Featuring my photo gallery and a blog with endless banter!

Over the course of the last month, I have had a lot of things that I have felt like blogging about but then in the end, I just forget about them.  I should use this space more often to jot my feelings and thoughts down on, but instead it has become more of a “when I have time” thing and that isn’t right.

Things are going well. 

• I have a job that I love in this difficult economy. 
• I am still playing hockey.  Its been over 5 weeks of pain free hockey actually since I went to the specialist and had gel injected in my knees.  Its the most liberating feeling knowing that I will be able to do what I love to do. 
• I am still working on my MBA classes.  At this rate, I won’t graduate until 2013, but I am fine with that.  I have so much to keep me busy that graduating is really far down on my list of urgent things to accomplish.
• I am really looking forward to reffing again in October.  I think I found something that I really love doing and I can’t wait to take on another season on the ice and ref more kids games.  This year, I can do more higher level games provided I pass my level 2 certification.  With a little dedication, I will make it.
• In what time I have left, I am really enjoying playing a few games I have bought and spending time learning about new technology.  I guess i am a geek at heart.

I just wish hockey has been more kind to my teams that I am on.  Who Cares is sitting with a 1-4 record, and the record does not reflect how we have been playing.  We have lost 3 1-goal games and 1 2-goal game.  We lost to the Phantoms on Wednesday 1-0.  If we could find the back of the net, we would be in great shape.  As it turns out, unless we have a strong 2nd half of the season, we could be watching the playoffs instead of in them.

Marketlab has been doing well sitting on a 4-1 record.  We had a tough loss on Thursday to the defending champions, but we were lacking a few players that normally play with us.  We will do better against them next time.

With so many great things happening right now, its hard for me to say that I am disappointed about something, but I am.  If I am disappointed about anything, its how I have struggled in games that count.  As I have gotten older, I have learned that I don’t move as fast as I used to.  I also know that I should be playing more to my level.  This might possibly be my last season in the top Thursday division.  Sure, my team is 4-1, but when our best players leave, I might have no choice but to move down which may kill my team in the process.  I don’t know what will happen, but with 5 weeks left plus playoffs, I am looking at this as my last shot in the Thursday intermediate/advanced division to get something out of it.

Share

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

After a disappointing and painful playoffs last season, I was going to “drive to get better”.  The specialist was only the first step.  After getting the gel fluid regulated in my knees, and spending a week stretching out, I returned to play in a tournament at Laser Skate.  I had a good team in front of me, and we went 3-1 taking 1st place.  It was the first time I have every won a tournament championship.  The last time I came close was back about eight years ago when my team made the finals and lost.  I got a plaque for “best goalie” in the division because of my play in the tournament.  No best goalie awards for me this time around though.  I didn’t deserve any as I was still slow to go down in my butterfly.

Ice hockey has gone a bit better as of late.  My first game back in ice hockey we lost and that was because I was so hesitant to drop into my butterfly.  Last night, in my second ice hockey game, I was much improved after playing in that tournament over the weekend.  If I get a win next weekend, my team will finish 5-3 which is the goal I set for myself at the beginning of the season.

I am really looking forward to rollerhockey starting up later this week.

Share

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Playoffs were a disappointment as both my teams came up short this season.  In both semifinal games, both my teams scored a grand total of a single goal.  We were shutout 3-0 in my Aluminum semifinal game with Who Cares.  Marketlab lost 4-1 in a very tough semifinal game.  I did win my quarterfinal game 5-0 which was great for my psyche, but still, coming up short is coming up short.

The really sad part is that I couldn’t physically play my Marketlab game because I was in bad shape.  My knees really ached after losing 3-0 in the first semifinal game.  I put my brother in at that point, but it was the first time that I gave up a game like that in the playoffs.  Very disappointing.  Not only for the loss, but for the fact that I could not play.

I now have an exercise regimen.  My knees are much better today because of not only therapy but additional gel injections.  I have been told to stay off the ice and avoid playing goalie for 1 week.  Keep exercising and stretching.  I am going to give it a go next week which will be my first game in over a week.  I will be a little rusty, but I am looking forward to a pain free experience playing hockey.  That in itself would be a huge improvement.

