A Stick To The Face

What the title says is pretty much what happened.

It was Saturday afternoon, and we were playing the top team in our division with our eight-game unbeaten streak on the line.

I got the start on defense. At the drop of the puck, they hemmed us into our zone, finally putting a weak wraparound on net. Our goalie froze the puck and stopped play.

After the faceoff, the puck came back to the point, but their defenceman’s shot was blocked and didn’t make it through. When the play started heading away from us, my defensive partner let his man go. My partner had been holding down his stick while the guy struggled to lift it. Unfortunately for me, when my partner let go of his stick, it flew right into my face.

I didn’t even have time to react. I caught it square under my nose and went down. Of course it hurt, but I was more concerned about my teeth. A teammate had gotten most of a tooth knocked out in the previous game, and I didn’t want the same thing happening to me.

I took off my gloves and felt around my face. Felt like everything was there. Then I looked at my fingers. Blood! Red blood! My blood! Ahhhhh! I was leaking all over myself and the ice. I left my sticks and gloves behind and skated towards the bench. One of my teammates handed me his towel and I held it to my nose – he wouldn’t be wanting this back.

After enduring some jokes at my expense from the first aid guys at the rink, I got four stitches at Burnaby Hospital, a swollen lip, and a trickling nosebleed for the next two days.

Luckily, though my teeth were sore for the next couple of days, I still had all of them. The mouthguard did its job.

So did I learn anything from all this? I doubt it, since I’m still not going to wear a cage. But I definitely feel lucky since it could’ve been a lot worse. Just a little higher and I would have a broken nose. A little lower and some of my bottom teeth would be broken.

Bottom line? We won, and our unbeaten streak is intact at nine games.

Life is a Lot Like Hockey

Not really, but I thought it was time for a post on our national sport and I couldn’t think of a title.

So what should I write about? There’s no point making predictions because, well, there’s just no point. And no money involved.

How about I talk about Sidney Crosby, and how all my friends think he’s a punk? Nah, no point in that either. I’ll be the one laughing when the Pens win the Cup. Mark my words. Wait, was that a prediction? Better put money on it!

Anyways, I was thinking about the drive that separates a pro athlete from an amateur. What is it that a pro does differently that I can learn from? From what I’ve read, pros can make a living from what they do because of their mindset. You read that right. Not natural ability or learned skill, but mindset. Sure, being 6′3″ and 250 pounds are probably handy assets, but they’re not eveything.

Blades of Steel over Short Bus 2-1

We won! We won! We won!

If it sounds like I’m a little excited, it’s because I am. Here’s the situation: going into the game, we had 4 wins after 17 games. Good enough for worst in our division. And we’re in division 19 of the ASHL at Burnaby 8 Rinks, so really, we’ve sunk as low as we can go.

Short Bus is a team we’ve always played well against, and last night was no exception. It probably helped that we had three full lines of forwards and defencemen rolling.

But I think what really got us the win was that we changed our mindset. With all the games we’ve lost this season, we were stuck in a rut. Some of us were trying too hard to make the perfect shot or pass, others didn’t feel like they could make a difference anymore. Still others had just gotten used to the idea of losing, and thought that keeping the scores respectable instead of a blowout would be good enough.

It turned out none of these reasons were correct. Steve, the “Running Man” right winger, said it best: “We’re not having fun out there”. Guys were so tightly wound up that they seemed to forget we were playing in division 19 in a beer league. We are paying good money to play, so the least we can do is enjoy it.

I think that’s what happened last night. The guys finally learned that we play best when we’re having fun, when we’re taking the time to look around and make the smart play, rather than the quick play. I hope this trend continues when we have our next game Friday night.