Wow, I can't believe how fast the last year went! Hence my lack of posting... but hockey is back in full swing again, yippeeeee!!! I didn't do ANY summer hockey training, instead I got into running, which I swear helped with my skating speed this year. It hasn't helped with my skating SKILLS though. :)

 

My team WON the league trophy last year, it was truly a come-from-behind and a bit of an underdog win in the last game. It was a 'lose-two-games-and-you're-out' playoff. We lost our first game, but rallied to win every game after that (about 4 games). We made it to the final! We were SO excited! Our team really gelled over the winter, it was awesome. It was a ridiculously fun bunch of ladies. In the final game, one of our 2 advanced players (we have all skill levels on every team, but they try to balance it out) cut her finger an HOUR before the game and had to go to emergency.

She sent someone a text that we got in the locker room and we thought she was kidding.

She wasn't. She was at Emergency getting stitches! But was still going to try and make the game to play. We yelled "Hurry up!!!"

 

We went onto the ice without her, we were ahead 2-1 in the final minute and a half of the game and got TWO penalties! It was a freakin' 6-on-3!!!! I was one of the 3, and I'm not too experienced on the penalty kill to begin with. The shots were being fired like crazy, I felt like I was going in circles. Somehow we managed to hold them off to hang onto the win!!!!!

 

It was super exciting for everyone and an awesome game for both teams. The stands were full of friends/family and it was so fun to hear people cheering.

 

So with that, we went to Anchorage again with our beginner team for the tournament and got our butts kicked as we moved up into the intermediate category.  That was a bummer ending to the season, but it's ok! We'll get 'em next year.

 

I'm on my new team this year, and after only 4 games we are feeling good and having a blast! Scored my first goal of the season last night, woohoo!

 

Hope to post here a bit more this winter, and I hope everyone is having a good start to the season!

Well, the Whitehorse Women's Hockey Association (WWHA) is BACK! We are ecstatic to have SIX teams in the league this year, up from 5 last year, up from 4 the year before. Women here rock!  It's only my second season with the league and I know I'm going to love season 2 as much as I did season 1.  We started right in with games this week.

 

The season appeared to be in a bit of turmoil earlier on because of a fire in our main games centre, that houses 2 of our 3 rinks! The arson that occurred earlier in the summer, was devastating and rumours flew about when and IF it would ever open.  We had ONE rink left, ONE rink to serve the needs of the minor hockey, Arctic WInter Games teams, speed skating, figure skating, etc, etc! It was traumatic and stressful for us hockey lovers. But the city and crews really put forward an amazing effort to pull off the clean up and re-building of part of the games centre.  It will be in business next month, just a month late. We now have super late games for this month, in an effort to accommodate all user groups. But judging by the turnout of our first 3 games in which all teams played - it doesn't matter.

 

The Board worked really hard to give the league SUPER cheap week-long camps this year (and last year). Attending these camps are a huge advantage for us who need the practice before the games start. I was a bit more obsessive and started skating & playing shinny soon after the rink opened up back in late July!  The result of those early camps and enthusiastic women has shown the skill level of the league overall(we're all skill levels) has improved quite a bit from first games last year. Or maybe that's just me feeling more comfortable and confident?? :)

 

Oh! And we now have a website - www. whitehorsewomenshockey.com - feel free to stop by and visit!

 

Next I'll tell y'all about my awesome new, BLACK team. :)

 

I've been meaning to write an entry FOREVER!!! So much going on hockey-wise, that I don't seem to have the time. Since getting involved with hockey again after so many years, it's been so much fun and has been so time consuming!  I'm heading into my THIRD tournament this weekend, had the best day EVER last weekend when Hockey Day in Canada came to town. We had a women's clinic that brought Lanny McDonald, Trevor Linden, Brad May, Danielle Goyette, Ron McLean and good ol' Don Cherry to our little city! The clinic was FREAKIN' AWESOME!!! Trevor Linden teaching skating drills, Lanny acting goofy and sliding across the ice on his belly, Danielle helping with puck handling, simply amazing!! Here's some pics!

