Suburban Hockey Breakfast Club

Laura's babble

2012-02-16T10:29:00.001-05:00

For those of you who were at Breakfast Club last week, you were witness to a bit of history in the making. Keep your eyes peeled this weekend, which is the weekend of “Hockey Day” in case you didn’t know. Fox Sports Detroit will be featuring certain “human interest” stories, and one of them is about your benevolent blogger. Yes, you read that right, hockey fans, we were filmed and then interviewed a few days later about the history-making event coming this summer. Namely, Laura and Michael are getting married, right here on the ice at good ol’ Suburban Ice Farmington Hills. Our gift registry will be at Perani’s, but of course.

When you consider the distraction that is bound to happen when your every move is being filmed and you’ve been mic’ed so that your every utterance is being recorded, it’s amazing how well I was able to do the drills. Joe said, actually, that the pressure of the cameras made me perform a little less awful than usual. One thing that we’re all doing less awfully at is keeping our heads up. Seeing the ice. Not just that little patch next to your feet, but that whole great frozen expanse full of team mates and opponents. So until next time, keep your head up and your eyes on the goal.

The BC Blogger's Return - Week 2 of 2012 Winter Session

2012-01-20T13:24:00.001-05:00

Hey there hockey fans. It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about my Breakfast Club experiences. Because, well, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to attend the Breakfast Club to have experiences to blog about. But just like falling off a bike or tripping over the paint on the blue line, it was quite easy for me to pick up where I left off.

We’re in week #2 of the winter session, eight more weeks to go. So there’s plenty of time to register if you haven’t already done so. The Wednesday class is fuller than the Thursday class: I should know because I went to both this week so that I could blog with authority. Blogging with authority is right up there with stick intensity, just ask Lyle.

Speaking of asking Lyle, keep your eyes open for a “first ever” this June, hockey fans. I can’t give you any more details, because there aren’t any more details to be had yet, but I promise that something memorable is being planned to occur this June over at Suburban Ice: Farmington. I wonder if Perani’s does wedding registries? Hmmmmm, so many details, so little time.

And paying attention to details and making good use of your time is what the Breakfast Club is all about. At the Wednesday class, we had just shy of thirty skaters and we had exactly three coaches (Lyle, Joe and Scott). Whereas, the Thursday class had just shy of twenty skaters and two coaches (Lyle and Joe). We were also graced with two goalies for each session. With all of the pieces in place, our able and entertaining coaches set about to try to get some details drilled through our heads and into our muscle memories within the time allotted.

Biggest task? Getting over the need to stare at that doggone puck. Feel that puck on your blade! Go ahead, feel it! It won’t bite. Staring at it merely guarantees that you’ll likely have no Earthly idea what is going on anywhere on the ice with, you know, those pesky other details such as your team mates, the opponents, you know, details…

Another detail: handling the puck, not pushing it (ahem, don’t know who does that…) while you’re skating. Why “handle” it and why not push it? Well, because if you’re pushing it, you can’t feel it on the end of your stick anymore. Which makes you then want and/or need to look at the puck. Which then prevents you from being able to know where your team mates and opponents are at. Rinse, lather, repeat: see above.

When you think about it, there’s basically two (just two) ways to move the puck with your stick – on the forehand side, or on the backhand side. That’s it, hockey fans. All that other fancy schmancy “highlights reel” stuff with toe drags and whatnot? Those generally happen because you failed to bring the puck quick and wide to your forehand and/or backhand side to evade the opponent in the first place. So you had to pull a fancy schmancy rabbit outta the hat and hope it would work. Tried and true might sound boring, but tried and true generally are tried and true for good reason.

Skating is kind of an important detail for hockey, too, or so I am told. So we worked on breaking down our stride and lengthening it. Making it more efficient. More power, less effort. Us “more senior” (never say “older”) players need to be able to skate faster without expending needless wasted energy. Arms forward and back, not side to side. Legs moving from center return, out, return, not chop chop chop wide and not chop chop chop narrow either.

And what’s a practice without a hearty opportunity to beat the tar outta each other, I ask? A little one-on-one small ice during the area drills, and (in the case of the Thursday class) a little one-on-one multiples full-ice battles to round out the session at the end.

As I mentioned originally, there is still time to register. What better way to drag your friend into the wonderful vortex of hockey than to buy him (or her) a spot at the Breakfast Club? You don’t have to go out for breakfast together afterwards if you don’t want to. But you can, if you’d like.

BC Blogging

2011-09-06T08:20:00.001-04:00

Hey sports fans: did you know that next week is the last week of summer Breakfast Club? I kid you not! And you know I am not the kind of girl to make that kind of stuff up. Rumor has it that the fall season begins in mid-October, so next week appears to be your last chance to get your BC-fix for the next month or so. Crimeny, Lyle should know better than to leave me idle like that. If idle hands are the Devil’s playground, then idle skates are the hockey girl’s downfall. I’ll have to drink less beer and eat less hash browns, lest my tooshie begin to take on giant proportions. Or (gasp!) I’ll have to do something other than hockey to get my required level of exercise in. Yeah, that, too, but I was thinking I might have to even resort to something like maybe running, which is right up there on the excitement scale with watching paint dry.

Few sweat-inducing things in life are as much fun as hockey, and let me tell you, Wednesday morning’s Breakfast Club was anything but boring. That’s what I love about it. Where else could I get to tell Josh that we can go again, one more time baby, and know that he knows that I’m talking about the two-on-two full ice scrimmage? Or how about Thursday, with the return appearance of none other than Godot, …I mean, Joe Jones? And did you know that Lyle had a momentous birthday this week too? Fun and thrills, folks, fun and thrills, and all before most folks are even showered.

BC Blogging

2011-08-24T17:37:00.001-04:00

Geez, a girl fails to show one week, fails to blog the following week, and "the man" tries to get all up in her biznizz about it. Who is "the man" you might ask? Ah, that, my hockey fans, is a well-guarded secret. Or should I say "was" - until now. The Great and Powerful Oz may skate with you on Wednesday mornings, but most other days he's just plain ol' Josh, doing the website stuff and who knows what else, and having to put up with my rambling prose and proof-reading for typos.

Speaking of the man, there were five of us non-man types at the Wednesday morning skates. Since I usually go only on Thursdays, I was a bit shocked to find that I had to share "my" cavernous locker room with other players. It would seem, then, that Wednesdays continue to be the days with the highest rate of attendance, today being just shy of two dozen of us. If you ever longed for the intimacy of a more confined group, then, come on over to a Thursday morning and see what you think. That's the nice thing about Breakfast Club - the flexibility to swap between days if your schedule changes and you'd otherwise miss skating. Because (ahem) missing a week of Breakfast Club is generally not gonna help you get any less worse out there on the ice.

