Breakfast Club: Week Six with Laura

T minus one and counting. Meaning, it's the day before Thanksgiving, and there is so much left to do. Like go get biscuits. That's it, biscuits. OK, you got me, there is not really anything left to do. So all the better to hit the ice with a clean conscience! Yeah!

The crowd was slightly lighter in turn-out, but not nearly so much as I feared it might be. It's nice to know I'm not the only psycho ... I mean, dedicated hockey student.

And, boy oh boy, did this student need her schooling this morning. The brain and the body were definitely not in sync. And now, for the entertainment portion of our program, we have Laura, falling down and losing the puck for no apparent reason. Heck, I even managed to be in the wrong place when Lyle was explaining one of the drills, so that he nearly skated backwards right into me because I was where I shouldn't have been. I am trying to figure out how to turn this little bit into a Lyle dig, Kirk, but I can't fathom how to dig Lyle over me being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sorry, dude, I'm going to have to leave the Lyle jabs to a higher power. Enough self-pity, girl.

Today we did a lot of work on passing. Stationary, moving, stop-n-go, give-n-go, two-on-O (or is it too-on-oh-oh???). Ronnie was our sole goalie, so we adapted accordingly. More maroons than greens today, so the half-ice scrimmages left the green team perpetually short-handed. Very well matched, I must say, because the maroons never seemed able to exploit our one-man advantages. I love the mini-games, because it gives me a chance to try to put into use all the stuff we worked on for the prior hour or so.

Back to passing. Saucer passes. Snaps. Touches. Cross ice. Drops. So many different flavors to choose from! Kind of like one of those Leatherman tools, you need to pick the right pass for the right situation. Don't use the Phillips blade when you need the scissors. Drops only work if your partner is able to pick it up before it gets picked off. A wobbly saucer pass is next to impossible to catch. So that's why we practice, practice, practice these basics, so that they will hopefully work well when we try to use them for real during a game.

Frankly, I can't imagine playing in the beer leagues and never getting any practices in. I know I'd never be getting any better. Now, granted, the progress curve is not exponential like when I first started playing back about four years ago. The instant improvements don't happen as instantly anymore, but they're still there. Moving past the low-hanging fruit, as the saying goes. You ARE all registered for the next session, which starts in January, aren't you?

Geoff filled in for Scott, who was missing today. And, speaking of missing, hmm, I don't recall seeing Lyle carrying his customary cup of Tim Horton's coffee. Does Scott have secret powers, able to conjure coffee from thin air and thus his absence today meant Lyle was reduced to having to actually buy his own coffee, which he forgot to do? Did Lyle have that coffee anyway, and I was just too out-of-it this morning to even notice? And where does Geoff fit into this mystery? My mind is reeling. I'm sure a hearty helping of turkey will clear the fog. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving, dear skaters, and see you next week. In the meantime, keep your head up and your eyes on the goal.