 

Friends posing in front of Trevor Linden, as he's being interviewed by CBC Radio. They were excited!!

 

Brad May! I was swooning all morning over him, he was so nice and sociable!!! (plus he smelled wonderful, lol!)

 

The man, Lanny!!!! So gracious with EVERYONE asking for autographs, pictures, etc.

 

The phenomenon that is Don Cherry!

This was the WHL game - between Kamloops Blazers and Vancouver Giants - GREAT, super energetic hockey!

 

Giganto scrimmage game at the women's clinic! There were probably 50+ players out there. The sad thing was that the ex-NHL'ers could still totally skate circles around us, with 20 women on them!

 

EEK!!! SOOOOOO close to Coach's Corner, I almost peed myself with excitement!!!

 

And that was the most exciting day I've had in a LONG time!!!!

Hey guys, Happy New Year!!!  I hope everyone has a fantastic 2011 with lots and lots of hockey goodness spread throughout!

 

I'm dealing with the almost 3-week break from hockey fairly well, it was rough for the first week as I missed our last game before the new year because I was away, but visiting with my folks for xmas made it ok, lol. Then I was trying to rally the gals to secure some practice time on one of the indoor rinks before our first game on Jan. 5, but it was like trying to herd cats. I mean, what!?!? Other people actually have PLANS and other things to do than play hockey over the xmas break!?!?   LOL

 

So that idea died out, until one of the women's leaguers pointed out the regular M-W-F noon hour shinny at our indoor rink. I totally forgot about it and actually kind of assumed it was a guys thing only. But she pointed out it was mixed and CHEAP!!! Paying the regular entrance fee to the Games Centre ($7) would buy you 1hr 15 mins of hockey with the boys!  So a few of us jumped on it, rallied together and had 4 girls (one from out of town too) playing against (and with) about 20 guys.  It was a bit intimidating at first, since I last played against boys when we were all under 12 and could change in the same dressing room without really noticing a difference between genders! Those little guys weren't quite as coordinated, fast OR strong as these guys, but wow, what a fun time!!! Not to mention, challenging!  There is no sleeping on the ice I found out quickly, move with that puck FAST or someone is gonna steal it or shove you out of the way (I like that they don't treat us special, we get knocked around almost as much as the other guys, haha). Playing with these guys sure taught me to step it up a notch(or 12!) to keep up and I realized fast you had to dive into the play or you'd be left in their dust!

 

I somehow even managed to slap a goal in this afternoon, through about 5 other players providing a nice screen (thanks guys!) - my wrist shot went right into the top corner.  It felt pretty good to put one in. Now I need to do that in our league games, lol!

 

So, no one keeps score, the play NEVER really slows down, no whistles, so it's a great, if exhausting workout. So much that I had trouble staying awake at work after 3pm after the first game!  Now I wonder if I'm going to make it to midnight to ring in the New Year or will I be flat out on my couch at my friend's place?!?!

 

Talk to you all again in 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

So I went for about 11 games with no goals, and only one point! I swear, I worked hard enough to show more than that for my efforts. Our team is doing pretty well, so I knew I was contributing somehow... but with minimal points!  I have had a personal vendetta against the other net for the last 8 games or so, I don't think there was anyone who WANTED a goal more than I did. But hey, I wasn't *too* hard on myself, I figured the goals would come. I'm just getting my skating legs back, my shooting definitely needs work - it's not like I haven't had chances, OMG I've had chances.  Like ridiculous opportunities and tons of them. My team has set me up for so many freakin' goals that I fanned on, or missed the net, or fell on...LOL! But!  I was getting closer every game.  I needed to work on my shooting!

So cut to last weekend where I made up my own redneck version of a shooter tutor. I jigsawed the crap out of a piece of plywood, took an old chunk of drywall to shoot off of and practiced my wrist shot - over and over and over. I shot hundreds of times over the weekend and it almost backfired on me - I shot so much that I now realize I overdid it and strained my arm! Oops!! I keep forgetting the older you get, the more prone you are to stupid injuries.

