first for everything

yes, i’ve done it! first ice hockey game ever! last time i skated on ice was…. hmm, can’t remember. last time on roller-blade, here’s the result.  so, our soccer league is coming to an end (1 more game, not sure when…), winter is coming, and i have always wanted to put on some kind of padding to learn how to stop!  it’s still a very big decision, super intimidating at that, especially for yours truly whose natural footing is definitely flat and not anything rolling/gliding.   it turns out we had helmet, knee pads, and gloves, but no hockey pants/shirt so i didn’t dare to stop.  looking through the gridded helmet while trying to skate is an interesting experience ;-).  i showed up 5 hrs before the game to just test if i still know how to skate without falling left and right.  then came the big decision to join the game, harumph!

well, you know they say you never know your capability until you try out something at least once.  hockey has got to be one of the most intimidating sports for me: gliding on sharp objects hands waving frantically in the air keeping balance and praying no-one come crashing onto you.  for us beginners, the worst is when that happens because you don’t know how to fall and will inevitably crack some bones or worse injuring your head.  As it says, this is supposed to be a “beginner league”, but some poor guys with low self-esteems (my guess) think it’s where they can beat somebody and score some goals… they don’t really belong in this league, yet zoom passing us while purposely trying to trip us with their sticks, tsk tsk tsk.  Anyhow, due to my indecision, i didn’t have a stick and had to keep borrowing one during the game, which resulted in fumbling around with too-long sticks at times.  Not much to report except I survived!  only 5 falls, all while trying to turn around as the puck rolled nearby…

Once I managed to stop the opponent’s attack by halting the puck!  and while everyone was screaming encouring: “go go thadieu, send it forward!!!” there was a teammate upfront, all i had to do was pass… the oversized stick got stuck to the oversized shirt!!!  arghhhh, fighting viciously to untangle myself with everyone looking.  finally stick freed just in time guy from opposite team came to scoop up the puck and disappeared :-D.  anyhow, didn’t think i skated that much, but now legs want to fall off!! and came home with a BIIG appetite too.

(ps- oh, i finally learned icing + offside in hockey!)

edit: and now arms want to fall off too…