OK so back about this up in my biznizz thing. Or, as I learned the hard way, not so much "up" as instead flat of my back during our two-on-one drill.
Good thing he has other redeeming qualities, or Michael would have some 'splainin' to do.

Which is what Scott and Lyle were doing a lot of today - 'splainin'. It does little good to "coach" someone by just barking orders at them. Our coaches actually drill the drills in to our thick noggins by helping us understand "why" it is that this drill has relevance to our game. Knowing the "why" is half the battle. Getting our middle-aged all-star bodies to "do" the "why" is the other half. But having only half is still only having half. Thanks to Scott and Lyle, they're helping us get a "whole" lot better.

Because, at the end of the day, or at the end of a good morning skate (as the case may be), we're all here for one reason: to improve our game. The coaching is what makes the difference. If you just want to keep repeating the same thing over and over in the hope of a different outcome, some might call that the definition of crazy. But if you're looking to improve that same thing a little bit more each time you step on the ice, then the Breakfast Club is the place to be. You never know what you might find out there on the ice. But I know you're most likely to find what you need if you keep your head up and your eyes on the goal.

Summer BC week #5

2011-08-04T13:14:00.000-04:00

Alert the media! I got to the rink this morning before both Lyle and Scott. Yes, you read that right: I got to the rink and I was dressed and on the ice this morning before Lyle and before Scott ever set foot (skate?) on the ice.

The fact that neither Lyle nor Scott were even here this morning is immaterial to this otherwise momentous occasion. Please don’t be a fun sponge during my moment of glory, ‘k?

Bryan and Mike led our motley morning crew through a series of passing and skating drills, the likes of which have never been seen by us before. I have been strictly counseled by Mike to make no mention of the fact that we ended our session with a little two-on-two rotating tag-in small ice scrimmaging. So forget I said anything about that having happened.

We warmed up our two goalies with some lane-passing two-on-oh maneuvers, which involved skating out from the goal line area, sweeping across “break out” style to get the pass, crashing in to score, and then kicking off the returning break-out pass. Or at least I think that was what we did, because I didn’t get on the ice until the warm-up was basically over. But, hey, I was still on the ice before either Lyle or Scott (did I mention that already?)

Keeping our committee of the whole intact, we then moved on to some end-to-end skating and passing, working on receiving and passing on both our forehand and backhand, including catching it on the forehand but passing it back on the backhand, and catching it backhand and then passing it forehand.

We then broke in to two groups, one group working on breaking down the elements of our skating, and the other working on a variation of a four-corners passing drill. In both cases, it just went to show us that no matter how long you’ve been playing, there is always room to improve and refine.

All in all, a good little morning for me. After a very long and draining day yesterday, getting up at o’dark thirty to play some hockey was just what the doctor ordered. Not that I wasn’t desperately forlorn over not seeing Lyle or Scott this morning, mind you, but it was kind of nice to get Mike and Bryan’s “take” on an up-beat lively practice this morning. And if you try to start any rumors about what happened, all I can say is that what happens at the Breakfast Club stays at the Breakfast Club.

Summer BC week #4

2011-08-03T08:32:00.000-04:00

Hey old-timers, sing along with me, okay? “You can call me Ray, you can call me J, or you can call me Johnny or … but ya doesn’t has to call me Johnson”

Any of you (besides me?) old enough to remember that commercial for Busch Lite from the 70’s?

Why do I bring this old t.v. ad up? Because we all have a nickname. Maybe nobody calls us that anymore, but we’ve all got a nickname. And a story behind the nickname. Just like there’s a story about why you started playing hockey, and more importantly why you started coming to the Breakfast Club.

Maybe you started playing when you were a kid? Since those days of yore, however, you’ve come to realize that you could really use some good “practice ice” besides just your weekly beer league all-star game. Or maybe you started playing as an adult (like me) and never had the chance to attend practices as a kid? You’ll never get much less-worse as a beer league all-star unless you attend some practices.

Either way, the key piece is that you’re here because you know you need the practice. Some of us (ahem), need it more than others. And whooooo doggie, am I a girl in need. Let me tell you! Luckily, I’m getting my fix, thank you very much. Why else would I get up at o’dark thirty, right?

We had a light turn-out of two instructors, one goalie, and twelve skaters Thursday morning. I think the monsoons flooded the railroad tracks or something. Warm-ups began with some puck handling while skating (or so I believe, seeing as I was just swimming in to the rink as class was beginning). We then moved on to warming up the goalie with a two-on-oh! Pass between each other, shooter takes the shot (hence, the designation of being called the “shooter”, I know I know, whoa, dude, counter-intuitive). “Winger” then becomes the defender, and it was a one-on-one back up the ice. After about the second run through the line, Lyle asked me if I knew what I was getting myself in to. Yes, Lyle, yes I do actually, thanks for asking :)

After warm-ups, we split into two groups of six. Scott had the unpleasant task of trying to get us to do a two-on-one drill. How many ways can we NOT do the drill the right way? That, my friends, is a cosmic imponderable best left to the mystics. Us misfits, meanwhile, rotated through our pods so that we all got a chance to be the lead skater, the trailer, and the defender. First winger passes to the second winger who is coming from the middle towards the boards. First winger then leaves the boards, cuts behind the first towards the middle, all the while the defender is trying to position so as to both deny the shooting opportunity while also denying the pass. Sounds easy? Nope, you’re right, we managed to not do this drill right just about every single time. Good thing Scott finds us humorous.

Over in Lyle-land, we were working on tight turns. That would be TIGHT turns, not big tractor trailer turns. But not so tight that it’s a stop-start turn, either. Slow it down there, boy! The ice was sufficiently groovy (grooooovy, maaaaan) to lead one to believe that we came close enough to that sweet spot between power and speed. Although, now that I think of it, Lyle never let us use any pucks during this drill. Hmmmm, I guess walking and chewing gum will come later, perhaps next week. In order to make sure you make it to next week, I would suggest keeping your head up and your eyes on the goal.

Breakfast Club, Summer Week #3

2011-07-22T17:45:00.000-04:00

One goalie, eighteen skaters, two instructors, and one sheet of ice. Sounds like a perfect equation for escaping the heat wave, if you ask me. Not that anyone was asking me. Well, I did get asked something, and I gladly said "yes", but that's not what we're talking about here. What we're talking about here is hockey. Calling it "hockey" and making it actually be hockey are sometimes two different things. That's why we haul outta bed at o'dark thirty. To make ourselves look more like hockey players every week. Even if the scouts will never be calling us.

