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On Saturday, I did something I swore never to do during a hockey game.
I played in net.
I think forces were conspiring against me that day. Let me explain.
When I walked into the changing room, I saw that KN was donning the goalie pads. I seemed as if our main goalie(s) did not show up this week. He turned to me and asked me if I wanted to play in net.
The first thought that crossed my mind was an emphatic "no!" But I figured that I should give more thought to the idea, so I had enough time to look perplexed and say.
"No!"
But then he asked me if I was sure that I did not want to play in net. At that point I had to ask "why me?". The reasons were not very convincing. KC, who had never played in net, was going between the pipes for the other team, it could potentially be a fun game, AH (who had played in net before) was needed on defense, OC had never played in net.
I was still not convinced.
I started putting on my equipment when KN discovered that he had put the pads on before putting on his pants. He took this time to check out what the status was with the other team, as they were short players. When he returned, he confirmed that the other team was going to place KC in net, that it was a series game, and that he really wanted me to play in net.
Now I should explain that KN was our best player on the ice, and placing him in net reduced our team strength tremendously. Secondly, every time we had been missing our main goalies, KN had always stepped up to play in net and I was pretty sure that he was itching to play out for once.
Then there was that really small part of me that wanted to try it out, just to see what it was like.
So when he asked me again if I wanted to play, I reluctantly agreed.
Now, I had to borrow some equipment, like AH's neck collar, and KN's chest protector (his covered the abdomen - mine did not). The leg pads, glove, blocker, and stick were provided. I had to use my own pants, cup, skates, elbow pads, and helmet.
I felt like a whale out there, but I was not as immobile as I thought it would be like. I was very worried about taking shots since the puck is hard, and I have a low threshold for pain.
But as the game wore on, I started to get more confident playing as the goalie, and actually started catching the puck with my glove (after several missed attempts - which became goals). Mind you, my team was playing a collapsed defense and the other team seemed to be going easy on me.
In the end, we lost, I let in eleven goals (four in the last few minutes), but I now had a much better appreciation for goalies and what they have to go through. I started getting annoyed that people were blocking my shots because I could not see the puck.
Would I play in net again?
I would think about it.
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