GOOOOOAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!
As Leif says, throw enough mud at a wall, and some of it will stick! And last night, some of it finally stuck!
This week I've been spoiled, spending upward of 10hrs on the rink due to a compatible shift pattern, and so the lunchtime skates have been available. Monday & Tuesday saw me at the rink in full gear (minus body armour) for that extra confidence kick. However, with the other more casually attired on the rink, I felt like the guy that turns up to a black tie party in fancy dress! As a result, the rest of the week saw me with just the helmet (stop..... I know where your mind is going!).
Something, somehow seems to have clicked with the hockey stops, and I'm starting to get them. The nice graceful glide to the line kind now comes quite easily (dependant upon ice quality), but I am yet to be able to spray snow everywhere (more on that in a moment). I am still not great at forwards to backwards transitions, but this is more of a mental block at speed, so I'm working on it. I can also do a very (VERY) basic mohawk, again, working on it!
And so to last nights session. All went superbly, and on the warm up lines I surprised even myself my racing to the goal line, and doing the mother of all hockey stops and sending a spray of snow! Now I just need to get that dialled in for consistency. The drills were pretty good - I was vastly improved on the one-on-one, stick/puck handling at considerable speed and agility, with good puck protection and giving my opponent a run for his money. My tight turns are still laughable (think the turning arc of a London bus), but again, I felt a massive step change in my confidence and footwork.
And then, in the scrimmage, it happened. The puck came my way, I took the shot, and it found the net! Ok, I'm overshadowed by the guys that score 5 or 6 goals in the scrimmage, but I was pretty damned pleased with it.
All in all, I've felt massive progress this week. And it reinforces my theory that I seem to learn and progress so much more on the quiet lunchtime skates than any other session (excluding the hockey sessions).
And it also raises a question. My skating ability vastly depends upon the ice quality. When I skate on a freshly resurfaced rink, my hockey stops, crossovers, and general stability are pretty good, but after about an hour, my turns, stops and crossovers go to pot. I guess a good skater can skate on pretty much anything, but I can't help wondering how a pro-hockey game would develop if the ice wasn't resurfaced after each period. The puck would obviously be slower, but I wonder how a pro's skating ability would be affected?
And here endeth my post :-)