We warmed-up our goalie with a leading and following skater, two nice low shots on net, which then continued as a one-on-one down the returning lane back to the other end. Defensively, the object of the game, always as well as the object of this drill, was to maintain a proper gap. Too much of a gap, and you're just giving the ice away. And no one, especially me, likes to just give it away. If there's too little of a gap, you're bound to get beat if the offensive opponent is even the slightest bit faster at skating forward than you are at skating backwards. And no one, especially me, likes getting beaten either. Sounds pretty demanding, and yet divinely simple, all wrapped up in a nice neat little package, doesn't it?

When we broke into our two groups, Lyle had us working on quick "touch" passes and Ryan had us working on one-on-one battles. In the one-on-one, the players were starting from cross-ice ends (sides?) of the blue line, so defensively the object was to head-off the puck carrier as quickly and effectively as possible. And offensively, the object was to get that scoring opportunity shot. Which might mean skating like a bee-line and crashing the net, but might also mean using changes in speed and direction to get the defender to over-commit. Working on quickness versus anticipation, it's all in the positioning, hockey fans.

In the touch pass drills, the emphasis was on being quiet. Not because Lyle's coffee hadn't quite kicked-in yet and he was feeling a bit groggy still. Nope, quiet because less noise means you're receiving the pass instead of risking bouncing that puck back off your stick. Square up to the incoming pass, hands away from your body, stick blade flat on the ice, with just enough downward pressure to avoid having the pass "ooze" out from under your stick, while allowing the puck to be cushioned to deaden the recoil. Sounds easy?

In between all of this, I think Lyle was hoping for the part of Coach Herb in the remake of "Miracle", because we did a whole lotta stops and starts. Stops and starts. Stops and starts. There's nothing quite like mini-ladders when it's already 85 degrees at 7am and so humid that you can see the air molecules. I'll blame the stops and starts on Ryan, seeing as Scott was no where to be found (or blamed), and running us into the ground is otherwise so uncharacteristic of Lyle (cough, cough...). Joe remains on the injured reserves, so he's safe from me blaming him for the moment as well. Credible deniability. Or incredible agreeability. Take your choice. Either way, make sure you're got your head up and your eyes on the goal.

BC Week #2

2011-07-22T09:49:00.000-04:00

Yeah, yeah, class starts at 6:30am. So? I’d rather be 30 minutes late than not there at all.

Sigh… sometimes, life gets in the way of my hockey, what can I say?

I’m not sure what happened before 7am, but I do know that after 7am, we were indeed working on getting in each other’s way. Specifically, one-on-one half ice. Carry it up and over the red line, try to score. Defensively, back check so you can quickly control your gap. For the purposes of this drill, no neutral zone neutralizations, but normally you’d want to keep that player from ever getting in the zone. In the case of this drill, all of the play was designed to happen between the blue line and the top of the circles. I kinda like it when I know where all my play is supposed to happen; presume that you do, too.

The other thing we worked on in that last half (or, in my case, the only half) of class was stops and starts. Giving away to that loss of control was a tough thing for this hockey girl, a very tough thing. Scott kept trying to get me to just use the outside edge of my trailing leg for stopping, but my fear of splatting got the best of me. Inside edge of the leading leg? Noooooo problem, can do it in my sleep with both hands tied behind my back. So why do I lack confidence in myself? Hmmmm, very philosophical for a hockey practice. I never knew two inches of ice could be that deep.

I must give thanks to my random boy victim of the morning, whatever the heck your name was. During the one-on-ones, we had an odd number of players (I was reminded that things were perfectly fine until I, the odd ball, showed up) (anyway…), and so I doubled-up running the drill with Terri and then jumping back in line really quick to double-shift the drill with my dear random unnamed boy. Kinda like Cedar Point and running off the ride and getting right back in line, eh?

Will I double-up and go both Wednesday and Thursday? Will I get there on time regardless of which day we’re talking about? Will I go at all? And I wonder if there will be coffee after practice next week? These are all imponderables, to be honest, and lots of life could possibly get in the way between now and then. But I do know that knowing I get a little less bad every single week is what keeps me coming back for more. Insatiably odd, yep, that’s me. With my head up and my eyes on the goal…

Summer week #1

2011-07-14T18:58:00.001-04:00

It’s the first week of the summer edition (2011) of the Breakfast Club. Hurrah for summer! There ain’t nuthin’ better than driving to the rink with the top down. Helps to dissipate the stench of the hockey gear, right?

Speaking of stinking up the place, doggone this morning was yet another reminder why I need to desperately cling to my dreadfully boring day job, rather than aspiring to a glamorous career as a paid-to-play professional. Not everyone is cut out for the big leagues, of course, but that’s OK. A bad day on the ice is better than a good day doing just about anything else, even if your bad day on the ice was only bad because you expect more out of yourself than you were able to give at that moment.

This week, we primarily worked on our stick handling. Did you know that the pesky little puck isn’t really that pesky, and that you can actually stick-handle the puck without having to give it the laser focus death stare? Whodathunkit?! I need to improve my “stick intensity”, however, because I still have trouble “feeling” the puck; I resort to pushing it and/or staring at it, neither of which are terribly helpful when Michael is trying to beat me to the puck in our little game of one-on-one half ice. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Which is actually another thing we worked on – pushing the puck ahead of ourselves, executing a glorious spin move, and catching back up to our own puck. I think Lyle wanted to make sure Scott got his morning chuckles in, because we were all variously amusing and entertaining in that drill.

And amusement is the key to life. If you’re not having fun, then you should be doing it. Being able to laugh at yourself is key to having the confidence to keep on trying. Being able to look at yourself critically and improve upon the bad hockey habits that you need to improve upon, however, is even better. The longer you’ve been playing, the more likely it is that you’ve fallen in to some counter-productive ruts that you need to get out of. And the Breakfast Club is the perfect place to de-rut (un-rut-ify?) your game. There are still a few openings for the Thursday morning 6:30am-7:30am session (there were about eighteen of us, max is 24), however the Wednesday morning session is apparently already sold out. But fear not, if you need to do a swappie one week between Wednesdays and Thursdays due to the other, less fun, aspects of your life trying to bogart their way over your hockey life, rest assured that you can show up on whichever day fits your needs best that week.

I plan to keep my head up, and my eyes on the goal. See you on the ice, my friends.

Breakfast Club Summer 2011

2011-07-13T09:16:00.002-04:00

The summer edition of the Breakfast Club started last week. Were you there this morning? Are you going to be there tomorrow morning?

Come hell or high water, I am. Doggone, I missed so much of the winter session due to my castable injury, and didn't even register for the spring due to drinkable frustration with the future ex. I am loooooong overdue for some morning hockey.

