Torhs at Bruins - Hockey Leage Week #5 - Game 6

Here we go with another hockey update. This week's game was a rematch with the declared best team in the league. We lost to this team in our very first game. As I learned this week, they were down their top scoring player that week. This game was very one sided for the first 2 periods of the game. We were not on our game and they were just dominating. I don't remember the period splits, but I think by the beginning of the third period, we were down 8-2.

I'm not sure what happened from the second period to the third, but something real changed. We brought our game out and mounted a rally to try to pull this one out. Unfortunately, it was not to be, but we did show to ourselves and others that we're not going to take a beating lying down. By the end of the game, we brought the score to 9-6. No, not enough to take the win in the game, but enough to show that we have what it takes to mount an offensive once we get ourselves organized. Unfortunately, this week, that organization was missing early and for much too long.

As for my performance this week, I was involved in a few plays that should have been more productive than they were. At least on two occasions, I was able to grab the puck at our blue line and tried to carry it forward. Unfortunately, I was unable to make useful passes. On one of those attempts, the puck was rolling on edge and my pass was too hard and found air. The intended recipient just could not bring it down. Another attempt was completely my fault where I was trying to poke check the puck up the boards to myself and put it out of my range and left me surrounded by three of the other team's players. If I could have passed that out, it would have been a wide rush for my team, but they were just way too fast for me.

Outside of my less than wonderful performance, I have to update you on my skate purchase. During the past week, I spent some time doing research as to which skates to purchase to replace my now defunct fitness skates. I was looking to get either a set of Mission CSX, Nike Bauer 50-90's, or Mission Soldier skates. With the exception of the last ones, they were entry level/recreational grade models. If you are interested in what each skate has to offer, you can hit up the links to Dick's to see. So, you would think that with some relative certainty, of all general sporting good stores, Dick's would have the highest likelihood of having what I want in stock. Well, this was not the case, not even close. When I got to Dick's, they were only carrying one manufacturer and only one model from that maker on hand. If I wanted to get what I was looking for, I would have to go elsewhere.

Therefore, Perani's, here I come. Well, short of being upset that I drove from Sheridan to Robinson to ultimately go to Greentree, things started to get better. When I get to Perani's, I'm thrilled to discover that they have a set of Soldiers on the wall. The Soldier skates are an intermediate level skate. It was the most expensive of the 3 models I was looking at, but I thought they were worth entertaining. Well, unfortunately, my elation was shattered when the closest size skate they had to my size was a 7. Ok, I have small feet, but not that small. I was looking for an 8 to buy. Since the 7 was not going to cut it, it was time to find a replacement skate that would suit my needs.

Outside of Mission, they were also carrying Tour, CCM, and Reebok. One of the first things that the employee told me was not to even look at the Tour skates. Apparently the Tour skate lines are suffering from a poor boot/truck design. They were telling me how many skates were being returned because the #2 wheel has a tendency to rub the bottom of the skate and stop spinning. I'm sure you can imagine how bad of a situation that is. Anyway, the employees referred me to the Reebok 5K Forsaken skate.

When I tried them on, I was immediately worried. The first question the sales guy asked me was how comfortable did I think they were. I was brutally honest with him, they felt horrible. It has been a very long time since I had ever worn anything so uncomfortable in my life. It had very weird contact points, it was stiff everywhere, and the boots were too short. They were quite surprised at my response. I guess I should have explained to them that my prior skates were in the fitness category. My K2 skates felt like slippers with wheels. They were that comfortable. Therefore, the change to a hockey style skate was a real adjustment for me.

Thankfully, despite the uncomfortable nature of the skates, they rode very well. Actually, due to the design of the truck to use 3 different size wheels, they turn very well. Almost too well. While I was puttering around in the shop, I did a spin stop and damn near fell on my head. Well, since this was the skate I was going to buy, they then informed me that it is possible to bake the boots to better mold to my foot. I was thankful for this. They pointed out that once they put the skates in the oven, I would have to purchase the skates. This was not a problem for me, I had already decided that I was going to buy them. Thankfully, the price tag was the same for these as for the Soldiers. I was surprised that they could be baked. I guess it was lack of exposure to this style of skate that led me to believe that only certain skates could be baked. I knew that certain Mission models could be heat fitted, but I also learned that all Mission skates have this option available. You learn something new every day.

So, I pay for the skates and they toss them into the oven. It didn't take long for them to bring them back out to me to fit. I had to keep my foot in the skate until the boot cooled down to room temperature, which took longer than would have expected. The only difficulty in doing this was trying to not fidget. Dana periodically would tell me to stop moving my feet because I would start to roll them around on the floor. I guess there is still that little kid in me that shows up every now and again.

Well, I can't tell you enough how night & day the skates fit since having them molded. When I arrived (finally) to the rink on Sunday for my game, my teammates certainly noticed my new wheels. I think they were surprised; I guess they don't know me well enough yet. Anyway, they took note of the features of the skates and wished me luck on Monday, since they expected me to be in serious pain. Well, after the game was over, my feet were still in good shape; unlike when I was at the store and my feet started barking in short order prior to the molding. Anyway, after playing a full game, I didn't have a single blister to show for my first time in my new setup. I did however, find out that apparently my right foot skate was not tight enough or I don't use my right foot properly. The outside of my leg at about 1" above my ankle, there was a brush burn. The boot rubbed vigorously there and has since scabbed over. It is tender, but is not brutally painful. All-in-all, I think that the switch from fitness to hockey skates was a relatively easy process.

As a result of the new skates, I only fell twice during the game. However, I think it was more my fault than my skates that I fell. Both times I was trying to maneuver in such a way that made me prone to fall. I have to say that I am very happy with my purchase. Props to the guys at Peranis for knowing their sport and how to hook-up a newbie with the correct product.

So, I can't go a week without injury, so the last topic will be regarding my new injuries. I've already mentioned the brush burn above my ankle, but that was far from being everything. One of my falls resulted in a bruise on my left butt cheek. That was short lived, it really only bothered me Sunday night. However, this team was also a bit on the physical side and I took a couple of hits toward my liver/kidney area again. However, no visible bruising this time. I think I hurt more from playing golf and bowling on Saturday than I hurt from hockey.