Rink-A-Dink

Well, after six long months, I finally returned to my happy place last night. For those of you not in the know, I severely injured my knee in a game on July 17th, and have been attending physical therapy ever since. Just before Christmas, my therapist gave me the green light to play after being satisfied with my progress and strength.

I was the first one to the rink, probably because I was so excited/nervous, and was fully dressed before most of my teammates even arrived. One guy walked in and said, "Dude, have you been here all day?" I replied, "No, just since about 5am."

Once I walked out onto the ice, it hit me: this was the moment of truth. I started worrying about the knee, and asking myself if this was the smartest decision I ever made. I trust my therapist, but still, the doubt was there.

What's worse was that I really had to pee.

Thankfully, we had eleven skaters, so I was the extra guy. I shifted in and out of the second line, so I wasn't playing as often. That was good for the knee, and good for the team, since I stink. I started the game, and felt my knees shake a little before the ref dropped the puck. The puck dropped, and the game was on. Magically, the knee felt terrific. I went full bore from the start, and there was no instability, no pain, and (soon thereafter) no worries. Life was good.

My play? Not so much.

You could tell I hadn't played in six months. I was slow and shaky, and found myself winded after a minute or so. It wasn't pretty, but the fact that I was even playing after I thought my playing days were over was a victory. We ended up losing by a score of 3-1, but it wasn't for lack of effort. We had chances, but couldn't capitalize on them. And I'll get better, starting with next week's game.

In other game-related news:

• Badger played spectacularly in net. Those brand new goalie skates really did the trick. Of the two goals he gave up, we didn't give him any support at all. The third goal was on an empty net.
• Fish played equally well at defense. He shut down a few breakaways with timely poke checks, and key outlet passes. Must be that new stick I bought him for his birthday.
• Vincent Antonelli pulled my arse out of the proverbial fire quite a few times. And covered for me the rest of the time. And I'm not just saying that because he bought me a kickass HC Moller Pardubice (Czech Republic) jersey from the Spengler Cup tournament.
• Randal Graves? Well, he didn't play because he has a minor stress fracture of his ankle. Sitting out because of an injury. What a fag!