That's what is so nice about the Breakfast Club. We take all kinds. Give me your weak, your weary, your ankle-benders longing to be free...

See you tomorrow morning. In the meantime, keep your head up and your eyes on the goal.

Breakfast Club Winter: Week 6

2011-02-25T13:09:00.001-05:00

Finally!! Back on the ice after four painful weeks on the injured reserves list. I got my awesome glow-in-the-dark waterproof fiberglass and Gortex cast off on Friday, went to my first physical therapy session on Monday, and got the green light (blue line?) to hit the ice this morning. I don't know if you missed me, but I sure as heck missed me. Doggone, it was nice to have me back. I haven't been me without being on the ice. And without getting my weekly razzing by Lyle. And Joe. Although Scott was nice to me today. No, I take that back, Scott gave me a hard time, too. Sigh... so nice to be appreciated...

We had father + son goalies for today's Wednesday morning class. Chick count was at a whopping four: me, Sally, Terri and Susan. And, yeah, there were some of those other creatures known as "boys" there, too. I don't know all of your names, sorry, if you weren't so painfully shy you could tell me your name so that I could mention you in the blog. Your fifteen minutes of fame awaits you! And if you're feeling really bold, you could give me your social security number. Your lifetime of identity theft awaits you as well. It's all in your hands.

As usual, we did a little of this and a little of that. Warm-ups were a bit different than I was accustomed to. Perhaps you all had been warming up like this for weeks? Who knows. We had two stationary "poke checkers" in each lane, skate it down, dazzle with a mind-altering deke around each of the poke-checkers, and shoot on the net. Then pass to the formerly poke-checking and now simply stationary players as you skate along the boards, give-n-go, give-n-go, shot on net. A nice variation on warm-ups. Don't tell Lyle I said that, of course, because he might get a big ego. I'd hate to have him head off to Hollywood or L.A. or something.

For the "drill" drills, we broke in to three groups. One chase-the-rabbit one-on-one group with both goalies at one end with Joe, a second group doing cross-over work with Scott, and a third group doing a variety of moving-while-passing exercises with Lyle. Notice that I didn't say "one end ... another end... and another end" because even I know that a hockey rink only has two ends. And a middle. Really, I'm not lying! if there's one thing that I know, is my ends from my middle.

Since I have a lot of lost time to make up for, I'm going to try to hit both sessions for the next couple of weeks. That's the nice thing about the Breakfast Club: if you're technically registered for one class but can't make it that day, you can go to the other class. Or if you miss a week (or four) altogether, you can double-up and go to multiple sessions per week. Of course, there are those disturbing forces like my job and my future ex who might not like me skating both mornings for the next several weeks, so time will tell if my powers of persuasion will win out. Seeing as I'm in a better mood today than I've been in, oh, about four weeks, I'd say it's in their selfish best-interest to shove me out on the ice as often as they can, so I can take my frustrations out on the puck instead of their annoying mere mortal souls. But you never know. So I may see you tomorrow, or I may not. I do know, however, that I will have the best chance of seeing you if I keep my head up and my eyes on the goal.

Breakfast Club Winter: Week 4

2011-02-09T11:44:00.002-05:00

Sob! so begins week #3 of my captivity.

I have moved up in the world, however.

When I first lamented my situation, I was merely sporting a "tri lock" brace, which is a medically-approved combination of seat belt straps and velco (no! not like that!). Anyway, after hobbling about with the tri-lock for just about two weeks, all the while being a very very very good girl -- no cute shoes, no running, no jumping, no skating, no kicking the future ex-husband, and no dancing -- I received the dreaded "call". You know "the call". The call that says "We have the results from your MRI. You have a full tear in one of your medial ligaments (the anterior talofibular, to be precise), a partial tear in another, and grade four sprains in three additional ligaments."

So this week I no longer blog from the depths of the well of self-pity.

No.

I am over myself.

I have a glow-in-the-dark fiberglass and Tyvex waterproof cast, and as immobilizing accessories go, it is da'bomb. I am having a riot with this cast. Besides it being:
(a) glow in the dark (seriously, glow in the dark!), and
(b) waterproof,
I am (c) saving on laundry (since I only have to wash half as many pairs of socks since I can wear them one sock at a time for two days), and
(d) it is faster to shave in the shower because I don't have to tend to my left leg below the knee.

It's all about perspective and your attitude, right? Even if we don't have wicked mad skills, the one thing us old chick hockey players do have is plenty of attitude.

I'm sure you are all somehow managing to go through Breakfast Club without me. Perhaps there have been countless moments, forever lost, that I will only hear about through legend. I hope so! Have some Tim Horton's coffee waiting for me in a few more weeks, because just like Ahnold as the Terminataaaah, I'll be back!

Breakfast Club Winter: Week 3

2011-01-27T14:28:00.001-05:00

I blog today from the depths of the well of self-pity. I injured my ankle in my Sunday morning game. Missing hockey has been even worse than not being able to wear my cute shoes! The tragedy of it all.

Despite not being at the Wednesday or Thursday class this week, however, I can be fairly certain that skating, shooting and passing happened, interspersed by just enough fun and frivolity to make it worth hauling your tush outta bed at o'dark thirty to hit the rink. If you aren't addicted to hockey, you must not be trying hard enough, that's my motto.

Breakfast Club Winter: Week 2

2011-01-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

Can I say it? I guess I can say it. I mean, it's not like I'm making this up. I'm not even "shading the truth". The truth is my defense, right? OK, so that settles it. I'll say it. Scott Wolter comes back to class this week, and for the very first drill, he breaks out the ropes and forces us to use them upon each other. I kid you not.

It was my kind of class :)

Instead of doing the "sled" drill by dragging your team mate around using your sticks as the handles, we used ropes.

Of course that's what you were thinking, I know, don't worry, you don't need to explain yourself. See? The truth indeed sets you free.

Anyway, yes, we had the full contingent of coaching staff today. Lyle Phair was working with us on snap passes, Joe Jones had us working on small ice battles, and Scott Wolter had us working on lengthening and strengthening our stride. But that was only after we broke into the three focus groups. We did a whole lotta stuff before we got to that point.

We started out the morning with a couple of deking and navigating drills while warming up our two goalies. The ever-useful tires were hauled out, and we did just about everything you could do with a tire on the ice. We deked around them. We tight-turned around them. OK, that doesn't sound like a whole lotta things when you list it like that, but trust me there are a plethora of ways to deke a tire. And doggonnit, some times that inanimate object manages to poke-check the puck away from you anyway! The NERVE! And just like last week, we were working on improving our puck-carrying technique. Handle it, don't shovel it, or so I've been told. When you tight turn, the puck needs to lead you and needs to be on the outside of the turn. I think I said that part in last week's blog, didn't I? Well, it bears repeating because it apparently has yet to fully sink-in and be synthesized by (ahem) some of us.

