Game Five, 06 - 07: Tigers Orange 3, the Vixens 3

That’s me–#4, Barbie Orr!

Actually, Bobby Orr played defense and I was playing left wing for this particular game, which was a close one. We played at a different rink than we did last week, and these refs said that exhibition games don’t get OT periods. There was less than a minute left in the third period and Coach Tim decided to pull our goalie so we had six skaters out there, just like in last week’s game. Unfortunately, we didn’t score. Even more unfortunately, the Vixens got the puck on a breakaway. The girl who had the puck shot it . . . it went straight into our empty net . . . after the buzzer already rang. Thank fucking God! So the game ended in a tie, and we now have a two-game no-loss streak! Yay, us! (edit, 11/6/06 - 7:24pm: This was also our very first game where we had a full Orange team roster and had only one player from the Blue team, but she’s on both rosters.)

It had to be rough on the Vixens because they had just come directly from playing a game in Skokie right before ours. They must have been tired, especially their goalie (who I happen to know because we played on the same team together last spring — she was our goalie; I played wing). On the other hand, our back-up goalie had just finished playing in her regular position (not sure if she’s plays forward or defense) in the Blue team game that took place also right before ours. This was only her second game playing in net and she was panicky and nervous. I tried to help calm her down and assisted her with putting on her goalie equipment. She did an awesome, awesome job, and I’m so proud of her because I know how nervous she was! Anyway, this was the first team we’ve played this season that seemed like a true match, skill-level wise. It was a good game.

You can see this week’s game pictures here. I even figured out how to link it to the first picture of the most recent game so you won’t have to view the entire album to get to them! You’ll also be able to see the pictures of me better because Brian was able to get closer, or rather, I was able to get closer to the stands because I was actually skating around. Now’s your chance to see me on the ice and not just in the net!

Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with another picture of me because I’m so vain.

The rest of this post has to do with my feelings about having played as a forward, which I’m not sure I enjoyed all that much, as well as this whole winger vs. goalie thing that’s been messing me up in the head.

I admit that I’m disappointed because I didn’t get to play my usual position. In fact, when I was a forward, I always played right wing, so I was a little confused sometimes as to where I should have been during my shifts. Ever since the ECT, I sometimes have trouble distinguishing left from right. I figured it out pretty quickly, though.

Coach Tim seemed impressed with my performance and thought for sure that I’d score a goal right in the beginning of the game when we had the puck in their zone, because my positioning was correct — right in front of the net, both feet firmly planted and my stick on the ice ready for a pass, which unfortunately, never came. See this picture. It has some notes that explain the positioning, but this isn’t the moment that I just described, since the scoreboard says it’s the second period, but it’s basically the same situation.

After the game, he said he didn’t know where I learned what I knew — where I was supposed to be, keeping my stick on the ice, stuff like that — but that I obviously knew what I was doing, position-wise. I imagine it’s because I’ve had a TON more training (though not necessarily playing time) as a winger than I’ve had as a goalie. In fact, the most instruction I’ve ever received in goaltending was at practice a couple of weeks ago when the White team goalie worked with me one-on-one. Coach Tim said that during the game I was an example to my teammates in terms of where I was supposed to be and being ready for a pass at any time. He offered to let me skate up more if I want to. It was very flattering though I know he was genuine, but it was just so unexpected to hear.

Like I said, I was already disappointed because I didn’t get to play in the net, and OK, because I didn’t score any goals. I thought I at least had an assist, but I didn’t. Seriously, though, I really wanted that experience against the Vixens because we’re so closely matched in skill level. And so far all season, I’ve thought of myself as a winger-turned-goalie, not just as a goalie, up until last week’s game. By then, and after having played rat hockey with the guys a few times, I was finally beginning to think of myself as a goalie, and not even a former or some-time winger, an attitude that I’ve been working really hard to ingrain. But everything Coach Tim said to me after the game shattered that. It wasn’t his fault, certainly, and he assured me that he wants me to play where I’m happiest, whether it’s skating up or back.

At first I was wishy-washy about it, thinking about asking our back-up goalie if there were future games she’d want to play. But I made my choice at the beginning of this season, and I plan to stick with it. In fact, the Vixens goalie isn’t really on their roster because she’s too busy, so she’s just subbing. She said they need subs, especially since one of them recently got hurt. I checked the Tigers Orange schedule and there are going to be like, a couple of weekends in a row where we won’t have games at all, but the Vixens will. I could certainly play for them on those occasions if they need me, since there wouldn’t be a scheduling conflict. Obviously, my commitment and first priority are to the Tigers. Earlier today, I e-mailed one of the other women that I know on the Vixens (another of my teammates during the Spring Mixer), to tell her that I’m interested in subbing.

But now, I feel an even more urgent need to continually remind myself: I am a goalie.