At the beginning of the year, I was hoping that I would achieve 30 championships in hockey.  I am hanging at 27 and having failed 2 times in a row after doing so well in the regular season, I have a lot to prove this season.  It is my hope that I can get 100% better this season and play the best hockey I have played in years.  A pain free season would do wonders for my confidence as well as my goaltending ability.

I am also making a promise not to set goals for championships anymore.  Sure, its nice to win.  At the same time though, its not the goal anymore.  No one will remember the championships my teams have won.  All the achievements are going away for me.  Now its all about playing with friends.

So now I have a drive to get better.  Not only physically, but mentally stronger.

Share

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Thursday night hockey was brutal last week.  We were outplayed from the start and lost 6-4.  It was a game we should have won, but instead we looked horrible out there.  What’s worse is the fact that we lost to a team with only 4 guys who cycled the puck around us for the entire game.  What a miserable game.

After Thursday’s debacle, I really was feeling pretty low.  So with my teams help on Monday in ice hockey, I pitched a shutout.  I played decent, but my team really worked hard out there.  Without them it never would have been possible.

My teams are doing very well this season overall.  My Monday team is 2-0.  Who Cares has only lost once in OT.  Marketlab is in a firm playoff position.  The Kodiaks are playing decent considering the competition they are playing against is very stiff.  I may be playing my final game for them this season on Friday since the Griffins final home game is next week Friday.

Share

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

When I started this blog, I was planning on blogging about my hockey escapades.  Then, after I was given some crappy news about my knees, I got away from that.  Maybe I have been overly nervous about how my hockey future will be affected.  Either way, its time to get back to my roots and start talking about hockey.

I had a pretty nasty shot go off my glove, where my fingertips are at on Friday.  Normally, I get a few of these stingers every now and again.  This time, it was pretty painful.  Friday night was the worst, but thanks to Ibuprofen, it is getting better.  I was just fine on Monday except for some discoloration and I couldn’t flex it all the way.  So I played on Monday and as Murphy’s Law would have it, I took my first shot off the same finger.  It still hurts today, but I should be ok to play tonight.

I started playing ice hockey on a new team on Monday for the next eight weeks.  Since Friday nights aren’t working for me schedule wise, I thought this would be a good way to get some goaltending in.  I played a very good game in a 3-2 victory on Monday.  In this short 8 game season, I will be happy if we finish 5-3.  I am one win closer to that 5 win goal.

Who Cares continues to roll on and same with Marketlab.  With 4 games remaining for each team, I have high hopes we will do very well come playoff time.  I am very much looking forward to finishing strong for both teams.

Share

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

After I got that recommendation from my doctor to stop playing hockey, I sought out a second opinion from a specialist.  In the meantime, the last few weeks have been a long hard road needless to say.  I have had more than a few sleepless nights just waiting to get in to see him.  The day finally came on Friday when I walked in to get the news I had been searching for.

I have a degenerative condition in my knees which is causing my cartilage to break down.  A lot of it has to do with the fact that I am double jointed in my knees and the years of hockey I have been playing has taken its toll.  Some of it has to do with age.  After dealing with a grinding feeling in my knees for the last year, I decided to have them looked at and do something about it.

The specialist said that this kind of condition is really not reversible, but there are options besides what the last doctor recommended.  His recommendation was to stop playing hockey and opt for Viscosupplementation which is injections of gel into the knees. 

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/viscosupplementation/hic_what_is_viscosupplementation.aspx

The whole idea of stopping playing goalie was to halt the degenerative condition.  The gel injections would cushion the knee and then I would be good to go for an extended period of time.  I could still skate, but bending my knees in the same way would be causing more harm than good.

My current specialist has indicated that the injections would be suitable for me to keep playing for a long time to come IF they have a positive effect.  The whole procedure is still controversial.  Some people experience total relief and continue to exercise and operate at a high level.  Others feel nothing different and have to go onto other means of treatment.  Another thing I will be doing is going to the doctors office more often.  Each treatment is 3 injections.  If I am still playing, thats 3 injections that I could be having per month.  Just based on how much gel remains in my knees from one week to the next.

So, start with the gel injection, see how my knees react and then make adjustments from there.  I can handle that.  Its a heck of a lot better than, “Stop playing and do something else.”

First appointment is in about a month.

Share

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

After getting potentially devastating news from my doctor, I got a lot of good feedback from Mike, a friend of mine who is a physical therapist.  Pretty much, I was told a few different things.  I will sum them up here.

