Vacation Weight, Cold Sweats, Aches and Pains

Vacations are always the death of my fitness level. Earlier this month, it proved itself true yet again after some fun and sun on the North Carolina coast. A good amount of beach time mixed with some really amazing food and drinks and I've fallen off the wagon. I know this because before heading off for vacation I sat at a comfortable 184 and came back to a 'healthy' 190. It's not a terrible number to be sure, but definitely not the number I was hoping to see upon return!

I decided to kill off some of that heft and get back at it, I would dive head first into some pick up at Kettler last Thursday. 'Fortunately' only 3 other Skaters and a Goalie showed and I got all the ice time I could have ever hoped for, possible a few shifts too many (see: All of them!). Playing 2 on 2 with a group of guys that I've seen playing a lot and far better than myself really isn't good for gauging your experience level. I found myself chasing almost immediately. It wound up being an extremely hard skate with a pace I just couldn't keep up with, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. By the midway point of our ice time, my body was giving me some wonderful cold sweats and having a hard time keeping my skates under me in a few situations with just the lightest contact. I attribute most all of this to the time off leading up to and including my vacation. It was a really great skate with a good group of guys willing to put up with a skater nowhere near par for the sign up sheet. I was rewarded at one point with a goal for playing the front of the net. Picking up a rebound and throwing it home, I quickly remarked an adage I've heard many times this past season 'Go to the net and good things happen'.

It's always a fun couple of days after a hard skate. My body finds things that have never ached before and cramps them up for a few minutes or an hour and then moves on to a completely unrelated area of my body to do more of the same. It's an interesting battle but one I hope will go away in time.

Here's to another good day on the ice tomorrow, hope to see you there!

New Stick Trial and Playoff Hockey

A late start to the day meant a missed morning skate down in Kettler, but it also meant migas for breakfast, so things worked themselves out it seems.

Today saw the first time I've had the chance to try a composite stick out on the ice. With the acquisition of Mr. Aucoin's brand new stick a few weeks back, I have finally seen the light, and doubt I'll be going back.

It's amazing the difference in feel and stick maneuverability you feel the second you begin to play a puck. There is a significant bump to overall handling ability with the reduction in weight that is appreciable in even my less than qualified hands.

Open hockey went well overall this afternoon at Kettler. Unfortunately there were no goalies for the hour, but teams worked out to be roughly evened out with 6-7 per side giving us enough to go 4 on 4 for the duration. The first 20 minutes were end to end with good energy, but by the end only a handful of guys still had it in their legs to play the puck hard.

There were a few familiar faces from last week and a bunch of new ones, but all around a great group. Some skilled players and a few less so (namely myself), but all were just out to have a good time.

Playing posts isn't exactly a strong point of mine, as really I have very little control over shots just yet, but joining a rush I was fed a pass that I threw on net where a defenders stick deflected my shot up and into the crossbar, to which there was much rejoicing by myself and my teammates as I had lamented that my only chance to hit the posts was to be lucky!

Getting home and getting some good grub in my gut before flipping the tele to the game in the hopes that the series would be clenched. The game didn't disappoint in the drama department but did in the unfortunate loss. I said it to a friend a few days ago, to watch the Caps is to invite drama.

Overall this post season has been absolutely fantastic. Series that I thought would be a sure thing are blown wide open or overturned a predesignated (in my mind) winner with an upset time and time again. Some amazing plays all around and a lot of nail biters. Last years post season is what jolted my hockey heart back to life, and this time around, it's just as electrifying.

Media Craziness at Kettler and Open Hockey

Friday morning at Kettler started off calm enough. Sunny and warm outside, but cool and crisp as a rink should be in the stands of the practice rink. But then, this is the playoffs, and that slow start was soon broken by the buzz of media from the full spectrum of the hockey world.

To say there was a good bit of media represented for Morning Skate is more than an understatement. During the regular season, a practice or morning skate pulled a handful of personnel from various online and television sources. Post season? Well, I'll just let the photo do the talking.


They come out in droves this time of year it seems. Much of the throng seen seemed to be from North of the border, as there was more than a fair share of French being thrown about in a manner I've yet to be privy to outside of a High School French class. Standing about in front of the gate, I was hoping to catch one Jose Theodore for a minute of his time for the charity art project I've worked on. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to secure any signatures for the time at the gate, but ended up dragooning myself to opening the gate for media personnel with far too much equipment for their own good. A few nods of thanks and some tired legs from waiting I decided to have a seat.

The team didn't do a full on skate for the day, in fact a good portion didn't skate at all. I took a seat high in the stands to the close net behind the Russian contingent who I've seen regularly taking the boys morning skate in, with obvious attention to Semyon Varlamov.

As I took my seat there was a bit of a contest/game/competition going on with the boys out on the ice, a shooting practice using two sticks in either corner. I wasn't quite able to discern the objective unfortunately, but there was a good amount of chatter through the group as each shot. Eventually the group finished up and moved to other matters at hand.

The practice wound down slowly, with the healthy scratches doing their bit of extra skate before the the ice was quiet and the pucks and sticks were collected. I walked back over to the gate for a while longer, but no one was making their way back around that area. Joe B and Al Koken wandered over as a few kids were hanging about, they signed a few jerseys for them and chatted a bit. Both seemed very personable and were good sports about one fans attempt to take a photo that ended up being video!