Once we broke in to the three groups, that was where the fun began. Which brings me back to the topic of the artful use of ropes in co-ed hockey. It is rather amazing how your stride changes when it shouldn't be changing. Like, if you're just pushing off with just your right leg (that would be your ONE right leg, Mike, not both of your right legs...), or with just your left, or with both, or with both but with your arms ape-hanging on your stick which is ox-harnessed over your shoulders, ... if your stride is solid, then the length of your stride, the extent to which you return your stride foot back to a good glide position, and the degree to which you bend your knees shouldn't vary from element to element. Much as less when you're dragging your team mate around like an overgrown sack o'potatoes. Or potatos, if you're Dan Quayle. Sometimes, even with ropes, variety is not always the spice of life. So the goal here was to have your stride stay solid and strong regardless of whatever twist Scott threw into the mix.

Over in Joe's corner of the world, we had a small ice battle going on. Both goalies, two players battling for possession and scoring opportunities, all in the space of approximately 1/4th the regular rink area. It is amazing how tired you can get in the span of less than one minute if you're really going at it, eh? Puck protection and stick checking became extremely important tools this morning.

Meanwhile, over in Lyle-land, everyone was deftly arranged along the boards and working on our passes. If done right, the puck should be hitting the boards hard and flat and bouncing right back to you. So you can do it again. And again. And again. Unlike the definition of insanity, here we were intentionally repeating the same behavior in the true hopes of indeed getting the same result over and over again. Unless, of course, your result was that the puck did not, in fact, return directly to you. Because that meant you were doing it wrong, and so your hope in that case would be to have a different outcome the next time you passed the puck to yourself.

The Club wrapped things up with a little one-on-one back-checking chase drill. Martha assures me that beating up on her team mates is the highlight of her morning. And I don't blame her. If you can't beat up on your team mates, then what was the point of getting up at o'dark thirty to go to the rink in the first place?

Breakfast Club Winter: Week 1

2011-01-18T14:54:00.001-05:00

This is it! the first official Breakfast Club Blog of 2011! Wow! Too bad I won't have anything to say that's worth reading ...

I was forewarned that this would happen. Mike said so right in the Thursday class. "Hey, Lyle, can you give us something in writing to help us go back over what it was that we learned each week? Because otherwise we tend to forget."

Talk about the master of the understatement! Doggone, I can barely even remember what we did in this week's class, and it was just yesterday morning!

Now, truth be told, I am technically registered for the Wednesday class, not the Thursday class. And unlike what Lyle Phair openly assumed about my failure to attend class on my appointed day and time, I did not wimp out from the Wednesday class due to the snow. I was actually at work, ... well, strike that, I was actually at an official boondoggle. I was tweeting live for @moms of the #Freep from the North American International Auto Show, as part of an austere group of moms chosen to review minivans. If I haven't railed about my shuddering aversion to minivans before, I shall do so now. I can't even bear to be seen as a passenger in a minivan, much as less to drive one. So, of course, I was deemed the perfect critic for reviewing the 2012 stock of minivans. I don't think #NAIAS was quite ready for my, ahem, unvarnished opinions about the @Honda Odyssey, which fully embraced its minivanity and thus failed to satisfy my "in or on" criteria.

But enough about things that fail to satisfy me. Because, unlike minivans, hockey (nearly) satisfies my every need. Like my need to feel the puck and not stare at the puck. The puck really isn't all that visually appealing, when you think about it. It's much better to have your head up to see who might be open for the pass and who might be coming up on you to try to take the puck away.

Speaking of pucks, despite the fact that they are rather boring and black and generally without too much personality, it is nonetheless important to protect that puck at all costs. And to thus sacrifice your body in the pursuit of protecting that puck. Like when you're doing a tight turn, for example. Make sure that puck is on the outside of both you and the turn, because otherwise the opponent whom you are turning around from may very well poke-check that puck away from you.

As all of you loyal readers know, there is nothing that I appreciate more than a well-executed poke check. This week, we spent a little one-on-one time working on that very skill, in fact. Which of course dictated that the other player was working on their wicked awesome deking skills. Like an ever-so-convincing head fake, for instance. The ability to bring that puck wide and to keep it under control while deking is key to otherwise frustrating the impending poke check of the gods.

"Frustrating" is a good way of describing the jumping drill. That, and "amusing." Jump up, and while in the air, change direction 180 degrees and land firmly planted without any "whooooo!" or "whoooaaaa!" Those are technical hockey terms, by the way, whoo and whoa. If you've been doing the Breakfast Club long enough, then you would already know that, but for some of you newbies be glad that I shared that bit of insider information gratis.

No week is complete without spending a little quality time beating the snot outta each other in a rousing match of one-on-one chase the rabbit. Sigh, I love it when Joe Jones anticipates what I had been really looking forward to...

I bet this has you all dying to know if it's too late to sign-up, right? It's never too late. Never. It's only too late after you're pushing daisies. So if you've been on the fence about this session of Breakfast Club, or if you have a friend who doesn't know if they should really make the time to come, you have no excuse. Sign up for the Breakfast Club, and tell 'em that I sent you.

Breakfast Club Fall: Week 10

2010-12-17T08:57:00.001-05:00

So much to do, so much to say... where should a girl begin? Usually the beginning is a good place to start. Too bad I was late onto the ice (in my customary fashion) and so I'm not quite sure what was happening while I was attending to the final finishing touches to my hockey ensemble (insert dramatic sigh). But I did manage to get out there in time to partner-up with my soccer teammate, Martha, and we practiced first flip passing the puck to each other, and then passing and receiving using only our skates. I'll leave it to you to guess which part of that drill went less miserably.

After some du rigour stretching, we moved on to warming up ourselves and our goalie. Two lines, pass across, skate toward the pass and gain speed as you curve towards the opposite boards, get the pass back, attack across the blue line, pass to the 'teammate' stationed near the face-off dot, get the quick give-n-go back in the sweet slot, and shoot. Yes, many more moving parts than we typically have for a warm-up drill. Lyle must be thinking we're getting better. Either that, or Joe paid him to ensure the last class of this session was inordinately amusing.

Speaking of the entertainment portion of the program, how'd y'all like my tape-to-tape pass as I was falling down for what seemed like the millionth time this morning? Go big or stay home, that's my motto.