 

Well it finally happened this week - I broke the non-scoring streak the other night, woohoo!! What a feeling!!! It was the crappiest, lamest goal, but I don't care one bit. I will take it!  It was an innocent enough play, I was in the other end, crossed over the blue line, had a player right on me or just behind me, and I took the shot from the circle. I'm not sure if it hit the other players stick or took a weird bounce on it's own but I saw this SUUUUPER slow motion, bouncy puck... bounce, bounce, bounce and then it just SQUEAKED by the goalie on her blocker side and in it went. What a GREAT feeling!  My team was more excited than me as they were hoping a goal would come my way soon and they practically ran me over after I scored the goal, LOL!! We ended up beating the top team 4-3 that night which made my first goal even sweeter!

 

Last night the other team didn't have their goalie show up so we did the ol' trick of putting the net upside down and facing backwards so you have to bank the puck off the boards and into the net.  Harder than it sounds, especially when you're right in behind the net!  It took our team awhile to figure it out as you have to shoot on exactly the right angle to get it in the net.  Once we figured out that angle thing though, we knocked in about 5 goals, 2 of which I scored!  Although, it just doesn't seem the same as scoring in a real game against a goalie...

 

I'll still take them though for the sake of my dismal stats if nothing else!!!

 

So now I have TWO AND A HALF WEEKS off due to the holiday season, argh! It's going to be painful, feel like I'm on a roll here and want to get out on the ice! But it's also a good time to rest up this overused arm and get back on track. Can't wait till the new year! Happy Holidays everyone!!!

I can't even believe how much FUN hockey has been this year. I've only played about 5 games in the league so far and thought i couldn't possibly have any more fun. It's been an absolute blast so far! Then the weekend Whitehorse Women's Hockey Association Jamboree tournament comes. We had 62 players, 5 teams and 2 days of games.  We all played a minimum of 4 games, which were only 2 periods, but 25 minute periods.  So games averaged to be about an hour.  I never thought I could play 2 games in a day!!! But excitement and adrenalin goes a long way!!

 

First off - this is what all teams were battling for. The coveted golden bra trophy! (with 2 "gold" pucks inside each cup)

 

The action - I was on the black team.

 

The teams were different than our league teams and it was great to play with new people and players from other teams.  It's great getting to know the other awesome ladies and also great to get to know their playing styles!! (for future reference...). I love how we all share the love of hockey and are truly obsessed with it.

 

On Saturday we managed to win both games! We had some fantastic players on our team and it was a huge learning experience for me, playing with them and watching them. I learned a lot more about playing my position properly and got lots of passing practice!   The banquet followed that night, and it was funny to see people offering to buy their opponents lots of drinks to throw off their game the next day! Great food and dancing and socializing... yet we had to hit the sack early - big games the next day!

 

Then Sunday came and a 9:30 am game. Unfortunately the other teams goalie (and our regular league goalie) wrenched her knee the day before and couldn't play!! Eek! We all hope Crystal has a speedy recovery, she is awesome and a huge part of our team.  Anyways, so because we couldn't find a replacement goalie in time, we had to use the "shooter tutor" - the board that goes up against the goal.  We had no idea how it would go but ended up winning that game. Yay. :)

You can see the board against the net here. I'm the white player alone on the left of the photo beside the net.

 

So we were up 3-0 so far with one game to go. We were officially in the finals though, yippee!  We had an hour break (which isn't much!) and had to get our sweaty gear on again. THAT'S sure fun and makes for a lovely smelling dressing room, LOL!!  We managed to come out with a win again and had an undefeated 4-0 record heading into the finals.

 

Heather and I all buzzed up on red bull - we needed energy for the THIRD game of the day!!! The excitement was *almost* enough to get me through it, but the red bull helped.

Then it was finals time! Both teams stood at their blue lines and sang the National Anthem, was that ever cool! People were singing in French and English. You can see it here (I was the dork with the camera on the ice, I didn't want to miss a moment!): www.youtube.com/watch

 

On the bench...

It was a tough fought game! The other team was actually playing back-to-back games, but the game was so close. You'll note on the scoreboard - we were up 2-1. Somehow I managed to get that #2, not sure how, but I learned that storming the net and going for the puck, really fighting and working for it - sometimes ends up being a goal! Yippee. That's why I look so happy here, I'm the 3rd one down.

