Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Shit Fans Say

Sorry this was delayed by a couple days.  The boy and I used our All-Star Break as wedding planning time.  We had 7 wedding appointments in 4 days.  That was all on top of a serious cold that had me in bed by 10 each night because I could only sleep for 30 minutes at a time.  Anyway, here we go!

1. "Why are you so tired?  You just stand there." - submitted by @MattScooby

This is in reference to someone commenting on a goalie claiming he was tired.  I've totally heard people say this to Mike before.  They've obviously never attempted to play goal.  While I haven't either, I did play volleyball, and a goalie stance and volleyball stance are pretty similar so I know the feeling.  Here's a challenge for all of you that think it's easy to be a goalie.....Get in a goalie stance, bend your knees in a half squat, keep your back straight and stay like that.  Don't stand up straight, don't bend at the waist.  Then imagine using all your strength to push from one side of a crease to the other over and over again while remaining in that stance.  Go ahead, tell me how long you lasted.  That's on top of the amount of times a goalie has to drop down to his knees and pop right back up.  Mike once had an injured teammate count how many times he went down to stop a puck and in about half an hour of practice it was well over 150, with just that stance as short relief, if you want to call it that.  As a side note, in all honesty, my legs are less tired after running 4-5 straight miles than they are after a quick game of volleyball that takes about the same amount of time, simply because of the stance.  I can only imagine how tiring it can be for a goalie who has to do it so much longer.

2. "He's the backup."

At what point is that term going to leave hockey?  It's more relevant to say that at the NHL level where there are obvious exceptions (Henrik Lundqvist anyone?).  At lower levels it's just about obsolete.  Check out the games played by goalies at the end of a season.  Majority of teams will have two goalies who played a similar amount of games.  The word "backup" has become synonymous with the guy who's not the top prospect on the team instead of describing the guy who isn't playing often.  In the minors, there just isn't a backup.  Injuries and call-ups see to that.  Instead it's usually a story of either two prospects, or a prospect and a veteran.  Can we just say that from now on?

Hear something you just couldn't help but shake your head at in the past week?  Submit your own "shit fans say" quote either here or tweet me @RALind17.

3 comments:

  1. Perfectly put! If you're not a goaltender or have one in the family, you just don't get it.

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  2. Very well put! Granted my goalie's only 9 so he isn't anywhere near the level that Mike's at, but as his mom I hear those same things about him that you hear about your fiancé even at my son's age. I totally agree with what Jessica said, if you're not a goalie or their family you just don't get it. I know I have a totally new appreciation for them now!

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  3. So true. Love your blog, btw. As a goalie MOM, I relate to almost all of your sentiments. The way I feel most of the time is not altogether different than how you feel...and my son is only 11! Reading your posts has not only affirmed my agony, but added a new level of guilt about what his future girlfriends/wife will go through! :)

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