Picking up the pace

I’ve been feeling a little better lately about my game.  I’m not sure what accounts for it, and it’s probably imperceptible to those outside of my brain.   But, I feel like I’m skating a bit better, and am seeing the puck and the play a little better than I have been in a long while.  I’m also trying to push myself to get out of the comfort zone that I’ve played in for the longest time.

I’ve had a few good chances to score in my last few games, so maybe this is what is helping.  I had a bunch in our last game against the Ice Dawgs, though I wasn’t able to cash in on any of them.  This surge in confidence/feel-goodness has motivated me to try and get in another ice time during the week.  Since our team moved to playing Friday nights (as a result of the creation of Silver B), I’ve only played once a week. 

I used to play one game plus one drop-in or skills class per week.  The drop-in I used to attend was removed in place of our games on Friday nights, and there haven’t been any classes for months.  I’ve never felt that one session on the ice per week was enough, and I think it has had an impact on the development of my abilities on the ice as well as my enjoyment of the game.  So, I’ve resolved to get my butt out of bed early on the weekends to practice at the rink.  So far, it’s been great (“so far” being the one time I’ve done it since making the resolution to do it).

Speaking of the Ice Dawgs, we had a great game against them last Friday, except for some physical play all during the game on the part of one of their players, who later was ejected from the game.  I’m not sure what his deal was,  but I think in the end the referees handled that situation appropriately.  Some words were exchanged between players on their time and ours, but I’m not going to hold it against them or take it personally.  The Ice Dawgs certainly don’t have a reputation for dirty play and it was probably just due to emotions boiling over.

On another note, many of us were surprised to see the Pints finally lose a game in regulation.  Norcal Crossover A beat them 2-1 on Friday night.  Not to take anything away from the victors, but I wonder if the “fix” was in.  Consider the following:

• The week prior, during the Silver B Captain’s Meeting, the question of league parity came up.  I understand that the Pints team was mentioned as they were basically undefeated, but that consensus was that there isn’t a parity problem.  What happens the following week?  All of a sudden, the Pints lose a game.  The coincidence raises an eyebrow, doesn’t it?
• According to the official stat sheet, the Pints only had one shot on net against Norcal, on which they scored.  Apparently, they did not shoot any more than that.  How is it possible for an undefeated team to only have one shot on net?  Hmmm… perhaps because they didn’t want to score again?
• The Pints’ best player happened not to be at this game.  Another coincidence…
• The Pints and Norcal Crossover A are former/current roller hockey teams.  They know each other and it seems interesting that the Pints would lose to people they are familiar with.  Not to sound surfacist, but we ice players have noticed that roller players tend to be a bit sketchy.

So, I think the circumstantial evidence speaks for itself here.  The Pints threw a game because they want to avoid being moved up to Silver A next season.

And finally, has the offseason already started?  It’s only February but I’ve heard of some activity with a captain or two approaching players (including those on my team) to join theirs next season - though I don’t know which league specifically; it could be in our league (in which case they are looking to poach our roster) or another.  It seems several of our guys have been approached. 

Perhaps it’s better to be proactive this year and get myself going in that regard.  It seems that the country’s economic woes are having an impact on whether many people will be able to play next season, as employment is becoming an issue and hockey has to take its place on the affordability bubble.  As such, I’ve started this week to begin my team planning for next season.  Hopefully, by starting earlier, the offseason won’t seem as difficult as it usually has been.

Singh10.

Monday Musings: We don’t know what we don’t know

For the second week in a row, we played a team that had (what I’m going to call) an “illegal player” on their roster.

Two games ago, on Halloween night, we played the Pirates who had a very short bench.  For this game, they had a player from another team in our league join them without notice to me or the hockey director.  Then, last game, we played Norcal Crossover A, who used a player from another team in our league as well without providing any notice to anyone. 

