Arms Buildup

Last night Al and I went to the Blade Runners practice at Vallco with Inga and Kerry. It basically consisted of about 5 minutes of warmup, 10 minutes of full-ice horseshoe drills, and 90 minutes of pickup. Al wore light and I wore dark, so we were on opposing teams for the pickup portion. His side had 10 skaters and mine had 9; we changed every two minutes, with the buzzer. The fact that my side was short meant that one person had to stay on for a double each time.

Both of us started off skating at our normal 1-minute shift speed, but we quickly found that it wasn't sustainable over 2-minute shifts—especially for me, since my turn to do a double came on my second shift. The good news is that while I was in fast-skating mode, I managed to sustain some of the energy and drive I'd built up in Vancouver. On one play, when it was a bit ambiguous whether I should take the puck or one of my teammates should, I felt I had the better angle on it, so I grabbed the puck and skated it out of the zone. A thrilling moment, I can tell you: not for it's speed or skill so much as for its very being. I can be quite a girl on the ice ("no, no, you have it, I'll just follow you in to the zone"), so it's nice to know that I can occasionally be greedy and agressive, too.

After the double I spent most of the remainder of my shifts coasting with occasional bursts of speed. I did have one semi-breakaway where I was able to skate all the way into the zone; I thought about passing, but since I was being covered from the inside, I didn't have an obvious pass to make. I thought I might have gone in too close for a shot when I was just shy of the goal line, but when I looked up to see where the goalie was in the net, I found that he wasnt: he was standing off to the side, having a drink of water. So I just popped the puck into the net. Just about everyone on the ice found this amusing; I looked at it as my best chance to score, though it didn't stop me from trying when the goalie was in the net as well. :)

I also had another couple nice plays behind the net: one where I was able to pass through an opponent's legs and put the puck right on the tape of my teammate at the right-side boards, and another where I managed to wrestle the puck away from the goalie behind the net and pop it out in front for Inga (Eric tried for the stuff and failed, but the puck slid back out just enough that Inga was able to push it in).

Overall, it was a good workout, and worthwhile for the opportunities it gave me to try new moves and just get more comfortable on my skates, but I'd actually rather practice with 45 second shifts than 2 minutes. Of course, I'd also rather practice at my usual position and with my linemates, but you can't have everything. Having to figure out which position was open/which guy was uncovered was a good drill in itself, actually, and there were many opportunities to practice breaking out and setting up in front. Inga says she tries to go to the practices about twice a month; I suspect Al and I will do the same.

Meanwhile, we've also joined a gym in an effort to get a bit stronger. I should say "strong" rather than "stronger" if I'm going to be honest; I had no idea how weak I really was in my upper body until I tried to do a shoulder press on a Cybex machine. I should have guessed from my inability to hold onto the puck when challenged or to shoot with authority, but until faced with the absolute numbers on the weight machines, I didn't really understand how deep the problem ran. Hopefully doing a little lifting 3 times a week will help my upper body strength, and that in turn will help me become a better hockey player.

Posted by Lori in Gang Green ~ Summer 2003 | May 30, 2003·07:00 PM