And Now, Girl D

I should have saved the title "D Girl" for this post, because that's what I played last night: D. Of course, I didn't know when I wrote the actual D Girl post that I was going to be playing D; Josh told me a few minutes before announcing the lines to everyone.

It came about because there was general consensus that one player who occasionally played D would be more useful as a Forward, and with Mifflin out with a knee injury, that left us short on D. I mentioned to Josh that I might be even less useful on D than I was as a Forward, but he said, "no problem, you'll play with me, and you'll be fine." As it turned out, I often didn't play with Josh (because when you're in your own end a lot, it's hard to change both D at once), but I was still fine.

Only one really dumb move comes to mind, and that's when I took the puck back around the net, skated up to the left faceoff circle, looked up, saw three opponents on that side, and still passed up the boards on that side. I should have realized that the right side was probably open and skated toward the middle before scouting out a suitable passing target, or I should have looked up sooner and flung the puck around the boards to the right. In any case, my pass up the left boards resulted in the puck popping out right onto their pointman's stick, and he was able to get a shot off (and, if I remember correctly, either that shot or a subsequent one went in).

There were other minor mistakes, including one where I stepped in to poke check a breaking opponent and missed, which allowed him to beat me handily—something Jeff had just told me on the bench never to do unless I was 100% sure I could get the puck. I said to him when I came off, "did you see me do that thing you'd just finished telling me not to do?" He smiled and said, "yep, but you learned your lesson, didn't you?" I think so, yes. Although my instinct is probably still to try to knock the puck away, I understand now why that's not a good idea when your opponent has momentum in the other direction. If the puck is loose and you both have an equal chance at it going sideways towards the boards or even in the same direction (i.e., back in toward your offensive zone), it's probably worth trying to keep it in. But if your opponent is coming at you—headed toward his offensive zone—the results of not being able to knock him off the puck could be catastrophic. This is why Jeff said only to attempt the poke if you're 100% sure of success. (I knew I had already internalized this, but I'm glad I'm writing it down: it really does cement the idea in my mind.)

I don't think any of my mistakes (other than that first big one) resulted in goals against, which is good; at least I wasn't a total disaster as a Defenseman. And I know I prevented at least one goal at the end when I blocked a slapshot from the point with my ankle. I was (successfully) tying up a Forward in front of the net at the time of impact, so I didn't even see the shot coming (and thus I can't really take credit for a brilliant play). I had another "WHERE THE HELL WERE MY PADS???" moment and had to come off as soon as the play turned around, and I sent Josh out to take my last shift when Dan came off with a minute to go in the game. My foot was swollen this morning, and I can feel a small knob just above the ankle bone, but there's no sign of injury other than the pain.

Oh, and we won 4-3. Yay, us!

Posted by Lori in Admirals ~ Fall/Winter 2005-2006 | January 17, 2006·11:17 AM

Comments

Hi Lori,

We used to play together in the Bay Area on the Arabian Knights. I lost my jersey somehow and the team thoughtfully bought another for me as I embarked to Cambridge, England. Congratulations on the wedding to Al btw; a formidable hockey couple as any. Just thought I'd let you know that I played in the annual Oxford-Cambridge Ice Hockey Varsity Match, the oldest hockey rivalry in the world! We lost, but it was a good game. Take care,

Hank

Posted by: Hank at March 6, 2006 8:49 AM

hi Hank!

I totally remember you -- how cool that you played in the Oxford-Cambridge hockey match! Where are you now? (And, more importantly, where are you playing hockey? ;)

cheers,
Lori

Posted by: Lori [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 6, 2006 8:56 AM