Both of these incidents are unrelated to each other, save for the fact that we were the opponents in consecutive incidences.  During the Pirates game, I didn’t make an issue of the illegal player, considering that the Pirates were already so short on the bench.  However, after the Pirates game, I sent a note to the Hockey Director just to let him know what had occured, and that perhaps a reminder about league rules pertaining to illegal players needed to be made.  He did advise me that as long as he and the opposing team’s captain agreed, a team could “borrow” another team’s player if they were extremely short.  While I don’t think the approvals were sought, since the Pirates did have a very short bench, I didn’t think it was a serious issue.

However, last week in our game against Norcal Crossover A, I noticed immediately that Norcal had a player from another team taking the warmups with the team, and I decided to let the officials know this time around.  Norcal was not particularly short of players, and the player they had on the ice was a very talented one, so the presence of this player on their team did not make sense.  The officials didn’t seem to know what to do with this information.  So, the game continued and this illegal player (who was given kudos for his performance on the Norcal website) was allowed to play the entire game.  I sent another note to the Hockey Director about this second consecutive occurence.  These were not formal complaints on my part, but I thought the league should know that there is a violation of rules occuring. 

Common sense would dictate that in a competitive league, players shouldn’t be able to play on multiple teams.  But, it’s more than common sense, it’s also a Skatetown rule… and everyone knows how much of a stickler I am when it comes to following Skatetown’s rules (exhibit A and exhibit B).  As team captains at Skatetown, part of the responsibility we’re to accept is that we make sure our teams are in compliance.  I try to make sure I do this and as such, I expect other captains to do the same.

According to our Adult League Rule book:

Substitutions/Illegal Players:

Substitute players are NOT permitted, with the exception of goalies as noted below.

Any player on the ice without the hockey director’s permission will be considered illegal and subsequent penalties/suspensions will be assessed.

Any team using an illegal player will forfeit the game. The Captain/Alternate of the offending team will be given a minimum of a one game suspension.

If a rostered goalie is unable to play, goalie substitutes are permitted. Substitute must be currently registered on a Skatetown Adult Hockey League team within 2 levels of play of the team that they are substituting for. Outside goalies will be considered illegal. Prior approval of the substitute goalie must be given by the Hockey Director in advance of the change so the change can be noted.

If a game is declared a forfeit, the teams involved are allowed to stay and play during their designated ice time.

In my opinion, I don’t think in the Norcal game that the team should have been made to forfeit or that anyone should be suspended.  Simply, the illegal player shouldn’t have been allowed to take the ice.  I also don’t intend to imply that there were any malicious motives here.  At the very worst, teams are trying to intentionally get away with such maneuvers, but at the very least teams may just simply be ignorant of what the rules are.  Whatever the case, I think there needs to be a greater focus on making sure that teams and officials are following and applying all the rules that are laid out.  We agree to these rules when we sign up and run our teams, so we should be held accountable when we break them.

Singh10.

Trick or treating

Last week was Halloween, and the rink had games scheduled that night.  This posed a problem for many of our teams as our players had to choose between spending time with their families on this annual occasion or come to the rink to play.  Our game with the Pirates was right in prime-time trick-or-treating hour, and so it left little opportunity for players to try and do both things on the same night.  When the schedule was released, I requested that games on this night be rescheduled, but apparently there was no available alternative night. So, much like federal politics, we spent the week working on getting as high turnout as possible. 

Fortunately for us many of our guys were able to make it (one way or another), and we were able to ice more than two lines of forwards and two lines of defense.  Our team has been lucky in this regard.  We’ve rarely, if ever, had too much of a problem with turnout.  Our goalie has made every single game we’ve played, and we’ve never had less than 10 skaters show up for a game (which would give us two lines each of forwards and defense).  I’m lucky to play with teammates with this kind of dedication and attendance record – it certainly gives me one less thing to worry about.  A lot of credit and thanks have to go to our families, who’ve clearly been supportive of our hockey team and have given our players some flexibility to show up every week.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, they were very short and only had one or two players on the bench for the entire game.  It was a tight game for the first period but clearly they were getting tired in the second, and our higher turnout gave us the advantage in terms of our energy level.  The Pirates picked up a second wind in the third but by then the outcome was inevitable.

