Small victories

Well, we lost last night, 2-1, though I feel like we dominated the opponents. [Aside: do you suppose they're telling themselves that, too? From our point of view we just got unlucky on their two goals, but otherwise we really played well offensively. Their goalie was good. I wonder what their version of the story is.]

However, I'm satisfied enough with my own gameplay, especially in light of the three things I was trying to improve: clear it to the corners, carry the puck up yourself, you have to really want it.

1. Clear it to the corners: ambivalent. I sometimes managed to do this, other times not. On the positive side - our coach was also trying to get us defencemen to take the puck behind the net when there was pressure in our end, to set up our breakout play. That went well for me, I remembered to do it at least 4-5 times, which is a huge improvement over last game, when I did it precisely zero times!
2. Carry the puck up yourself: I did this at least twice and created some movement and energy, even though I lost the puck in the neutral zone both times. In both cases our centre managed to get the puck and carry it up further. Sometimes a burst of energy from one person inspires teammates to do the same, and the synergy [oooh, good word] will create a scoring opportunity.
3. You have to really want it: I count at least four times that I managed to "really want it" and aggressively took the puck away from the opponent in the corner, and once near the blue line where I had fallen but was still trying to gain control by passing the puck to someone, even though I was on my knees. In all those cases it was a scramble for the puck, a situation where I used to typically yield to the more aggressive player, but last night I wouldn't let them just walk away with it. Out of everything I've been working on this season, I have been the most successful on this last point. It's starting to come naturally; I don't have to think about it as much.

The other victory (in my mind) was that, although I felt horrible and exhausted on the way to the rink, I managed to stop the negative cycle of thinking before and during the game. On other occasions I have been known to let that spiral out of control and found myself just wanting the game to end. Yesterday I managed to keep my mind in the game, for the most part, and kept focusing on what I was doing right, instead of my mistakes.

It's a double-elimination tournament so we have another game at 4:30 on Saturday afternoon. I'll probably drag the whole family to that one, because my daughter was asking about when she would be able to see another game, and the timing is good relative to her bedtime. Also, if they all come, I won't need to pump milk, I can just nurse the baby at the arena before we leave, which would be a bonus.

I just need to keep focused on those small victories.