Me, Sept 2006 (Spokane Old Timers Tournament).

I'm an old Ice Hockey Goalie !

I'm an old ice hockey goalie.
I never played organized hockey, just some intramural in college. Then 20 years later my nephew tells me "I can't play Saturday night Uncle T. can you play for me? I'm sure my skates and gear will fit you." It all fit, I played and I enjoyed it.
As a computer programmer, hockey is my only exercise during the winter months, so It's more than a hobby, it's also healthy.

The Monty

The seasoned ended with the second annual Monty Tournament. It’s a tournament that is designed for fun, in memory of ‘Monty’ who we lost in a tragic construction accident two years ago. It was made up of 10 teams. Each team had players of all skill levels. Here are some of the rules, if I remember them correctly. Each team had to have two ‘C’ level men, two women and two players over 50. Only two ‘A’ level players can be on the ice at one time, so they had pink tape on their helmets so the refs could identify them. All penalties were penalty shots and the puck was ‘live’ if no goal was scored. The other players had to line up on their knees at the far blue line and could only get up and give chase after the shooter touched the puck at center. If a team got a 2 goal lead their goalie had to play without a stick. The refs had a pink puck which they could drop occasionally. It was worth 2 points, when it went in the net. Needless to say a lot of games were tied at the end of regulation. All of ours were. On one we had a penalty shot as the game ended. The other two were shoot outs. The shoot outs had special rules also. The first thee shooters had to be a ‘C’ player, a women and a guy over 50. If it was still tied after that, 3 more would shoot, only this time it would be the goalie and two ‘A’ players. One of ours went to 6 shooters. I did not score and here is the video. It was made on a cell phone and you need QuickTime to view it. The other goalie didn’t score either. The only goal in that shootout was by one of our ‘A’ players. That gave us 3 wins and put us in the ‘championship’ game against another team that had 3 wins. Unfortunately we were outplayed, out shot and lost by two goals. A fun time was had by all.

Tribute to Hal

This is me with my buddy Hal. This picture was taken after the league championship game. He beat me, but he faced only 17 shots compared to my 43. Hal and I have played together for 8 years. That first season he was a forward, but he converted himself to a goalie the next season. With a little coaching and Hal’s completive spirit he adapted to the position quite well. It’s been a fun time but this was last because he is moving to Colorado this summer.
Little did I know when I met Hal in 2001 that we would become great friends. I met him at church (he is my pastor) and his first words to me were “You are bald enough to be part of this church”. We’ve shared ice time, laughs and tears together. Hal has helped me more in my spiritual journey than I have helped him in his ‘goalie’ journey.
For everyone who knows him, Hal is a great guy who loves Jesus, his family, his church and hockey, in that order. Hal will be missed both on the ice and off the ice. Hal if you read this, I want you to know that you are loved and that God has new friends for you to meet in Colorado – ‘Keep your stick on the ice.”

Butterfly at 59

I can still make the butterfly save at 59. Jeanne got this video at our last playoff game. We lost but I stopped twice as many shots as the other goalie had. It was that kind of a game. I got a good workout.

Highlights from Fall League

I ended up with the best GAA 1.66, but we lost 1 to 0 in the first playoff round. The highlight was winning in a shootout in the last regular season game to finish in first place. Here is a picture sequence from the shootout.

Spokane Sept 2008

Here's my team from the Spokane Old Timers (as if you couldn't guess) tournament. We played 3 games. We had a lot of fun. It was my first time on the ice in 5 months. I played well.

The Glove

“The Glove”
That’s what they call me at work, it’s a long story, but that’s what blogs are for.
First, some background. It started with my supervisor. He is big sports fan. He played with the Cornhuskers when they were winning National championships. Now he’s back in his home state. He’s very sharp intellectually but he is also a fun guy who likes playing practical jokes on people.
His brother-in-law plays hockey in the same league I play in. Last year I gloved a shot that the brother-in-law thought was a sure goal. After my supervisor heard about this incident, be started calling me ‘The Glove’, because it fits with what I do. I’m a Software Quality Assurance Analyst (a. k. a. ‘tester’). SQA people have the responsibility of “protecting production”. This is very similar to “protecting the net”, thus I got branded ‘The Glove’ or just ‘Glove’.

Winter Season Ends

These are my season stats.

The winter season is over. Our team ended up in third place. We played the second place team in the first playoff round and lost 5 to 1. The other team was younger and faster and played well. My teammates said I played great and the score could have been much worse.