We eventually broke in to two groups, one group doing a variety of passing and shooting with Joe, and the other group fine-tuning our edge techniques with Lyle. Joe mentioned something about Brad looking almost like Lidstrom in last night's game. Almost. With the exception of Lidstrom's shots scoring, and Brad's shots going high and wide, there was an uncanny resemblance there. All of that work gets you kinda sweaty, and so it was very thoughtful of Mike to ensure Lyle's glove had plenty of fresh cool ice shaving to keep him refreshed. Such a pleasant fellow, that Mike, he even apparently reads this blog (or so I've been told).

After our temporary separation, the party of the whole was rejoined, and we ended the club with a rousing bit of three-on-three half-ice. Although, I was a bit disappointed, to be honest. We just didn't seem to have that same beat-the-tar-outta-each-other zest this morning. We seemed subdued, almost melancholy. Could it have been the realization that this was the last week of the session? That we'd have to wait almost another month before seeing each other again? A whole month of anticipation until the next chance for a longing gaze over a cup of Tim Horton's coffee? Oiy! I need to wipe the tears off my keyboard, I'm all verklempt.

So until next session, keep your head up and your eyes on the goal.

Breakfast Club Fall: Week 7

2010-12-03T14:27:00.000-05:00

What a multimedia kind of day! Yep, it was "video review" day. Joe shot the movies and then critiqued our skills, while Lyle entertained the rest of us who weren't being filmed or critiqued at that particular moment.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First, let it be noted for the permanent record that I was on the ice (a) before 6:01am, and (b) before Joe Jones. Make sure you write this day down, fans, because when the planet explodes in a fiery cataclysm you'll want to be able to refer back and remember the seemingly trivial event that triggered the Apocalypse. Not that you'll be able to read your notes after you've been obliterated, of course, but it's comforting nonetheless to have your list handy.

OK, where were we? Ah, yes, I remember now. We were on the ice. First we warmed up by doing some puck handling and stretches, and then moved into warming-up our lone goalie with a little 2-on-oh passing with a shot on net and a chance at the rebound. From there, it got a little unusual. Not "strange" unusual, but different from what we usually do. Yes, we had two groups, but in this instance we had groupings of three for the filming, and the non-filmers were doing a four-corners passing/skating/shooting drill.

So about this video. I won't comment on whether I've ever been filmed before, nor whether there was a post-filming critiquing of my skills, so please don't ask. Nor will I admit whether Nick or Mike were ever filmed with me before. Nope, not gonna comment. What I will say, however, is that I looked about like I thought I'd look, only slightly different. It was good. It confirmed that the things I thought I was doing not as well as I should? Well, the not-as-well-ness really came through on the video. And the things that I think I do pretty doggoned well for a person such as myself? I actually looked less horrible than I feared I might. I won't mention that one of us was told he skates like an ape. Ouch.

Moving on, while the review critiques were going on with Joe, Lyle had the rest of us working on a number of things. Let's see: there was a cross-over starts and stops (for which someone who shall remain nameless was nicknamed "the squirrel on crack") and then we did some 2-on-oh full-ice skating and passing, with a shot on net and the chance for the rebound. Oh, and you can't forget the offense-defense drill: opposite sides of the blue line, puck carrier tries to beat the defender and get a good shot, defender tries to attack cross-ice and thwart the good shot. It was during that drill that another someone who shall similarly remain nameless was told that he looks like Wile E. Coyote on skates.

Kind of a brutally honest session today, now that I think of it. Which is good. Because it means that Lyle and Joe think enough of us to tell us where we really need to work. If everything is always rainbows and unicorns, you'll never get out of your bad habit rut. Thanks for the tough love, coach!

I'd be remiss if I didn't give props to our out-of-town Clubber, Sara, who was in town last week and today and who made guest appearances both weeks. Safe travels back to Washington D.C., my dear, and keep fighting the good fight!

Breakfast Club Fall: Week 5

2010-11-11T13:54:00.001-05:00

This week's session is brought to you by the word "intensity".

Lyle kept barking at us to "show some stick intensity". As in, stick on the ice, with some downward pressure exerted by your bottom hand, when you're passing. Oh, and when you're shooting, too, of course.

Perhaps "barking at us" was a little harsh. "Instructing us repeatedly and with great emphasis" sounds much more politically correct, don'cha think?

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah, for part of the class, I was down low, receiving the pass near the net and giving the puck back to the carrier for the one-timer on the goalie. When I wasn't there, I was skating from the hash marks, sending the pass down low and then hovering towards the slot to make the shot. Rinse, lather, repeat...

Rumor has it that I almost have something beginning to resemble a wrist shot. It was fleeting and ephemeral, however, like a UFO or Paris Hilton saying something intelligent about the current state of crisis in the Middle East.

We did a lot of passing today, now that I think about it. Our warm-up of our two goalies involved two-on-oh! passing. Then when we broke into two groups, one with Lyle and the other with Joe, we continued to work on making good passes for the aforementioned shooting. Some of it was stationary, some of it was while moving. And a moving event it surely was. Brought tears to my eyes!

I think Mike was a little wound-up this morning. Lyle had to keep trying to get him to slow down in our tight turning drills. Joe, on the other hand, had to stop us during our small ice game to explain why there were actually rules for the game. Rules? I don't need no stinking rules! (affecting bandito accent...) Lucky for me, I at least brought a change of clothes. Whoodah thunk it that Joe would need me to switch from teal to maroon? Next time, I'll make sure to wear them both jerseys, layered, sorta like those Abercrombie models. Now THAT would be a look, eh?

Speaking of which, looking good is almost as important as merely looking when playing hockey. You know: looking to see where you're passing, looking to see if you've got any team mates open, looking to see if you've got someone hot on your tail... Well, hey, lookie there, why I do believe that is the puck on my stick and a whole panorama of open ice between me and the goalie. Maybe next time I'll look for my superstar breakaway moment.

Don't look now, but it looks like we'll need to get Lyle some whistle intensity for next week. He was sounding a little weak there towards the end.

Breakfast Club Fall: Week 4

2010-11-04T12:48:00.000-04:00

Stop the presses! Courtney got her "Joe skate" in this week. Yep, last winter's Breakfast Club finally got their Joe Louis Arena skate yesterday morning. By all accounts, a good time was had. Brad even received a clocking or two from Courtney on my behalf (the check is in the mail, babe).

I have no flippin' idea who attended "regular" Breakfast Club on Wednesday morning (as opposed to going to the JLA skate), but I do know that Brad and Tim appear to have taken my two-week BC junkie blogs to heart, because they did the JLA skate and then were also there for the Thursday morning "regular" session that I attended. I didn't see Kirk (sigh...) but perhaps we were like ships in the night ... or the morning, as the case may be. Kirk, if you actually attended the Wednesday class, it couldn't hurt (hint hint hint) to write a little bit about your morning. Us "regulars" have a duty to preach the gospel of hockey to all those who yearn for wisdom.

