 minute running time periods with penalties resulting in immediate penalty shots. The nets were placed along the dashers and the playing surface was limited to the blue line on in. It was a really good time. As you can imagine you see a ton of action. A shot can be fired from just about anywhere on the playing surface.

I did ok actually. The first game was a 9-4 loss, second a 7-4 loss, third a 7-2 win, and then we lost in the semi-finals by a score of 4-3.  As I left the ice, one of the guys from another team asked if I’d sub in as goalie for their championship game. HA! I made it to the championship… well… sort of.  Of course I would never turn down ice time so I took him up. It was a very close game! I did a really good job of keeping the puck out but I ended up losing by a score of 4-3.

So, yeah, I got my first win but I am not counting it because it was in the tournament.

The guys that produced “The Website Is Down” have now come out with a second video called “Excel Hell”. It’s not quite as funny as the first but it’s still enough to make you do a number one in your pants. Check it out!

I am definitely improving! I held the opposition to 3 goals tonight. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough as we posted only 1 goal. My lateral movement (both up and in the b-fly) are improving. In fact, I stoned two guys on the back door last night. I am no longer retarded with my stick… just impaired.

I’ve got the hang of using the trapper to flex the shaft. The key is not to attempt to grasp the paddle with the trapper, but to apply pressure to the shaft with the palm of the trapper. It’s still very odd and nothing like using a regular stick.

The keys to this position are skating ability and flexibility. My skating is coming along (remember it’s much different than skating out) and I think that when I get my new skates I will see a huge improvement. I’ve also been working my way down in hollow (currently at 5/8″) which is odd to most old school goalies. It seems to be more accepted with b-fly goalies. In fact, I read a lot of guys are using a 3/8″ hollow which is more aggressive than I use on my regular skates! To address the flexibility issue I am going to buy this stretching aid (Stretch-a-Flex). Hopefully I’ll be doing the splits in a few months.