After waiting for what seemed to be too long, I checked my clock and seeing as it was past noon, it was definitely time for a quick bite down in mall. A sandwich and a soda was to be the cap of my trip to Kettler, and I sat quietly to myself in the cafe checking through the Kettler website on my phone. I had plans to head back up to Rockville, closer to home, for some stick and shoot, but something told me to double check on the days and times for Open Hockey while I was still around. Luckily I did! There was ice time in 15 minutes! I scarfed down my sandwich and chugged a bit of soda and hoofed it up the stairs (Note: Take the Elevator!). Getting my sticker, I ran out to the Jeep and collected my gear and sticks.

Playing ice hockey on the Capitals practice ice was something of a special moment. I'd known you could for some time, but it was the first time I'd had the chance to do so. It's a great fanboy moment as you cut into the same ice that your team does. The moment was to be slightly short lived as my first shift on came up quickly and I realized just how dehydrated I was, and how eating just before taking the ice is likely a bad idea! A few moments of indigestion and a near issue with my past meal making reappearance, I got through the worst of it and guzzled water at every chance.

While in the locker room getting ready, there was talk of someone on the ice who'd mentioned their brother played for the Caps, a bit of peaked interest, I headed out not thinking too much of it. I took my seat alongside the rest of the guys out there and noticed a Swedish flag on a Bauer stick. A one Kristoffer Backstrom was playing a game of pick up. It was a neat thing for a newbie player like myself to play hockey with a guy who plays in the Swedish Elite League. Luckily, he was on my team so I didn't have to be embarrassed by him skating circles around me! There was no big kerfuffle made about his presence, but it was a fun addition to an already great group who showed for the ice time.

I really look forward to getting some more time out at Kettler, the locker room was far more mature than those I've be accustomed to in Rockville and the attitude on the ice is much more lax and fun. It's a drive, and actually costs more, but the level of fun was much higher than my past open hockey time. In fact I'm doing much the same as I did last week this week! Only this time I'll be putting my freshly cut and taped composite to the test.

Get out there, have some fun, and I'll see you on the ice!

Another Open Hockey

With another game of open hockey under my belt, I'm dead tired and rather sore. My right knee being the major sore point, will have to do some additional strengthening of my legs and joints as I go forward I think.

This was only my second Open Hockey, with only two Stick and Shoot sessions as well as a single day of Canal shinny, I'm looking forward to the day I can't count my hockey experiences in single digits! There is only so much time to get to the rink while classes are going unfortunately and some of that time I end up being stuck working on projects! In fact I've delayed tonight's session at least two weeks or so thanks to sleeping in or late nights working on a project or two. With Spring Break coming up after this week, I will likely spend most of that time on the ice and getting down to Kettler to watch the boys practice.

The game went well enough for how few participants there were. We started off red and white against green and black, with 8 and 9 players respectively. The game kicked off going 4 on 4, which made complete sense, since we just didn't have the player volume to withstand full speed 5 on 5. Another guy or two showed up late and someone though to make it a 5 on 5, which would have been fine, had no one left early. But not everyone can stay the entire night, and by the half way point, we were down to 6 or 7 a side and still playing an ugly 5 on 5 thanks to a lack of any real bench time. I found myself getting one good hard skate to either end before having to relegate myself to playing as a body in the way with a stick out to the passing lanes.

The night went well enough with the over abundance of ice time though. I find my passing is more on point than before, with only a few later passes being too hard or too far off the mark. Sticking to the right side D for most of the game, I occasionally jumped into a play when possible, only to have the other 'D man' to not fall back on the play when the puck got away! Zone play and passing to the open man isn't exactly a strong point when playing open hockey though, so it's always to be expected. It's not like we were keeping score or anything!

I really can't understand some players thinking when it comes to open hockey though. They take such offense to some peoples lack of ability and are so vocal on the bench that I just couldn't keep my mouth shut any longer. When someone can't play well, it's likely because they're new! When they can't keep their head up while playing the puck, it's because they're new! Stop complaining, you never know who else is new on the bench that you're starting to piss off with your constant complaining! Fortunately, after a quick, maybe slightly aggressive, talk with the worst of the complainers, the pissing and moaning about our teammates stopped and the on ice play by those players became more team oriented. I call that a win.

The night ended well with everyone being dead tired and smiles all around as the buzzer sounded for us to head off. A quick fist bump to my team and a few for the opposing players still around and off to the locker room I went.

The burn out of ice time removed, it was a good hard practice for me. A lot of hard skating, with a few good stick in the lane defensive plays, and just a hand full of good passes up the boards and middle. I think my zone play suffered as I tried to get forward a bit more often to try and join the rush, but many times I found myself having to move to forward as the D positions were filled when I got on ice. I don't think myself an effective forward because of a lack of skating ability and puck handling in zone with pressure.

Passing: + A few good passes and a bit more heads up play.
Shooting: = I don't think I took a single shot the entire time I was on the ice
Skating: + Catching up to more experienced players on the break away
Puck Handling: = A few too many turnovers from opposing player takeaways
Zone: = Next skate will focus more on this instead of getting into the play
Cardio: + Hour or more on the ice with a bit of speed left on a few plays at the end