Broomball and Kings Hockey

With baseball winding down, I've realized just how much I love hockey. I mean, baseball is still the only sport I can watch on a daily basis, but hockey is so fun to watch, so fast-paced, so...not baseball.

The Kings, by the way, are 8-4-2. Those 2 shootout losses were probably coach Terry Murray's fault. For some reason, he doesn't believe in properly utilizing his skaters in shootouts, so he's been sending out Handzus and Smyth over Doughty and, particularly, Frolov. Inconceivable.

Jon Quick has been improving, and although his GAA is still over the magic 2.50, I don't think he's had a bad game. Critics have been accusing him of letting in soft goals, but a slapshot from the circle against most NHL players is not an easy shot to save. The early season third period collapses are unnerving, but at least they're winning the games they used to lose. It also helps that Quick is the master of the unnecessary split...I swear, the guy's in the splits for at least 5 minutes a game.

Anze Kopitar was the NHL's leading scorer a couple days ago, and he's been the best player on the Kings thus far. For those of you who don't know who he is, you will. The Kings play Phoenix tonight at 6:00 Eastern.


I Killed Mufasa 4, The Stepdads 2

The Stepdads win the annual "best team name" competition. The front of their shirts say "The Stepdads: Because we beat you, and you hate us."

Awesome.

Anyways, we got a hat trick out of Jeff, Mark's first collegiate goal, and a solid defensive effort to earn our first win of the season.

I had a reasonably good game in net...not my best, mind you, that was last game, but certianly an improved effort. The first goal was a garbage goal. I had the ball pretty well contained under my "blocker" and in front of my foot, but the guy got a couple jabs at it and it popped in. No big deal, we were up 3-0 at the time, and I'd been able to thwart a couple breakaways by playing aggressive goalie. In a game like broomball where there's almost no risk of a guy getting around you to an open net, you can come out pretty far to challenge a shooter.

The team did get a little lackadaisical up 3-0, and that's ultimately what led to the goal. You've gotta play strong defense, and that means challenging the player with the ball. Allowing the opposition to think generates good passes and scoring chances.

The second goal was a joke with about a minute left. I came way out to play the ball, put a nice play on it, then had it ricochet off one of my d-men and onto the stick of the other team while I was still out of position. It trickled in past me without much effort, and hey, with a 4-1 lead, you can screw around a little.

I've got a hockey game this Thursday. I'm feelin' good.