Lucky Pucker

Might have gotten a bit of a sideways look; that’s more “France” French than Quebecois joual…

Also crazy to see how many guys had >20 goals. And Robinson had 19! I think that’s the year they went to the finals against Calgary (but lost). I guess they were a better team than I realized or remembered.

Diving blocker save from Primeau on Tuesday https://www.nhl.com/video/cayden-primeau-with-a-spectacular-goalie-save-from-montreal-canadi-6339799984112

I swear, @MTH - you’re like my long lost brother! I saw this post and instantly recognized it from the Panini books! I still have this one (and two others). Unlike the rich kids whose parents bought them BOXES of stickers to fill their books, I was missing a few… but I got Hayward that year!

Was on the Custom Cages site recently, and noticed that they now offer vinyl for pads and gloves. https://www.custom-cages.com/goalie-pad-vinyl I’m fine with ~$40 for mask vinyl, but I doubt that that same ~$40 worth of “highly durable vinyl” would be good for more than a special cause tourney or something. That said, at $40, it might be the difference between me being able to get some green on my pads and gloves to match my Whalers jersey. (I am an avowed matchy-matchy maniac - but have been told in no uncertain terms to pump the brakes on goalie purchases. Period.) Not sure how long this has been available, so might be too new for anyone to have tried it - but if you have, what do you think?

Definitely close enough though. And the green not matching is just because I didn’t waste too much time trying to colour match in MS Paint - lol!

Rush job, but got the vinyl on this afternoon. Went a bit off-script from the Custom Cages pictures. But then it’s my fucking mask and vinyl. wondering about green pad skins to cover the red colour zones in my gear… did a quick and dirty mock up to get an idea. Not quite the right green, but I think it might work

Ummm… disagree. On the same roster, even more awesomely ugly

When you’re right, you’re right, broski

I fucking hate the Leafs. But I think it’s a good (maybe even great) move for the Leafs overall. That said, see earlier comment about fucking hating the Leafs. …and while I don’t hate them, I’ve been calling the Oilers “Toronto - West” for a few years now. Too many parallels to deny.

Reaves came into this season all hot and heavy, pumping a bicep in the player intros and stuff. And in the Leafs nation, that played well since they haven’t had guts or character since Wendell and Gilmour. But then Wifi comes in, throws Reaves around, and tells Leafs nation:

They’re great - and really good members of the local community, doing a lot of charity events and partnerships. And their beers are on point - as evidenced by some of the breweries that have collaborated with them, including Wood Brothers, Bellwoods, Collective Arts, Blood Brothers, 5e Baron, and Bas Canada (one of my favourites - I’m drinking one of their DIPAs right now!) I don’t have any Fighting Geese swag, but I do have a DCBC rugby jersey

Anybody else see this from the Habs- Leafs game last night? Fucking Arbor “WiFi” Xhekaj. What a beauty!

For reference (looked it up since I didn’t know either), they’ll be wearing these sweaters:

There was more variety in shape and placement than you might think; D&R dabbled, Wilson had a different placement as well. Probably more examples besides. We tend to think of the Cooper as the only waffle blocker, but while perhaps the most common, I’d also say they were the most boring. But then ubiquity usually is boring - lol!

I like what @Fullright said about short memory etc. The mantra and/or routine after every play (good or bad) can be very helpful if you’re not already using that. But of course there are some games where it all feels like it’s going to shit (I’ve totally been there, allowing 6,7,8 goals in a period). Specifically for your game, it sounds like the team in front of you allowed 8 prime scoring chances. So unless your Goals Saved Above Expected is sitting at about 8 (NHL leaders, I believe, are around 3-4), I can’t see this being on you. More generally, I try to only “get mad” when I know exactly what technique I should have used, but didn’t. And even then, it doesn’t last or hang over me after the game. My philosophy is that I’m grateful for every ice time I get. I wanted desperately to play as a kid, but my folks couldn’t afford it. I started at age 39, which maybe gives me a different perspective. But the bottom line for me is that I feel very lucky that I get to play (hence the “Lucky Pucker” alias )

Of course Coop’s review is a thinly-veiled penile brag

I’m obviously kidding, by the way. You don’t have to wear anything on your head. Imagine making toques and hockey helmets mandatory… that would be absurd!

Luckily he has Canadian friends like us to help him out.

“Wear”…? Canadian thanksgiving is traditionally a no-clothing affair (except for the mandatory toque or hockey helmet). Can’t believe they didn’t tell you that; could have saved you a lot of stress, worrying what to wear.

LOL!

Lots of good stuff here, most of which I recognize as part of my own coaching. A few quick rips for ya: - Widely whispered in the halls of Canadian hockey arenas, and openly avowed by a few of the guys I’ve coached with over the last few years: USA hockey is a better resource for coaches than what we get from Hockey Canada. - Agree regarding practices, but we in our House League association are not allowed to withhold opportunities or otherwise “punish” tardiness, delinquency, or absenteeism. I don’t expect that it will be a problem with my team this year, but the only recourse I would have is to hope that my words alone would elicit a change. - Agree about goalies skating - and givin ‘er, too. Just like you can’t bullshit a bullshitter, you can’t half ass your goalie skating when your coach is also a goalie. Had a kid on my U11 team half-assing it in team laps, so I went up to him and said “if you catch one of these dime-a-dozen skaters and finish the lap ahead of them, I’ll give you five bucks.” Guess who was reaching for their wallet after practice? LOL!

So was this a weird save, or one of those that imprints itself on the unprotected part of your leg, on its way into the net behind you…?

Thanks for that @Fullright. I have a ton of thoughts on coaching, and lots to say (more to learn!). The bottom line though, for me, is getting to be with my kid, teaching (and learning) the sport we love, together. There’s a ton of shit that goes along with it, but sometimes you have a connection with a player who “gets it,” and those players (my son is one of them), make it all worthwhile. Quick anecdote about your comment in warmups: the dads of the 2 goalies didn’t know me, as we are in a trial merger season (and they are from another club) They were thrilled when they heard me ream a kid out for headhunting in warm ups during a scrimmage. Then they found out I’m a goalie, and certified goalie coach (just a few introductory courses with Hockey Canada), will protect the goalies and emphasize that all players do the same… and after that, we all fell in love - LOL!

I’ve got a couple of those in my collection. The gum, however, is long gone. Probably for the best.