I got a little “treat” in this game as I scored my second goal of the season (coincidentally just after I wondered about the over/under that I would score again).  This one was set up by Yama2, who centered the puck while I was cruising through the slot, and I swept it at the net.  Incidentally, I’ve scored two goals set up by two guys named Vince.  Maybe we’re on to something here?

This week, we have yet another Saturday game, so we won’t be at the rink tonight.  We’ve played every team once, so the cycle restarts and we’ll be facing Norcal Crossover A.  They sit one point above us in the standings at second place.  We tied them in our first preseason game though they thoroughly outshot us in the game.  I’m hoping that we’re playing much better than when we started the season.  Playing NCA tomorrow night for the second time this season will be a good indicator of our progress.

Singh10.

Catching up

Much like I need to do on the ice, I’m now “behind the play” on the blog and need to do some catching up.  Good thing I type faster than I skate. 

It felt like forever since we had gotten together as a team.  We had last played two weeks prior in our failed bid to win the Silver B Championship (which I have barely written about to this point), and several of our guys were still upset about that loss.   While it was nice to finally be back at the rink, personally I never had much of a break from hockey activities, being wrapped up in offseason stuff as I tried to get our team set for next season.  It was a busy time organizing our team and looking to fill two vacancies on our roster. 

I think many captains will agree that the offseason is a mentally tough time as far as rec hockey goes.  There are too many competing pressures to deal with, internal and external, and it’s a challenge to have to navigate through them to make the most people happy.  It’s a relief by the time next season starts, but I don’t think I’m overstating the case in saying that as far as hockey goes, you’re already mentally tired from thinking about hockey.

However, we did find two great guys for our team this season.  Our newest Puck Hogs played in our first preseason game last week, and I think there’s a lot of potential for us when we all gel again.  They seem like very intelligent players who know the game, so when we all start clicking hopefully we’ll reap some good dividends.  What’s more is that they seem like great guys and fit in well with our team, and that’s as important as any other consideration.

Our first preseason game of the winter campaign was last week, against NorCal Crossover A (here on out to be called “NC-A”).  We didn’t know much about this team.  What I did know was that they come from the roller hockey rink in nearby Davis, CA (at a facility known as “DISC“), and last season their team (as “NorCal Crossover”) took the Bronze League championship.  They were known as “the girls team” even though they had several males on their roster.  I also had heard some of the rumors, including that they took the Bronze championship in controversial fashion – playing a skilled player out of the net, who otherwise would not be allowed to play unless he was goalie.  On his back, it’s said NorCal Crossover won the championship.

Forward to this season, where I expected that NorCal Crossover was moving up to our league as NorCal Crossover A.  They kept a “B” squad in Bronze.  So, last week, we weren’t quite sure what we were up against.  But, we quickly learned that NC-A was no Bronze level team.  In fact, to call them a “girls” team would have been an exaggeration, as NC-A only had about three to four women on the bench.

NC-A outplayed us for a substantial portion of the game, and two players easily stood out (one of which scored two goals against us).  By the second period, NC-A had outshot us 22-9 and if it were not for the great play of our goalie, we would have been blown out.  NC-A had more shots against us in the first period that we were able to generate the entire game.

I heard later that several of NC-A’s players come from the top roller league in Davis, and have now landed in Silver B – the second from the bottom league at Skatetown.  However, it’s also been explained to me that the roller leagues at DISC aren’t as structured as at Skatetown, and just because a player plays in the top league, doesn’t mean they are a top league talent.  It could be the case, I don’t know, and I don’t have the urge to pursue the matter.

However, there is another leaguewide matter that has became more of a concern for me this off-season.  I’ll go into further details in a subsequent blog post.  As for right now, it’s time to prepare for our second of two preseason games tonight.  This week we face what was the Phantiaks but is now the Misfits. 

Singh10.