Lucky Pucker

1 hour ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Thanksgiving was 6 weeks ago. 

And I’m thankful that we celebrated it when it actually happened; six weeks ago.

1 hour ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Sucks to hear man. With a few other more senior members on this site getting injuries and having to take time away from the game, I keep knocking on wood that I've been able to remain healthy and play consistently. 

It's always amazing how quickly things can change for us being able to play the sport we love. 

Hope you heal quickly and fully dude. 

All I would comment here - and I’m confident you’re one of those people - is to enjoy every ice time! As you say, we are getting to play the sport we love.

1 hour ago, Wonder35 said:

One of our forwards collided with one of their BIG defensemen 2 weeks ago today. The result, a broken hip for our guy. He had hip replacement surgery the next morning. Yesterday he walks in the local A&W where we gather post game for a midday coffee. No crutches, no cane, no limp, surgery was 13 days ago. It was amazing. He said that it was a routine, zipper up the side , full hip replacement procedure but no hockey until Spring. He is 76 years young.

Oh! So here I was thinking I got injured because I’m too old (ish). From your example, it seems that the problem is that I’m not old ENOUGH! 

Had a goalmouth contact last week with a buddy (himself a former goalie) while my D-man tried to gain position on him. Basically his body weight took my head in one direction, my own body pulled in the opposite direction, and my neck paid the price. Was pretty alarmed when it happened, as my left arm was all pins-and-needles for a few minutes. Luckily, one of the players on our team is a Doctor, so he did a quick check to make sure there were no signs of something serious. Obviously, I left the game. Guys were freaked out because while I never lost consciousness, they said I didn’t move at all for like 3-4 minutes. 

A day or two later, doesn’t seem any worse - so I continue in my coaching duties, and play the next game. The neck still hurts, but the pain gets worse after the game, spreading into my shoulder and bicep. Headaches and difficulty finding comfortable sleeping positions lead me to book an appointment with our physio.

Saw the physio today. I’m out for at least 4-6 weeks. Nerve injury in my neck down my arm. Physio says I’m “currently in the acute phase of the injury with highly elevated inflammation” and I can’t play until the nerve starts to generate scar tissue, pain recedes, and I can do abrupt movements- in a controlled fashion - without pain.

My buddy feels terrible, but it was just one of those freak accident type of things. I still haven’t processed that I’m probably not playing again until after Christmas…  that said, I’m very relieved that it wasn’t more serious.  But a fucking nerve in my fucking neck…(?) of all the things…

5 hours ago, seagoal said:

Funny story.  My last night in Montreal I went out to dinner in Little Italy which is very close to Arena Martin Brodeur where he grew up playing.   So, I had to go.

Ended up talking to the zamboni driver,  super nice guy.  So we chatted quite a while.  I learned the term "garage league" and there happened to be a 40+ game on the ice. I tell him I'm from Seattle and he starts going on and on about Marshawn Lynch and some play the Seahawks botched on the goal line in a Super Bowl?? I have no idea.

 

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

2 hours ago, chakal said:

Hayward with 20 wins and 2.90 AVG, those are great numbers for the late 80's, especially for a back-up.

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

6 hours ago, MTH said:

Need the 15" Kenesky pads...

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?

15 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

It'll be close enough that it'll work well enough for the beer leagues. 

It's not like any of my gear matches colours. It's all different shades of red. 

 

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!

On 9/23/2023 at 8:45 AM, Lucky Pucker said:

Update on my new league: they had a “draft night” at the bar near the arena last night. It was really just a great bunch of guys drinking beer, eating pizza, chirping each other and laughing. Then there may have been some karaoke…

The 6 team captains had  met earlier in the week , and sorted out the teams by committee, to ensure balance. So last night was really just the Captains going up and naming their rosters. I have ended up with the Whalers, which I’m super stoked about! As a Habs fan, I always admired our Adams-division rivals from Conec… Coneti… HARTFORD, and their sweaters have always been among my favourites. Here is our league’s spin in the classic.

Was hoping that I could leverage this into new gear to match the sweater, but my lawyer wife saw right through my bullshit arguments, and I had to settle with new vinyl for my mask. I might sneak a roll of green tape into the house if I can find the right shade…

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

38 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Ugliest fucker in the league that Matthews is. 

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

1 minute ago, coopaloop1234 said:

I'll give the Oilers some credit in the notion that they're not Playoff chokers. 

But that's through sheer will from Draisaitl and McDavid lol. At least those two actually care unlike Pedo stache Matthews and Marner. 

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

11 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

I'm all for Toronto putting in Reeves during the playoffs. I'm sure there's been zero issues with him taking up a valuable roster spot to sit on the bench. 

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.

1 minute ago, coopaloop1234 said:

I did enjoy their cuddle session too. 

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:

8 hours ago, johncho said:

Oh yeah, it's a great brewery right near the Richcraft Sensplex, I remember seeing all the beer posts from before by @Lucky Pucker and I had extra room so I figured it would be a nice surprise

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! 
 

On 10/7/2023 at 12:41 PM, Snowman30 said:

Jets sets for there RCAF jersey night 

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

23 hours ago, A.YOUNGoalie13 said:

The waffle blocker for Brossoit looks misshapen. What's with the ovals instead of circles and the placement? Love the rest of the set but the blocker looks like cheeks

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 )

4 hours ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Ran into the same issue myself too. Couldn't get the medium over my jock and the large was well past my knee cap. 

 

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

8 minutes ago, seagoal said:

You guys rule.

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! 

3 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Can you imagine showing up to Thanksgiving dressed?

He'd look like a massive idiot. 

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

8 minutes ago, seagoal said:

Also, this is my buddy with the Grubauer connection.  What if he's there??  What am I gonna wear???  OMG.

“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. 

On 10/4/2023 at 10:12 AM, MTH said:

My kids play on teams that dads don't coach. So I don't really do it anymore.

Last year my older son's 16u AAA team got a crap load of penalties and the coach got suspended. So I stepped in. Team got more penalties than the previous game, I too was subsequently suspended.

One and done.

Beers at the corner again during the game.

LOL!