 

This photo ended up in the paper today!  This is as I somehow scored that goal - I'm #13 on the bottom of the pile! My teammate had to tell me the puck went in. I said "cool! who scored!??" She said "you did!!" hahaha. It wasn't pretty but I'll take it!

 

We had the lead until the last 2 minutes of the game when the other team scored! Agh! OMG I could barely watch the play it was that exciting and I so didn't want them to score!  They were pressing us really hard, they wanted it bad! So did we!!! It was a great game. Ended up going into o/t and our awesome #15, Chantelle (the one with the puck in the top picture from the paper), an 18-yr old superstar managed to put the puck in their net within the first 2 minutes of o/t. We won! Yayyyyyyy!!!! What a weekend.

 

Our team! Teammates for the weekend!! Now we go back to regular league play and playing against each other, lol! But what a great time with a great bunch of women. Everyone that is, not just our team. It was really more about FUN than that goofy trophy, lol!

 

The best part of winning - the post-game locker room celebrations!!!!

 

This was the BEST experience for learning and picking up new skills. I came out of this weekend and five games of hockey with a lot more confidence on the ice. I drove to the net more than I ever have and played more aggressively (in a good way though!).  The other ladies were awesome for giving tips and support.  Plus playing with really good players makes you pick up your game in order to keep up!  Can't wait for the next tournament - in Feb!!!

 

I need some advice asap! During the first period of our game tonight, I took a hard fall. Feet just flew out from under me and I crashed to the ice - landing with all the weight on my right elbow. I felt my shoulder jar back too far and immediately felt the pain. I've done similar things to my other shoulder and think I pulled something.  My shoulder became weak and was painful for the rest of the game - difficult to lift it much. Funny I didn't notice when I was ON the ice, only when I skated off and sat on the bench, lol!

 

Now at home, it's pretty painful. I iced it up and have limited motion. I have a tournament this weekend!!!! I need this fixed ah, tomorrow! Any quick fixes out there or am I just gonna have to ride this out? And when do you say no to playing? I did ok on the ice, as the shooting motion doesn't hurt, just when I lift my arm up to the side on it's own.  

 

Needless to say I'm a bit bummed, the last thing I wanted (or any of us want!) is an injury! It's too early in the season for that dammit! Arghhhh. Has this ever happened to anyone out there? hellllp.... :)

Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later - losing our first game! LOL 

 

I'm back on the ice after almost 3 weeks, 3 games and 1 clinic missed and boy, it whupped my butt tonight.  Wasn't so bad for the first 2.5 periods but I was losing it at the end after getting over this flu. Didn't have a ton of energy, and I killed myself trying to score a goal! At least it felt like it, and I had two "near-misses" that were soooo close, it was painful to see the puck not go in the net.  For the first one, I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time, was right beside the net, the puck ended up a mere 2 inches in front of the goal line, goalie was heading forward and had no chance.... all I had to do was tap it in as I went by!!!  Did I??? Nooo.... I still for the life of me can't figure out HOW I didn't get that in. I mean, my dog could have knocked the puck in the net it should have been that easy. Maybe I was panicking, trying too hard, not sure. I tend to do that, lol!

Another one, got a pass and made a backhand (admittedly, a poor one), but it managed to bounce a few inches by the goal, just missing the open net. ARGH!!!! I feel like I'm getting skunked game after game and feel a bit frustrated. But we're back in action Thursday night and I am on a mission to score my first goal! 

 

On top of that, we have FOUR games on the weekend - a tournament, woohoo! I'm so excited and am hoping all these games in a week(6!) will help improve my game SOMEHOW!!!  Now I just have to work on the skating, the shooting, the passing...

 

Oh well, the game was beyond fun, a total blast. We had some great opportunities and the other team just clicked tonight, damn them! LOL  It ended up 5-2 score, after being tied at 1-1 then 2-2. Then they knocked two in pretty quickly and it's difficult to not let that deflate the team.  My teammates were great though, everyone was super positive and oblviously enjoying themselves. That's what it's all about right? (that and scoring) :)

 

There's always next game!

