Breakfast Club with Laura

I talked to Todd this morning about him blogging. He said he'd think about it. He said he couldn't blog about the whole session, though, because he needs to leave early every week.

So here's your chance, Todd. I'll leave the whole first part of the blog blank, and you can just fill it in however you wish...

[blank]

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wow, Todd really has a way with words, doesn't he?



Hey, at least he said he'd try. Kirk didn't even bother to show up this morning.



I hear from Sarah that there were five chicks at the Tuesday skate. Her, Fiona, Martha, Courtney and someone else who's name escapes me at the moment (sorry, sister, not dissing you...). That's pretty good considering there were 13 guys. So the dude-to-chick ratio was 2.5-to-1. Kinda like ladies night at the bar, eh?



For this morning's skate, I was the sole chick on the ice. "But wait," you say, "Sarah was there." Yeah, she was there, but she wasn't skating; she was goal-tending this morning. And so she wasn't "on" the ice like I was. No one was "on" the ice like I was. I was all over that ice. Upside down. Backwards. Sarah just got to stand around, blocking shots. Me? I was this morning's entertainment. It was a hard burden to bear, but I did so with honor and grace.

With three goalies, we took advantage of our shooting opportunities. After warming everyone up, we broke into length-wise half-ice groups, so we were skating end-to-end all morning long. And doggone, that can wear you out when you're as, ahem, well-seasoned as some of us not-so-spring chickens are. Joe's one-on-ones were particular humbling. Or amusing, depending on whether you were me or whether you were merely watching me. After three tries, I at least managed to not trip over my own skates on that backwards crossover start. Hurrah for life's little victories...

Meanwhile, on the other length-wise half, Lyle had us refining our strides. Maximize the power and minimize the wasted body movement.

Then back into the committee of the whole, still running lengthwise, but this time passing out to the coaches and getting that pass back. Receive it one-handed and skate one-handed, pushing that puck so that you don't waste speed trying to puck handle.

And we ended it all with a little of my favorite, that being beating the snot out of each other trying to get to the puck first. Two on two. Except we were too tired to really have as much fun beating each other up as we should have. It was kinda like, yeah, whatever, you really want to get to that puck before me? Sure, go ahead, knock yourself out. I'm just gonna hang out here and try to find some oxygen if you don't mind...

I guess, in retrospect, the reason we got so tired this morning was because the drills didn't get goofed up as much as they usually do. So either we're getting better, or Joe and Lyle were easier on us, or else Scott and Kirk are a disrupting force that we were spared from being subjected to. I'd like to think it's the former. I'd hate to have to permanently deprive myself of Scott and Kirk. What else would I talk about then??

So, until next week, or until Todd writes his part of the blog, whichever comes first, keep your head up and your eyes on the goal.