Tue, 27 May 2008  The SoCal HockeyCast, enhanced podcast is back! In this episode, listen and watch as Ted, Zoe, and Genevieve talk about the Stanley Cup Finals, the Los Angeles Kings, and what the heck happened to them for over a year! Remember, this is an enhanced podcast and has images, live URL links, and chapters. It's best viewed in iTunes... a free download from the Apple website at http://apple.com/itunes. If you have any questions or comments at all, please email us at info@socalhockeycast.com.Comments[0] |
Fri, 23 May 2008
Unlike the Ducks and the Kings, the hockey season for
participants in the Kings Beginning
Hockey Workshop with Daryl Evans continues. I know that I didn't
report on the "big game" we played on April 24th, but it's been a busy
crazy time in our family! It was a surreal experience that seemed a
total haze for me. My mom had just suffered a heart attack and was
scheduled for a double bypass, so my mind definitely wasn't on the
game. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to give much more of an assessment
of the game other than, "It was fun," and "I was terrible." I didn't
score any goals, but one of my passes was finished off, so I did get an
assist. The Purple Team lost this game, but it was kind of bogus. Our
goalie allowed two goals to the kids on the Yellow Team. Without the
charity goals, we'd have won by a goal. Not a big deal. It was
still a lot of fun. However, the most memorable moment came at the very
end of the game. Yellow sqaud's #16, the goon I mentioned, was in the
corner, checking one of my linemates, Ben Salisbury. Our goalie was
pulled, and I hopped on the ice. The puck was in the corner near the
goon and Ben. I got to skate at least half the length of the ice, turn
at the last moment, and give him a good hip check. I must admit...
knocking him to the ice was the BEST
part of the night for me personally. Of course, in a real, competitive
game, I would've been penalized for boarding, charging, and probably
given a 10-minute misconduct. However, even though I'm not a violent
person, by any means, I must admit... it was so satisfying to check the goon. Okay, enough with the past. Now fast forward to the present. We also had a three-practice extension of the Beginning Hockey Workshop. It was a little smaller than the first session, but it was still well attended. The "Noah's Ark" theme continued. We still had the pairs of Salisburys and Wells. We lost the Dearmans and Manzellas, but we gained another Slee and a pair of Ballards. The practice really did extend our learning and gave us more practice on the ice to improve our skills. My skating has definitely improved immensely. I can skate backwards... not well, but not as poorly as before. I can stop and slow down, and I can turn on a dime... of course, the dime has to have a two-foot diameter, but it's better! I could definitely use a lot more work on skating with the puck because I can't stickhandle very well while moving. Our second big game was this past Tuesday, May 21st. It was a great game. Much better than the last one. On the first shift of the game, I saw one of my linemates breaking out, and I got an outlet pass to him for a goal. Of course, it helps that Wolf has a wicked good wrist shot for the beginning group. I also got a centering pass to little David Wing who finished it off for another goal. The best part of the game was that my little girl, Genevieve, was in attendance, cheering on Team Purple. I really appreciated how she refrained from laughing each time I fell. Now that I'm skating a lot faster and taking more risks in lateral movement, I seem to fall a lot more. I guess since our teammate Fell is gone, someone else has to pick up the slack of eating ice the most. It felt like a much faster game, and that might have been because we were playing on the other rink and had harder ice... Who knows? Maybe it was because we had all improved in our skating. For whatever reason, the game flew by, and I actually felt really good on the ice... well, except when I ran into the huge Asian American guy, Tony Liu. It was a comedic moment... much like when a cartoon character runs into a brick wall. I'll let you think about who was the brick wall. If you guessed me, then you're right on one! I bounced off of him and staggered back, but I stayed on my skates! Cool, huh? In the first week, I definitely would have fallen. I probably would have fallen in the second and third weeks as well. Unlike the run at the goon in the first game, this was totally accidental. I mean, come on, I'm not stupid. Tony's a nice guy, he's a lot bigger than me, and he's no goon. AND did I mention that I'm not a masochist? Two days later, I'm still feeling soreness in my neck and shoulders from the collision. Definitely an accident Just for fun, I have some of my own awards to hand out... mostly to Team Purple players because I got to know them a little better, but we're all winners for taking the risk of learning how to play the game we love...
What if I gave myself an award, you may ask? If I was very generous, I'd say, "Most Likely to be Craig Janney," because I'm not a top tier playmaker, but I'm steady at making the right pass. If I was joking around, I'd say, "Most Likely to be Mistaken for Paul Kariya." Hey, gotta represent my Asian brothers and sisters! I can't wait till June when we come together for four more days. I feel like we're playing more as a team: communicating on the ice, making unselfish plays, and supporting each other. Category: sports -- posted at: 1:07 AM Comments[0] |