So after  a 2 week break due to being away and missing TWO games, I come back from my visit to Ontario with the nastiest flu bug I've ever had. I missed a hockey clinic (wahhhh!) and am despearately trying to get better for our game on Wed! I do have to say that my team rocks, and kept up the non-losing streak by winning one (4-2) and tying with the toughest team in the league (1-1).  We are playing that team this wed. and I so want to be a part of it, but am a little concerned about the lack of energy I'll have. Oh well, I'll just have to warn my team-mates that I might need a few extra breaks. I'm pretty sure we'll have a full bench, as I've taken on the job of calling subs - extra motivation to fill that bench when you know you'll be dead-tired.

 

I have been fighting this flu for 8 days now and it's on it's way out I'm pretty sure... at least I hope so!!!

 

While I was in the big city of Toronto, two places I was sure to visit were the hockey stores!!! OMG what great places - rows upon rows of pants and gloves and helmets... I was in awe! Nothing like that here in our tiny town. The variety was great and I was able to pick up a pair of Bauer pants for the "low low" price of $170! Eek!  That and a long-sleeved shirt to wear under my gear, for $80 (it was soooo nice and comfy!!) and a practice jersey.... could have spent much more $$, but had to stop somewhere!! :)

 

Anyways, I must go rest...got a game in two days to prepare for!
 

So we came off our back-to-back games last week with TWO wins! Yay!!!  We amazed ourselves, this time we had only 8 players (plus our awesome goalie), the other team only had 9.  I think we were pretty tired on the ice, holy cow it was a rougher game than game #1. Not enough recovery time at the beginning of the season before the back-to-back games I think.

 

I actually thought game #2 for me was total crap -   wasn't on the ice for any goals, no assists, couldn't really get things to work, ugh! Felt like I was flailing around... so frustrating. But luckily my teammates managed a few goals. I still had fun though! :)

 

It was the other team's first game and they had a little more life than us I think, but we had the bonus of one game under our belts. We're kind of getting to know each other, who plays best where, etc.  We have a horrible habit of leaving our poor goalie on her own but I think we improved in that area last game.  She had played University hockey before and said during our first game, that was the MOST breakaways she's ever faced in her hockey career!!!  Good thing we could all laugh about it, I think if we lost that one, it definitely wouldn't have been as funny!!  Definitely less breakaways on game #2.  We also had a habit of lots of turnovers at our blue line, something our goalie mentioned in between periods. Good thing she's observant and gives advice  - we were able to improve that later on.

 

And I have to mention my buddy Heather's fantastic dive & slide as she was working D on a 2-on-1(she reads this!)!! She was desperate and alone so she dove as the one player was making a pass across. She must have either blocked it or threw them off - they didn't score so that's what matters!! I told her that her slide looked fantastic from the other end of the ice and that it looked like she slid for 100ft!

 

It was actually a tie at the end and the game winner was decided in a shoot out! OOH!!! How exciting and nerve wracking that was!!!  I wasn't in the shoot out, I thought I'd pass on that opportunity since my game had been crap up until that point anyways.  So, we went first and... no goal! Dang. Then they went - no goal, yay! Then our second  player went (she scored game winning goal in game #1) and... scored!! yay!  Then there were no more goals.  So that was the game winner.

A very exciting game to a very tiring game! I was glad to see it end, especially with us in the lead!  :)

 

But OMG I was SOOO wiped, tired and sore for a couple of days after - that was really a workout!  I wouldn't have been able to play the next night even if I had been asked. I would have just been DONE.  Now, three days later I feel great and ready to go again!