Speaking of "regulars", we now have a new "regular" goalie for Thursdays. Welcome to the Club, Deb! It was nice having both Ronnie and Deb this morning. It gave us the opportunity to do a number of different one-on-one length-of-the-ice beating up drills. My personal fave was the defensive positioning drill: defender is stick-less, puck carrier tries getting past you. Doggone, I do so love playing the body :)

Keeping with the theme of a more defensively-minded session, we worked on backwards skating. Always nice to be able to skate backwards well if you're defending someone. Because, funny thing: the skilled puck carriers rarely if ever will skate right at you, and so if you've got your back to the puck carrier trying to catch-up and out-skate them, you might as well not even be there.

I felt a little deprived this morning. Stephanie got to pair-up with Lynne, who was my partner in crime for all of last week's drills. I should probably have asked the name of the fine gentleman who stepped up to the plate to be my partner this morning? Maybe if he reads this, he'll drop me a note. Or send me flowers. Or join the witness protection program. Joe was keen to remind everyone that someone has to get stuck with me, and lucky "him", he drew the short straw it would seem.

Ah, but I digress. Digression is but one aspect of creativity, right? Joe tried to force us out of our robot rut in our one-on-ones. SOME of us didn't adapt as well at that as he would have liked. Good thing I have a day job...

Breakfast Club Fall: Week 3, part 2

2010-10-29T15:51:00.001-04:00

Yep, I'm a pig. I shamelessly double-dipped hockey this week. Oh, booo hoooo, whatcha gonna do about it? huh? huh? go ahead, I dare you...

This week's drills included a little bit of attitude, too, if you think about it. Like our one-on-one hunt-n-chase down drill. Defender starts on the far neutral zone faceoff dot, the puck carrier starts from the other side of the ice. Who's gonna win? Will the puck carrier get to the zone and get that shot off before the defender can head him off and thwart it? I guess it depends on who wants it more, eh? This ain't the time for being timid: charge right at that puck carrier and go take that puck! Attitude in our passing drills, too. If your head is down staring at the puck, instead of up looking for what the play might be, then you've literally got your head in the wrong place. Whazzah mattah witchoo???

With our smaller class size on Thursday, one less instructor, and no goalies, the drills were inherently the same and yet adapted slightly differently between the Wednesday and Thursday classes. Like the warm up drills, for example. Joe had us practicing our tight turn edge work over our sticks. "Lyle! I'm dizzy!" Yeah, tell him something he doesn't already know, right?

Speaking of Lyle being told something he doesn't want to admit he already knows, I think Brad and I made Lyle uncomfortable with how well we, um, yeah, worked the boards while trying to gain the advantage. But it's all part of a good clean day of hockey. Nothing to be ashamed about, so get your mind outta that place...

So where exactly should your mind be when you're on the ice? Well, surprisingly (perhaps), your mind should not be focused solely on the current play at hand. You should already be planning your next several options. If you just wait for things to happen to you, then it's funny how you always seem to be scratching your head. But, just as we practiced during the end of the class with our three-on-three full ice scrimmages, if you get yourself out of the moment and take a look at where your team mates and opponents are at, then it's amazing how much better you can control the game instead of being gamed.

Breakfast Club Fall: Week 3

2010-10-27T14:25:00.001-04:00

The res ipsa loquitur of hockey: "I'll let my play do the talking. The media are all hype and negativity."

Bet you don't know who said that, eh? That's OK, Nick, I won't tell anyone it was you.

Speaking of the unspeakable, I was practically speechless when, lo and behold, Kirk arrived on the scene. You know, Kirk, the guy who was originally supposed to be the Breakfast Club blogger, but who abandoned me nearly two years ago and who (sob!) hasn't return any of my phone calls or even sent a thank you note for all those gifts I kept leaving on his front porch
e v e r y
s i n g l e
d a y
for nearly two years straight.

Although, come to think of it, perhaps the restraining order prevented those gifts from actually being delivered? Who knows. All I know is, it was good to have him back so that Lyle, Joe and Scott would have someone else to taunt. I tell ya, with Nick and Kirk around, I almost escaped ridicule. Almost.

I regretfully had to scoot out before the end of class, which meant I missed the best part: the weekly beating-up of your team mates in a little one-on-one battle for the puck. Luckily for me, however, Randy made sure to squash me (he done squashed me but good) during our half-ice blues versus reds puck protection drill. I think Don was a little jealous of how much attention I was getting at that particular moment in time.

But enough about the more tantilizing exploits of us Clubbers. You really came here to learn whether any of us can do transitions with a puck. And I am happy to report that walking and chewing gum is becoming more and more a natural part of our repertoire. Just goes to show you that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Ronnie is proof positive of that: he got schooled a couple of times, by my count.

Seeing as I am trying to win a particular bet with a particular person, I think I'm going to try to make the Club tomorrow morning, too. I need to make sure I master a few things within the next few weeks, or it's gonna cost me a dinner at Lelli's. And even though I'm one of the biggest losers that you know, I don't like losing a bet. So I'll see you on the ice.

Breakfast Club Fall: Week 2

2010-10-25T18:01:00.001-04:00

You'd think that, having gone to both the Wednesday and the Thursday classes this week, that I'd have twice as much to say. Well, you'd be wrong. My brain is mush. I've been functioning on about three-to-four hours of sleep each night for more weeks than I should admit publicly, and I'm falling apart. Or just plain ol' falling, take your pick. In the Thursday class edition of our little back-checking drill, I apparently fell with enough style and panache that one of the guys tried doing exactly what I did during his "go around". Honestly, dude, don't try to bogart my mojo. Develop your own reputation, please, I've spent too many blog postings developing my own reputation to let you just ride on my coat tails without a fight.

Speaking of reputations, no class is complete without Brad trying to annihilate someone, and this week was no exception. Although I think Nick is trying to develop his own reputation as the human heat-seeking missile. Lyle says "get your head up, Nick!" and I'm thinking Nick has no need to skate with his head up because he's so big and so teetering on the edge of disaster that anyone with half of a brain (even half of a sleep-deprived brain) knows better than to get in his way.

Martha, don't let that boy take your puck, girl! Honestly, I've got to help her work on her evil, she obviously hasn't been watching me closely enough...

Wednesday we had Lyle, Joe and Scott and two goalies, whereas Thursday we were Scott-less and down to one goalie. But, being the ever-adaptive creature that he is, Lyle still managed to find similar and yet different ways for us to work on our stride, our puck-handling, stick-checking, and puck protection.

