The Fall 2008-09 season came to a grinding halt last night.
The Tigers played at 4, matching up against the Sled Dogs again in a game that didn’t effect either teams play off standing. Based on last week, the Tigers were already out and the Sled Dogs were already in.
The game had a slow start with some of the worst ice I’ve seen at Sky Rink in quite a while. It’s always bad playing after public skate rips up the ice, but this was horrible with standing water and bits of ice floating. It make me think of a melting snow cone. Both sides had issues getting the puck to move because the water was causing too much drag.
Once we got moving though, even with the Tigers playing well we couldn’t get a goal . The Sled Dogs got five (or was it six?). It was great to see Jacqueline get her first goal for the Sled Dogs (yes, I know this is cheering for the opposition but still, a first career goal is a reason to celebrate). I was happy with my play in this game too–which was important since Will came out to watch. I had some good defense (I was -1 for the game) and I made three or four offensive rushes too along with another couple of strong shots from my position up on the blueline.
My big mistake in the Tigers game was neglating to wrap my hand. It’s still giving me problems from the sprain a couple weeks ago and I just flat out forgot to take care of it. Huge error! I made it through the Tigers game but it was throbbing after (and still is this morning).
The Wizards watched their playoff hopes evaporate last night as we also battled the Sled Dogs. It was a weird game, and I’m disappointed with how I played this one. My throbbing hand didn’t make things easier as I had issues getting the right stick motion to get pucks off the ice. I also made some really bad choices. I take full responsibility for the first goal against us because I stupidly made my defensive stand way too early. I was out for the second goal against too. I’d blocked the first shot with my body but couldn’t do anything about the second shot. Another couple goals against happened while I was on the bench but the last one was also on my watch. I thought I’d been able to push the player off the puck, but he was able to recover and score. Very frustrating.
So now I’m off from league play for three or four weeks. I’ll go to Ronnie’s during that time and probably pick up some Saturday Night Scrimmage a couple weeks too. For Spring, I know I’m on the Tigers full time and the Ordinals as an alternate. I’ll be with the Wizards too, but I’m not sure yet if I’ll get the full time slot I’ve asked for or if I’ll still be an alternate (I’ve hated being an alternate and not playing every game, so I’m hoping to get a full time slot again).