 

Next game, I hope to improve and get back on track.  Unfortunately, because I'm heading out of town, I won't play for almost TWO weeks and miss 2 games, I totally distraught about it!! My team! I have to be there for them!!!  Ah, I have faith in them and hope they have two fantastic games while I'm away.  In fact, I know they will.  Then Novemeber is like, total hockey month for us - we have lots of games, a weekend women's jamboree(min. 4 games) AND a pond hockey tournament!! Awesome. Can't wait to see how our cardio, etc improves during that month - we should all be superwomen!!! I can only imagine the game getting faster and more competitive as we all get into hockey shape and improve. :)

Ok, so I know it's not ALL about winning, but it was sure a fun game and even better because we won!  For the first game of the season, half of our team didn't show up for some reason! I think we had about 9 players and had to borrow one from the other team (who seemed to have like, 3x the players...!) to make the minimum of 10.  It was the first game for both teams so I know our team felt a bit shaky at first and my god, it seemed like we were screwed from the start - first game, skating legs not back yet, figuring out your team,  and then on top of that, add going out every second shift, yikes! A few of us were thinking 10 mins into the first period "how are we going to make it through 2.5 more periods!??" 

 

Here's a pic from the beginning of the game and through my excited, shaky hands, lol!! We're white!

 

It took a bit of time to figure out a rythm with the team, but what a bunch of hard working, determined ladies on my team! It didn't matter that we were down, heck, it just made us work that much harder.  The other team scored the first goal, our poor goalie had to deal with wayyy too many breakaways! We learned how to combat that though, thank goodness she was able to stand on her head to save some of those goals. 

 

We were able to tie it up in the second period (or was it the third? Agh, it's all melding together), right away! Like within the first 2 minutes, we were PUMPED after that!!  The team got some great chances, we were able to stay in their zone a lot and figured out how to give our goalie more support while in our end!

 

Here's my buddy Heather, pumped up and excited pre-game!

 

Then, we were able to go ahead with our second goal, which I was elated to be a part of! We were really working hard in their end, putting on the pressure and at first it seemed like we had little control of the puck, but it made the right bounces, I was off to the one side of the net with their players all around. I miraculously made a pass right to my teammates stick who was right in front of the net and she made this AMAZING backhanded shot into the upper right of the net!! It was amazing - I saw it all and went HOW did you do that!!!???  It was a beauty.  Our teammates who were on the ice and passing it around said that sequence just looked awesome, like we totally meant to do that and had done it a hundred times, haha!

 

So, game 1 was a success! Will we do the same tonight, now that we've got one game under our belts AND we're playing a team who is in their first game?? We'll see!!! :)

Well we've got our teams picked out and we start out with back-to-back games next week, yippeee!! I cannot even express how excited I am! Or can I?? LOL

 

There will be 32 games for each team this year, and I'm almost wishing I didn't have to go away in a couple of weeks, I'll miss a game or two! But... a great friend is getting married and I'm excited to go see her, catch up with old friends and have a good ol' time helping the lovely couple celebrate!

Anyways, I'm thinking about how freakin' tired I was during the last game. I'd really like to work on my conditioning and pre-game meals, so I'm looking for suggestions out there. I've started running and am trying to mimic games, in that I run for a couple of minutes hard.... then walk for a couple of minutes, repeat, etc. I like it in that I'm not much of a runner otherwise. I try, but I still suck.  I'm also skating at lunches in between games, 'cause that is something I REALLY need to work on.  Any suggestions from you season vets? Or from anyone for that matter. :)

 

Also wondering about food... what will give me the most energy during the game? I'm thinking of carbs, lots of water throughout the day (which I usually do anyways), bananas... what else??

 

So I'm excited we have our teams, and can now meet and bond with our team mates, should be fun!!!

Well, I could hardly WAIT to write and tell everyone about how the night went tonight! As I mentioned earlier, we have to play to "scrimmage" games this week for the organizers of the league to pick out the teams in order to even them out.  They were "scouting" us tonight, lol!  It was thought that the teams would be pretty big (20+ players) since there were so many of us, so they advised us last week to keep the shifts short.  Well, tonight, we had only 11 players on our team... *GULP*!! So much for "taking it easy" and not killing ourselves. Everyone was worried about being a bit out of shape, lol! 