I think we still have room for a few more players, but it's hard to tell because the classes are flexible enough to let you float between the Wednesday and the Thursday class if you need to do silly things like go to work early one of those days. I'm still trying to convince my boss and my family why hockey is more important than their petty little existences, but so far I remain burdened by their constant demands. So I am likely going to take full advantage of the open enrollment policy, and I may see you on Wednesdays or Thursdays. You never know, so it pays to be on high alert at all times.

Breakfast Club Fall: Week 1

2010-10-15T11:50:00.000-04:00

Here we are, back at the Breakfast Club. Truth be told, I was beyond being in withdrawal. I actually went to the rink the week before this session started. Seriously. I was feeling all smug, oooh yeah, I was the first person to the rink at 5:35am... ahem, yeah, definitely was the first person at the rink.

So this week, luckily, I was not alone. Many familiar faces, but also some new faces. Brad gave me the Thursday class report, and it sounds like the same mix of old and new. Well, "old" is probably a bit harsh, so let's say "more seasoned", like curly fries or barbecued ribs.

So all of us curly fries were reminded that we've come a long way. Olga so totally nailed the stride-touch drill that Joe used her as a demonstrator. Rock on, babe, rock on! I'm guessing, just guessing, that Brad was the human Zamboni demonstrator, but I'll have to do some fact checking and get back to you.

Speaking of checking, we spent some time on back-checking. Like noticing which "hand" the player is so you can make sure you're checking toward their forehand side so you can hopefully stick check and frustrate their shot.

There's still room to bring a friend, if you have any of course. Randomly asking strangers to get up at o'dark thirty to play hockey might not be terribly productive, however, so I'm thinking friends and acquaintances would be your best place to start. Since I've been told that I am a bully, maybe I'll just find victims and force them to come? You never know ...

Breakfast Club Summer: Week 10

2010-09-10T13:49:00.000-04:00

OK, I've been avoiding this reality, but I can't avoid it any longer. I tried to think of a nice way to say it, I really tried. But no matter how hard I tried, no matter how many times I practiced saying it, it never seemed to come out right. So I'll just have to come right out and say it straight:

IT'S OVER

done, fini, sayanora, arrivederci, adios, bye-bye

Lyle tried to let us end on a high note by letting us beat up on each other. But that little bit of distracting fun didn't disguise the bitter truth
that
no matter what we did
no matter what these past ten weeks have meant to us
it is still
simply
over between us.

sigh... why did it have to end? I thought we had made so much progress this summer. It seemed like we did. Lyle and Joe even mentioned that we looked like we had. But all of that is in the past now. All that I have now are the memories. Memories of things like ... trying to find someone, anyone, who wanted to be my partner this morning. I swear I had brushed my teeth and showered within the past 24 hours. Granted, I hadn't gotten my nails freshly done like some people did, but I still thought I was a worthy choice.

We started out with some stationary passing, moved on to some end-to-end skating and passing, and then did some back-checking, some drop passing, and some rebounding strategy. In all of my seven hallowed years of playing hockey, I have to admit that I never really figured out how to plan where I needed to be to anticipate the rebound, nor how to ensure my likely-to-be-rebounded shot might end up being pitched to where my partner was likely to be. That last little nugget of technique - before our cathartic two-on-two beating-up session - was like crack cocaine for this hockey chick.

I can't call it quits now! Lyle, you're diabolical. You're evil. You know I can't get enough of that kind of stuff! How can you do this to me? How could you feed me that little tease on the last day in the waning moments of class? You know I can't "not" have my hockey fix in the mornings. You know I want more!! What am I going to do?!

oh

wait

I know what I'm going to do.

I'm going to sign-up for the fall session. True, I'll have to wait nearly another month before I can have a really good reason for getting up at 5am. But I'll have a whole month to turn these thoughts over and over and over in my mind. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, hockey fans. I'll be looking for you in four weeks, will you be ready?

Breakfast Club Summer: Week 9

2010-09-03T12:34:00.001-04:00

Today is Hurricane Fiona day. Some of you may remember Fiona Jeffery? She's back living in Australia now. What does this have to do with hockey? Well, Lyle apparently felt it was his duty to have us skating in circles, like swirling hurricane Fionas, for nearly the entire morning. Scott and Joe went along, they're such good sports. Plus, who wouldn't want to watch us play human Zamboni more than we usually do? An entertaining time was had by all.

Before I go in to too much detail about this morning, however, I must confess that I am a bit dismayed to see that no one called me out for failing to blog lately. I missed Breakfast Club two weeks ago due to an unfortunate confluence of my family and my job thinking that they are more important than my hockey. And last week, while I was indeed able to skate, I was not able to "double up" and thus simply forgot to blog after Wednesday's skate because I was foolishly posessed of the notion that I didn't need to blog until Thursday. And then by the time Thursday rolled around, the details of the prior morning had already become sufficiently hazy that I couldn't muster my muse. So today I am blogging fresh on the heels of this morning's skate (my hair is still wet), in the hopes of being able to remember what the heck happened.

Martha, Kathy and I played a soccer game against Karen's team on Sunday, and let me tell you, trying to run full tilt in that oppressive burning sun and humidity with an ozone air quality warning in effect can really make you appreciate ICE hockey. I always wondered why Lyle smiles so much. I thought it was just the extra shot of stuff that he gets the Tim Horton's barista to add to his coffee. Now I know, though, that he is happier than a penguin on krill to be able to spend the better part of his day in the wonderfully climate-controlled confines of the arena. It also explains why he's so pale.

So back to this morning's session: circles circles circles. Ai yi yi, how many different ways can we lean into our cross overs with our ankles rolled a little too sloppily before we figure out that sliding across the ice on our [insert name of your choice] isn't a good way to carry the puck? I don't know how many times that might be, because frankly we kept losing one edge or the other until the real Zamboni came on the ice. And it's not like Lyle, Joe and Scott didn't try drilling turning skills into our heads ten ways to tomorrow. Well, maybe not TEN ways, but lots of different ways. Warming up the goalies with giant swoops from the blue, across the neutral zone and back in, catch the pass, shoot. Three different things there, all opportunities for improvement. From there, we broke up into middle and end zones, with the ends working on figure eight turns with a quick pass + shot, and the center group working on really getting power out of our 'under' leg in the cross overs. And then we ended things with a little one-on-one: swoop up and over the neutral zone, get the pass over your shoulder (if you were the offensive player), play the gap tight and transition smoothly (if you were the defensive player), and see if the goalie ends up having to block anything.

I'm thinking that we all can work a bit more on making full use of our crossovers to gain speed while maintaining stability. But that's OK, that's what the Breakfast Club is all about, right? Despite being a legend on the ice (and a true legend in my own mind), I know that coming to the Breakfast Club helps make me a better player. So if I didn't see you this morning, maybe I'll see you tomorrow morning.