reaper_rider
06-16-2001, 01:20 AM
Last night I had to get out. I NEEDED to gear up (just in case), practice my puck handling skills (or lack thereof), wrist shots and the occasional slap shot. Much to my surprise there were a few people at the rink. Not wanting to interrupt or be laughed at, I slowly began getting ready when one of the Czech players approached me and said "Hey, you want to play a little game?". I was shocked. I knew who this guy was and knew how well his team played. My first reaction was "HELLZ YEAH!" but then I remembered "Uh, I"ve never played", so I gave two quick excuses "Uh...Im breaking in these skates, uhh oh yeah and I suck!". To which he replied "bah, its cool!"
Sure enough, everyone I met was MEGA cool. They were very encouraging, introduced themselves, asked questions about my skates, gear, and we began to play. No surprise here folks, I sucked. I couldn't skate nearly as fast, my feet were hurting like hell, the skates had a mind of their own, I missed all my passes, I got beaten one on one, I nailed a player on the shins with my stick, I couldn't see the puck since my vision at night is horrible, didn't get a single shot and basically stayed back near the goal to play defense to the best of my abilities. Yet, I had one of the most memorable times of my life!
Instead of practicing by myself I made some friends and I had my first game. It was incredible to play with some of the Czech players I had been watching for the past weeks (they went on to win a local tournament). As I understand it, some of these guys actually played for the Olympic Czech team and minor league hockey. Don't know if this is true, but that's what I heard.
Can't wait for next Thurs:)
Sure enough, everyone I met was MEGA cool. They were very encouraging, introduced themselves, asked questions about my skates, gear, and we began to play. No surprise here folks, I sucked. I couldn't skate nearly as fast, my feet were hurting like hell, the skates had a mind of their own, I missed all my passes, I got beaten one on one, I nailed a player on the shins with my stick, I couldn't see the puck since my vision at night is horrible, didn't get a single shot and basically stayed back near the goal to play defense to the best of my abilities. Yet, I had one of the most memorable times of my life!
Instead of practicing by myself I made some friends and I had my first game. It was incredible to play with some of the Czech players I had been watching for the past weeks (they went on to win a local tournament). As I understand it, some of these guys actually played for the Olympic Czech team and minor league hockey. Don't know if this is true, but that's what I heard.
Can't wait for next Thurs:)