 

So as it turned out, we had to work... hard! Holy crap, I've forgotten how tiring the game is.  About 10 mins into it I thought "omg how are we going to make it through..." our team was say... a bit... green!  Out of all of us sitting on the bench, we quickly chatted and realized um, none had played in the league last year, and many had never played hockey!  I was a bit panicky, feeling like we were TOTALLY thrown into it... especially when someone said "what's offside again?" LOL!!!  We were pretty scattered for the first 10 mins or so, but once everyone figured out line changes, OFFSIDE (we got soooo many offside calls at the start, haha), we were rolling!! First one goal was scored, yay! Then, we're all fighting for the puck in the offensive end, and my team mate is working her butt off in the corner, I'm in front of the net... then all of a sudden, somehow she managed to fight off her attacker and sent me this beautiful pass.  I managed to "one-time" the puck and it flew by the goalie and we scored!! 2-0!

 

Everyone worked so hard on both teams, we ended up winning 3-0 but it seemed like a close game and a fight the whole way through.  The game went by sooo fast after the initial 10 minute-figure-things-out period.  It will be great when we get teams picked and get to know our team mates - it was hard tonight not really knowing everyone.  But everyone was so great and helpful and supportive. I think we're gonna have a blast this year!!! Can't wait to see what happens next.

 

I'm so totally addicted... :)

Hey Everyone! Just a bit of an introduction... I'm so happy to have found this site where I/we can share the hockey love.  I've been involved with the game since I was 7, and pushing the big 4-0 now, wow, that's a long history!  Grew up in Calgary, Alberta and was one of 3 girls in the city on boys hockey teams back in the 70's!  I fondly remember all those outdoor games, the outdoor rink in our back yard (thanks dad!) and all the early morning games. My older brother was on a team, my dad was a coach and my mom did everything else!  I remember having to change at home then get to the rink, and had to wait until the boys called me in and were all changed.  THEN I could join them in the locker room. I remember playing with a broken wrist, had my lower arm in a cast and my coach taped my glove to my cast!! haha, now that's dedication eh??

But most of all, I remember that time fondly because it was SO much fun. I freakin' love this game and wished there was a women's NHL back when I was younger. Unfortunately, women's hockey wasn't where it's at now, a couple of decades ago so I really had nowhere to play. I played with the boys until I was 12 or so and it got "too rough" - according to my mother! She pulled me out (ooh, was I ever mad) and put me in ringette which I absolutely DESPISED.  There was no blade on my stick, we had to play with this stupid ring, the girls were... well, not boys! It was an adjustment and I didn't last long.

 

I played rec stuff on and off for years but mostly more off.  I moved up to the Yukon in 2000 and got back into the game by playing pond hockey. What a blast that was!! Out on the bay of Lake Laberge, a group of very dedicated players played every Sunday all winter. We would play at -20 or -30C, of course those days, games would be a bit shorter... but it was the highlight of my week. The pond game got really popular and sometimes we'd have over 20 people out!  Fast forward to 2005, where I hit a crack in the ice while turning (and going in for a goal!) and twisted my knee. Ooh, I did a number on that, tore some cartilage and had surgery the next winter.  *sigh*

 

But now I'm ready to go again!!! We have a fairly active women's league here which I'd been wanting to join for a few years. A friend and I finally took the plunge and just finished 5 days of training camp!! OMG it was soooo much fun. The best part was when my friend Heather and I were practicing some puck handling on the boards - just the two of us - and we somehow managed to collide at a pretty fast speed and CRASHED to the ice. But I went down first, and saw her lose her balance... then she fell on TOP of me! LOL.  The coach came skating over, with a worried look on her face - I think she thought we were writhing in pain, but we were killing ourselves laughing.  Ah, I love this game.  I'm addicted more than ever now.  The league had something like 40 women last year. This year - 75(!!!) women signed up!!! They had to make an extra team!  We will have FIVE women's teams here this winter, that's amazing.  So, next week, we have 2 games where they select players for teams, then the league starts. I can't wait to get back on the ice for some games!! I plan to blog about everything.

 

Oh, and Hockey Day in Canada on CBC will be here all day, broadcasting for 12 hrs straight in between NHL games in February! So excited about that and we want to get the women's teams on CBC!!!

 

But for now, I'm facing my first real game on Tues night, after so many years - it'll be nervewracking AND exciting... all at the same time. :)