Lucky Pucker

Dafuq is a white claw- and why would you want a full one…? Yeah, this one was good, and one I had never had before (which is saying something for a guy who has tried >1400 different beers over the last 7-8 years). It’s usually Coors Banquet in the room with this new group I’m playing with this season. It’s fine.

If I’m being honest, it did NOT feel like I was living the good life the morning after that last 3 hour chunk

Love this, @seagoal! Thanks for taking the time to write it up! Man, I hope I can still play when I’m >60. Not that I can really play now …

Eagles are loud to do what…? Loud to steal your fish..?

Nah, man - our beer leagues have whatever pucks guys could beg, borrow or steal. My kids hockey association had pucks with their logo, but I only knew that after a few ended up in my bucket after a half-ice practice. Agree the cost makes it a non-starter - cuts into the beer budget!

Oh, man - would be nice, but I’m so jammed up with minor hockey stuff, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get there (will PM you). Was on the ice for a total of 7 hours this weekend doing rust off and sort outs (and then had my own game Sunday night). Then another 3 hours today at 5:00. There are simply not enough volunteers.

No - THIS is “almost a 90 degree angle” in the leg:

Well now; that’s interesting! #TIL more cool stuff that won’t impress my wife

Avowed Brian’s fanboy here… but can someone show me a picture of this knee bend that is upsetting people so much? I’ve scrolled through the thread, but can’t see anything offensive (other than Coop’s usual shit posting, of course.) I realize there isn’t much out there yet - which is part of why I can’t understand the backlash. Is it based on the customizer images? An artist’s interpretation of the pads for colour zone illustrative purposes wouldn’t be very solid basis for knee bend analysis, IMHO. Wish I could say I’m buying a set, but the “my gear will have to match my new team’s sweaters” strategy has fallen flat with the CFO here at Pucker Palace. So I’ll have to continue wearing my Gnetik IVs like a peasant

There was an interesting anecdote about when Gump Worsley came to Montreal, and how he was excited to meet Toe Blake, who would undoubtedly (in his telling) have great insights and tips for him as goalie. Paraphrasing, but I think it amounted to Blake saying “What the hell do I know about it? Just stop the puck”. To be certain, the “stay on your feet” advice was for self preservation/injury prevention as much as it was about effective puck stopping (if not more so). It’s been such a fascinating history and evolution of the position! I’m aware of Plante’s book, but what others do you recall reading?

Well, until this summer, I had never played as a skater in full gear (which I never owned). @johnchoinvited me out to a skate a while back, and I kitted out at PIAS, and hit the ice as a shitty, dime-a-dozen skater. But I still loved it, so I’ve actually been playing out as a skater in pickup games 1-2 times a week (with a few appearances between the pipes as well). Funny thing, as I was concerned in May-June that my summer was lining up to be WAY too quiet on the hockey front. The hockey Gods have looked kindly on me - lol! Changes on the horizon for the upcoming season though, as I’ll be leaving the team that decided to roll the dice on a 40 year old who was just starting out in nets. It was a very amicable break up. They’re moving on to a 50+ league, so I wouldn’t be eligible to play anyway. During my kid’s hockey season, which I was head coach for, it turned out that the President of an invitation-only league in our area had his son on my team. He was very pleased with my style, and we got to be friends - at which point he said I should play (as goalie) with their league next season. Fast forward to the other week, and I got confirmation from the new President that I’m in as one of the 6 goalies. I’m thrilled about this, as I have a lot of dads that I have coached with and/or played with and/or coached their sons that play in this league (and they all said “you should play with us!!”) Website is a bit out of date, but gives you a flavour of what they’re about - and at my age/stage of my life, this is exactly what I’m looking for! https://ngmhl.ca/index.php/the-ngmhl NGMHL: ”Beer Beauts Since 1971”

Damn, @seagoal! You’re HAAAAWT! …or your thread is, at least

Or maybe something like this?

For Canadiana, certainly. For us as individuals…? Well, he and I get along famously. You…? Unsure…

He does seem to be quite the Canadaphile… I mean, for an American.

Well I never said it was a GOOD or ACCURATE impersonator- lol! So you’re saying you got coaching beyond “just stop the damned puck”…? Lucky!

@seagoal So I’m picking my kids at the day camp at Carleton University (daughter did team sports, my son did hockey). As we’re walking out, past the windows of the offices, I see this display. An Ottawa homage to your display…?

Damn… that’s going back! I had forgotten about that one. We lived in the East side of Sources, so we went to Pinocchio’s in centennial plaza, back when they had tokens.

Feeling charitable just now, so I’m going to say that it is modern figurative abstraction . I could also say it reminds me of those rune-like minimalist pictograms that they have at each olympics

Nice pic of a @Wonder35 impersonator

Fawk! The one on Sources, but when it was teeny-tiny, right? Like before they put in the Guzzo theatre? It had a certain charm to it - but then I never worked there. I did work at a butcher shop in the Marche de l’Ouest a bit further up Sources; wouldn’t recommend it Before that one though, the Canadian Tire on Sources was on the other side of Brunswick/corner sources. Not sure if you remember it…? Circa mid-late 80s, around the same time that the store at the north end of centennial plaza was Toyville (apologies to @seagoal for high jacking the thread, and setting a course for memory lane)

Also, completely inspired by this project, @seagoal, I set up a few pucks of my own in the furnace room where my gear lives when I’m not wearing it. From L to R: first shutout 2nd shutout A Habs puck my Dad got signed by someone when I was younger Seattle puck from Seattle @seagoal! Now-defunct Gloucester Cougars, the club my son played for (and I coached) from about 2019-2023 Canada pucks I ended up with during half-ice practices Some sort of Officla NHL puck I got as a kid, but don’t remember the story behind it.

@coopaloop1234beat me to it, but I was going to say: if all you wanted was a Crappy Tire puck, you could have had it MONTHS ago. My “Coach” bucket o’ pucks is full of them!

Better see a doctor or a shrink or something; I think you have a shitting disorder. Or maybe an eating disorder. Or maybe both.

I thought FACTS were simply the opposite of any thought, opinion, or argument you put forward, @coopaloop1234…?