1.  Get a 2nd opinion.  There are some doctors out there that are just out to go for surgery because its for profit.  I got a good recommendation.

2.  Before you do any injections of gel for the knees, make sure you are at a point where its very uncomfortable.  Once you go down the road of altering things, it is when everything about your knees starts to change.  Its best to wait as long as possible, especially when it comes to cartilage loss.

3.  Don’t lose hope.  What one doctor says is not the end of the world.  You have to keep your head up and your hopes high.

For as much as I was uplifted after winning my game 5-4 and I played really well in the game, this news really made me feel better.  Even though I climbed in my car and read the doctors notes and his recommendations again after I was done.  If this is true, and the doctor is trying to make a money grab, I will be really pissed.  I know I have knee pain, but I am going to get a second opinion.

The problem is that I am going to be waiting 2-3 weeks for news of this, which means that I am going to probably be worrying about it for that long.

My nice wife has gotten me some Glucosamine Chondroitin which is something that helps joint pain.  Don’t know how good it is, but at this point I will be happy to give it a try.  $16 a bottle though?  Seriously?  This thing better help me grow cartilage for that price.

Share

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Well, I think the title says it all.  I have jokingly teased about my upcoming retirement from hockey for a long time.  There were times I had knee pain enough to actually consider it, but in the end, I always found ways to make sure that I always could play.

First, lets go back to the beginning.  I was born double jointed in my knees which I really didn’t see as a benefit.  I played a variety of sports from basketball, cross country, track, and wrestling in high school.  I really wasn’t good, but I was always enjoying being part of the team.  After I graduated college, I was looking for something new to do.  I didn’t want to be one of these hockey fans that never put on skates and played hockey.  Armchair fans really suck in my opinion, so I started playing hockey.

Now, hockey was something that wasn’t easy for me.  I couldn’t skate, but I learned how to skate as I played.  It took me years of playing a few times a week to earn my first championship in hockey.  I had a lot of great success playing through the years.  I made many friends, and rivalries along the way.  It was the perfect team sport to be a part of.  I wish I had done this at an earlier age, but I was having way too much fun with it to even think about it.

One thing that really helped me was being double jointed in my knees.  I have had many people ask me how I do what I do, and its because of being double jointed in my knees.  I can fan out when I go down covering a larger portion of the net than other butterfly goalies.  Its not perfect, or faster, but its my style and my style has done me well in the past.  Sure, I have changed a lot when it came to my playing style in terms of how far I come out and my reaction time, but my base style has always been the same which is take away everything low.

Back about two years ago, I started having pains in my knees and it was a little hard to bear at times.  Visits to my doctor office showed the cartilage in my knees was giving out.

This gives you a good idea of where the problem lies.  The cartilage has been slowly wearing away since I started playing hockey.  The doctor and I have tried a few different things, and there has been little change.  The cartilage still has been wearing thin as I have been playing.  Part of the problem is the way that I play, and how often over the last 5-6 years.

So now, with my last appointment, I am becoming faced with the reality that I really am at the end of the road.  I will have a couple choices to make here.

1.  Retire from hockey, and get a shot of gel in my knees that should remove the grinding in my knee, and continue to be able to skate and ref.

2.  Keep playing until the cartilage gives out, and opt for gel or probably knee surgery.

3.  Retire from hockey and skating all together and do other non impact sports such as swimming.

Man, talk about a tough decision.

I have been swimming with this in my head for a while now, and although it pains me to say it, I am leaning toward option 1.  I don’t think I can walk away from the game of hockey entirely, but I do think its time for a change.  A very serious change that is really going to change my world.

So what have I decided to do?

I will retire from goaltending officially in July 2010.  This gives me time to work on my skating more over the summer so I can get certified in USA Hockey refereeing level 2 in Fall of 2010.  It also gives me time to finish out my next two seasons of roller and play a full season of ice hockey with some friends I have always wanted to play with.

This decision did not come without a lot of thought, and regret at the same time.  I am still going to pursue other avenues so I can play, but as of right now, my decision stands.

What about the teams I currently play for?  I will be asking my brother or another good friend of mine to step in for me and take over indefinitely.

I also give a promise to update my blog with every game I play from now until I am finished.  I want to look back on these last games and know how I did and in much better detail than before.

More to come later….

Share

{ Comments on this entry are closed }