Breakfast Club: Session II - Week 3

Excellent session today folks! In case you were wondering, Laura submitted the week 2 write up last Saturday. Oops! She had a blond moment even though she's brunette and forgot to submit it on Wednesday. I understand. She's still kind of new at this. We'll cut her some slack. Geoff Bennetts has replaced Lyle the past two weeks while he's on maternity leave. Down goes Lyle for the count. Come on, now that was funny, right Lyle??? It's been nice knowing you guys just in case you never see or hear from me again. Scottie has been ol' reliable number 2 coach of course.

We are getting into drill tempo. Tight turns were the focus of today. They are probably the best way to shake a defender and work your way through traffic. Some of us were crashing in the turns; when I did, I would blame my skates for being dull. Yes, sharp blades do make a difference, but more importantly, what about body positioning, bent knees, shoulders into the turn, getting on that edge on both skates, hands and puck in front of you? When I have good body position it feels effortless. Why can't I do that all the time? There isn't enough time to answer that question.

Okay, so during the drills, do you jump at the head of the line or trail at the end? Some folks hear the drill explained then go do it, outstanding. I move to the end of the line’ I’ve got to see it a couple times. Jeff C and I usually take the last spots in line. We call ourselves "visual" guys. Jeff is a cop; he says cop stuff is hands on, not much reading. So, the hockey players tip of the day is......say you're pushing the speed limit while driving to BC because you're late as usual (Don J and Laura) and you get pulled over for speeding, always keep a bag of Dunkin Donuts in your car. The cop "sees" the donuts, is distracted, then let's you go, no ticket. It's magic, see the valuable info you pick up in the BC Blog.

Lastly, at the end of the session Emily talked with us about the St. Baldrick's foundation, an organization that supports kids with cancer. Seems like these days everyone knows of a family member or friend that has or had cancer. I'm gonna kick in, not sure about shaving my head but I would pay to see someone shave their head at center ice. Kirk out

Breakfast Club: Session II - Week 2.5

Yes, fellow (and sister) hockey-phites, this is week two point five. I neglected to promptly post post-practice, so I can't in good conscience call this post week two point oh. Don'cha hate it when silly things like work and family and viral influenza get in the way of important things like hockey? Makes me a grumpy girl, and trust me, I'm much more entertaining when I'm not grumpy.

As best as I can recall about what happened at "the club" four days ago, we were supposed to be doing some two-on-O's and two-on-ones. There were two goalies this past week, which lent itself nicely to those kind of drills. Pass it behind the net, give your partner an outlet while also drawing the forechecker into a corner. Unless, of course, the forechecker reads you too well and beats the puck from you :-) I personally prefer defending on those kinds of drills because I usually play D and sometimes feel lost on offense. But that's why we're here, to get out of that comfort zone and to, in fact, expand that comfort zone.

Speaking of expanding reminds me of expanding waistlines. Which prompts me to ask, how's your new year's resolution progressing? Aw, come on! Don't tell me you didn't make ANY resolutions? You don't have to go public with your resolutions like I did (lost three, six to go), but if you are willing to 'go public' I bet you'll have a club full of clubbers rootin' for ya!

You were probably wondering when I was going to update the chick count, right? Fine, let's get that bit of census data out of the way then. Statistically speaking, we're up by almost 200%. There's me, that being "the other Laura", and Emily as returning players, and new clubbers Rochelle, Fiona and Liz. I leave it up to you to match the names to the faces.

Which, by the way, if I ask you what your name is, don't immediately fear that I'm gonna flame you in this blog. It's just good hockey etiquette to know names. And it sure helps during the scrimmage to be able to talk on the ice. If there is one thing that sets the lines apart during our little stop-whistle end-of-practices scrimmages, it's when you have a handful out on the ice who know each other's names and can "one on!" "got time" talk to each other.

In about two weeks, throughout the country we'll be celebrating "Hockey Day". What are you doing to do to celebrate? Check CCHA.com for details. I'm going to try hitting the Red Wings' open practice. I have three bags full of "my kids grew out of them" hockey equipment that will be collected and donated so inner-city kids can get started. Cool. Cleans out my basement and makes me feel good, all at the same time.

So there you go, week two point five. Late and rambling, but there you go anyway. Keep you head up!

