Hat trick!

I went to Early Hockey (6:00am ice time) this morning instead of my regular Monday 7:00 hockey, but maybe it was a good thing because I got a hat trick. Woo hoo! Amazingly, this was not my first hat trick, though now I can't quite remember the details of my last one, but I know I've done it before. It was a crazy high-scoring game, I think probably 15-10 by the end of it (our side being way behind this morning).

Of course, like most players, I feel the need to describe my goals in detail, so here we go:





Goal #1: The truth is that most shinny players are lazy at this hour of the day, so if someone has a breakaway, we don't always follow with a finisher. Heck, half the time the defence doesn't bother chasing either! We sort of leave them to their own devices. But today it worked out that I was the finisher, the guy on the breakaway drew the goalie to the left side of the net, goalie went down, but the rebound came to the wide-open right side, and I was right there, and banged it in. Their D were obviously still asleep as they were nowhere to be seen.

Goal #2: Honestly I can't quite remember this one, just that I never expected it to go in. I think I hit the goalie in the chest - pretty standard for me if I forget to consciously aim at the corners - but it trickled down somehow through the five-hole, skittered into the net. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Goal #3: This was the "huge leap in skill" goal for the day. I was carrying the puck in, trying to create some space to get into the slot instead of getting forced to the corner. Some space opened up, the D-man committed a bit low, so I changed tack back toward the high slot, lost control of the puck in my feet, and for the first time EVER I managed to kick the puck back up to my stick, while under pressure, let a shot go, and it was deflected up and in a nice arc right over the goalie, right into the net behind. Sweet!

As usual both sides cheered all my goals, since we're all in it for fun and we like to see people succeed even though we all play hard. It's great to start the week with a hat trick!