Tournament News and More...

Exciting news...I was just asked to be the starting goaltender for a tournament team in Philadelphia at the end of March into April! I'm really excited about the prospect of finishing higher than we did at our last tournament in Aston, which was 5th place. I'll be playing alongside a great bunch of people from my league in NYC, most of whom were at the last tournament. The games are always fun with a really high level of skill, so it's nice to be able to just lay it all out there physically and compete with people who love the sport as much as I do. I come home after three days and I'm exhausted, but with the biggest feeling of satisfaction.

It's nice to be able to play with people from my league that aren't on my league team. With so many people in my league, I don't always get to interact with everyone in the same way I interact with my team. To go to a tournament and suddenly have 2 new defensemen in front of me is a weird concept; it's good and bad. I'm not sure who I can pass to, what skills the forwards have, or how comfortable my team is with me playing the puck. Conversely, I get to play with kids that I never get to play with normally. I get to set up plays that I'm not able to do with my own team. The whole thing is a really big rush.

Being a goalie is a big responsibility. Maybe the biggest, I don't know. I've always sort of looked at it as a privilege. I've always tried to look at the position not only as a defensive position, but also a position that has a lot of offensive potential. I'm not just guarding the net, I'm controlling the puck for my team. Sure, my job is to stop the puck, but once I've stopped the shot, the puck is my responsibility, and if my team has a good transition game, I then have an opportunity to create a good scoring chance. I think the position carries with it the enormous burden of accountability, but not more than any of my teammates.

Ok, I've gone on a hockey rant. Rather than delete it, I'll leave it up for anyone who is interested. Sorry for the rant.

Tournament is at the end of March. Updates when I have them.