Breakfast Club: Session II - Week 1

Fire up folks, winter hockey camp has started. Shake the dust off from the holidays. I could tell I was a little rusty from a month off. It does make a difference doesn't it. That excuse is only good for today, get up to speed the bus is leaving. Lots of players returning and new players as well, a few more women. Laura, you been recruiting? No pink sticks please........ oh no, I may have started a war here.

Everything starts with skating skills. The more comfortable you are on your skates the better the rest of your game becomes. I stole the line from Lyle. Simple concept but do we take it to heart, I don't. I want to shoot like a pro. Lot of good that will do if you can't skate through traffic and find open ice to pass, receive a pass, or take a shot. So, one of my goals this class is to focus more on skating skills and puck handling, the shooting will come. Skating, how about the agility drill today. Jumping over your stick, one leg, both legs. I got a few new slices on my shiny new Rebox stick. Skate figure 8's around your stick, jump over your stick, fall down on both knees, push up on one knee. I was waiting for Lyle to put us in a chorus line and do the River Dance, that would be a sight. OK, it was hard but remember everything starts with skating. It's easier when you bend your knees, you'll hear that a few thousand times.

Puck handling, how about the stick toe move, I'm not sure I'm there yet. Think positive Kirk, this is the place to try it and get better. I usually don't talk to myself, something I picked up playing hockey. Hands in front, knees bent, what a difference. Why do many of us want to stick our upper
hand to our waist when we handle the puck, don't know? Finished the session one on one, center ice, play till you score. I like that drill, just got a little turned around today, holiday rust. I went against Randy, one of the better skaters in the class, ripped to the puck, got their first, cool,
turned down ice to the goal, no Randy, what's up, take a shot on Ronnie, no goal, where's Randy, usually he would be turning me inside out by now. Lyle and Randy skate up to me after the play, what's going on, am I getting cut from the team? Lyle says, Kirk, you're shooting on the wrong goal, don't worry only half the class noticed. Had a minor incident of a player forgetting what locker room he dressed in, finally figured it out and found his hockey bag and cloths, all is well, another reason to stay away from caffeine before hockey. That's a wrap folks. Laura and I will alternate writing the blog this session, Kirk out.

Breakfast Club: One Week to Go

Here it is, the week before the second session opener.

For those of you old enough to remember how Mission Control counted down the Apollo launches, we are at T-minus six days and counting. What ever happened to the thrill of watching people being launched into space, anyway? As us kids took the morning off from school (Pattengill Elementary in Berkley, for those who are curious), Dad stayed home from work, and Mom was home as usual. So much of what was extraordinary then seems run-of-the-mill now. Lucky for me, hockey has not approached being run-of-the-mill, and I hope it won't, ever.

A few months back, my son (effortless on skates since he was two, the little bugger) asked me what my goals were for hockey. I thought for a few seconds, and then decided that my goal is to play on a team that goes to the USA Hockey Nationals before I'm 50. When I first started playing at age 40, my clinic coach asked me what my goals were, too, and I told him I wanted to skate as good as my eight-year old son did back when he was six. Been there, done that. So while going to the Nationals is a stretch, it's a do-able stretch. Maybe not as ambitious as sending humans to the moon seemed back in the 60's, but then hockey isn’t rocket science either. So keep your skates on the ice, and keep your head up ... looking for that next higher goal.

See you on the ice, my friends.

Breakfast Club: Laura's Countdown to Session II

New year's resolution time. Regardless of what you promised to yourself -- I will lose those eight pounds that I packed on between Thanksgiving and last weekend. Studies have shown over and over that the best way to keep a resolution is to promise achieving your resolution to a friend and to not just promise it only to yourself. Because we are ultimately most concerned about not losing face. So, with that said, I am going to challenge you all to adopting the following resolutions.

One, re-register for the coming second session if you haven't already. The registration deadline was last year (even if "last year" ended only a few days ago). Lindsay Brink, program administrator, sent out an email pushing back the start date to Jan. 13th to allow for more registrations.

Two, bring along a friend. Unless all of your friends skate like #19, then every one of your hockey-playing buddies could use some honing. And then promise each other to go every week, and to do [insert particular skill -- for me, I'll say my wrist shot] better than when you started this session.

So there you have it. The gaunlet is thrown. See you on the ice, my friends, and I will be eight pounds lighter and my wrist shot will be lifting by March 21st!