Breakaway Better than 4K

I'm not yet sure why I'm writing this into my blog. Perhaps it's vanity. Maybe it's for posterity. Or for pre-posterity - whatever that means.

On Monday this week, I had a hockey game for my 40+ rec league. We were playing a team that we routinely beat badly (the last meeting a few weeks ago resulted in a 9-1 win.)

Throughout the game, I felt like I was making smart plays - I could see where the play was going and was able to anticipate the play, I had confidence carrying the puck, and confidence defending in my own zone (I am a defenseman.)

During the second period, I ended up with the puck behind my own net and waited for my players to set up and for the opposition's forecheck (attacking the other team who is in possession of the puck while in their own defensive zone.) A forechecker attacked my left, causing me to skate out the right side. As I skated and picked up speed, I looked ahead, left, and right for open teammates. I saw open ice ahead of me as some of their players were changing on the fly on their bench to my left. To my right, one of the opposition was covering my right wing. I cut left to get away from the player on the right but not so far that I got into reach of the fresh players coming off the bench.

Then I was cruising through the neutral zone (the area between the blue lines that doesn't belong to either team) and toward the lone defender between the goal and me. I faked right, then moved the puck left, using a cross-over (brought my right skate over my left to get more power into my change of direction) I cut left and around their defenseman. I was one-on-one with the goalie.

I quickly faked the puck forward (to freeze the goalie,) the to the right to my forehand (moving the goalie slightly), then left to my backhand (against the direction the goalie had moved, giving me a little room) and, in one motion, lifted the puck into the top netting under the crossbar four feet above the ice. It was my first ever coast-to-coast goal.

One thing that I got to experience in high school as a varsity hockey player was hearing the roar of the crowd. We weren't particularly good, so our games were rarely packed, save our adoring parents. However, when we played our cross-town rival, I (playing goalie in those days) made a few pretty good saves. Hearing the crowd chanting my name is something that still rings in my ears.

And while the only people cheering my goal were my teammates (not many fans of those games, especially those that start at 10:30 on a Monday night,) it's moments like those that will eventually be impossible. Maybe I'll hit a long putt once in a while on the golf course. But, to be able to do something physically like that - something that I've never done before - is something that I'll be able to remember for a long time.

So maybe that's why I'm writing this. Maybe I'll never come back and read it, but, for me, the act of writing it down will help burn it into my memory. And that's better than 4K resolution.