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Inultus

For hockey players, what's your best story from a game?

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Ok, hopefully the title explains what this thread is about. Here is my personal best story from a game:

I only started playing organized hockey about 2 1/2 years ago, so I'm still pretty new. Through a girl I was dating I got hooked up with an 18+ league sponsored by a local company. Now not only was I new to hockey but I am also 29, so I wasn't as young as half of these kids either.

One advantage I have is that I am 6' and 200 lbs, a lot of it muscle, and I like to get physical. Because of that I end up playing a lot like Holmstrom. I went probably a dozen games without a goal, getting more and more frustrated over not scoring.

Luckily my girlfriend was a huge hockey fan and she would come and do stats for our games, plus taking notes and telling me what I was doing wrong/right. She was a huge encouragement.

Well one week I told her I felt like this was my week, I was going to score finally.

In the first period a rebound left me with the puck on my stick just above the crease, just me and the goalie. I didn't even skate, I just went forehand to backhand and flipped it up just over the goalie's shoulder into the net.

Jubiliation! My first hockey goal, ever! That was also the first goal of the game.

Later on in the game I was parked in front of the net, with a D slashing at me and I pushed him off and deflected a slapper under the 5-hole. Holy crap, 2 goals, I was ecstatic.

My linemates told me, "We're gonna get you that hat trick" and I thought that was extremely cool of them to care about that, cuz these were rude, drunk fighting type guys. With only a few minutes left in the game I was parked in front of the net again and just barely got my blade on a wrister that was going wide and somehow it sneaked in the corner.

I turned around, skated by the bench and as I got to the end there was my girl throwing her hat on the ice. She barely ever wore hats (especially baseball hats) so that was really cool.

One of the guys (our 'coach', who was probably the most rude and surly guy on the team) gave me the puck next game. I didn't even know that he had it, but it's still in my bedroom, a reminder of my proudest hockey moment thus far.

:yowza:

I'm playing RW in this pic, wearing Draper's number.

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Edited by Inultus

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I was coming along the boards into the offensive zone chasing a loose puck when the goalie came out to try and knock it away, i tipped it past him, but the puck went on edge and started rolling away so I had to dive and I swatted it into the net while I was in mid-air.

And I also liked my only 4-goal game as well.

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The best moment for me came during my final season of competitve hockey. Our team ended up finishing the season number 1 overall that season, and the battles against the number two team were always incredible, and its important to note that this game was the battle of the two best teams. So here goes:

We were down 2-0 at the end of the first period. During the second period, I scored two goals to knot it up at 2-2, which I thought we'd hold heading into the third. However, the other team scored under a minute left to make it 3-2 going into the final period.

About midway through the third, we got a powerplay. Right before I took the faceoff I went back to our Dman (Ben) who had an absolute cannon, and told him, I was going to win the faceoff back to him, and I wanted him to take the shot as soon as I moved through the front of the goal. I ended winning the faceoff and went right to the net, drawing both the other teams center and one of their Dmen to cover me. It created a nice wall of players that the goalie had no shot of seeing through, and Ben ripped a shot right off the crossbar and in. The score remained 3-3 for almost the rest of the game.

With 2:00 minutes left my coach told me he wanted me to push up and play a little bit more aggressive in our own defensive zone. Now one thing I didn't mention is that Ben and I had a connection on the ice. We always seemed to know where the other was, and that became huge in this game. With 0:30 seconds left in the game we were fighting to get the puck out of the zone, but the other team kept putting good pressure on us, and kept the puck down low. It was hard for me to not push further back and help out more with the play, but I listened to my coach, and its a d*mn good thing I did. With 4-5 guys fighting for the puck behind the goal, somehow, Ben squirted free with it, and the instant I noticed it, I charged up the middle. Ben hit me with a pass between the blue and red line. Since I had a jump on the other teams two Dmen I was in all alone on the goalie. Sidenote: It seemed like I was skating alone forever since I got the puck about 10 feet before the red line! Anyway, as I moved in to the goalie I faked to the backhand, and just as he started to move, I quickly pulled back. When I saw him react to that, (as I was hoping ) he left his 5 hole wide open. I slid the puck between his legs for the winner! It was one of the most exciting moments of my life. The skate back to my teammates was beyond exhilarating. We held on to win 4-3, and I recorded a hat trick against the next best team in the league.

I'll never forget that day.

Edit: Grammar

Edited by Never Forget Mac #25

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I'm like you Inultus, I didn't start playing hockey until I was a lot older than most. Growing up in Canada that means anything over 10 years old. My family was always a baseball family and truth be told my father, who was a huge Habs fan, didn't want his boys playing hockey because at the time of our birth goon hockey took over the sport and the Habs weren't as dominant. Anyway, while all my friends grew up playing since they were 3 I didn't fall in love with the game until I was 13. I played 2.5 years of house league before retiring to pick up games.

But eventually, after college was done and I started working, I got asked to join a mens beer league. I actually had a pretty good year. I scored close to a goal a game and maybe finished with 50 points in 25 games or so.

But anyway, we're in the playoffs and in the semifinals. We're down a goal with about 1:10 left in the third period. The puck goes into their zone and our goalie heads to our bench for the extra man. I hop over the boards just as the opposition steals the puck and tries to shoot the puck into the extra net. I get to it just in time and I catch almost everyone on the ice flatfooted. I blow by all the forwards who are still headed the other way, make a move on one dman and then cross the blueline with only 1 guy to beat. He's still slightly flatfooted so I make a head fake to the left and then cut to the right leaving him far behind. With a full head of steam and after cutting to the right, the goalie follows me that way. I let go a hard snap shot along the ice back the opposite way. The puck clinks off the post and IN!!! I'm going crazy and so are the guys on the ice. Too bad the official blew the play down from offsides. I don't know if there was something wrong with this whistle because nobody heard it. We end up losing the game and we're bounced from the playoffs.

Afterwards, the guys on the bench said it was a close play but one of our guys was still caught in the zone and took his sweet ass time getting out. He was offside by maybe a foot or less.

I know, this isn't really a great story because it ended badly but any other goal I've scored wasn't that big of a deal.

Edited by Hank

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I hadn't played organized hockey in years but I joined a beer league when I was 38. My wife came to one game that first season and we got killed 13-1. I played like a pylon. She froze her butt off and said she wouldn't be back. Games usually start at 10pm so the kids never get to go. Since then, I've played about 200 games.

Last year I had a rare Sunday afternoon game. Both kids asked to go so I talked the wife into it. My team came from behind in the third period to win 5-3. I scored the game winner. My kids were impressed. My wife was impressed.

I'm no Gretzky, but I score my share of goals. This season I even scored one from behind the net by rebounding it off the goalie's ass. My teammates still talk about that one. But the one I'll remember the most is that game winner with my wife and kids in the stands.

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i haven't been on a orginized team yet but i'm trying to join a roller hockey team. so i'm playing with my friends in a skate park place that has a roller hockey rink outside. this is my first year trying goaltending and i am somewhat good at it. but there was this one shot that would be a goalies nightmare that i made a great save on. it was a 3 on 0 drill, three people setting up to score with me in goal. one guy is screening me, (and this guys isn't small at all) the other is standing at the side of the net to my left, and an adult that has a killer slapshot is standing at the point. so the adult slaps a shot to the guy standing in front of me, he tips it up and over to the guy standing next to the net. and he bats it out of mid air to the net, and i have to dive like no other to make this save because i never saw the shot. caught it perfectly in my glove. dropped the ball to clear it down the rink and the guy standing next to the net takes the ball and goes to his backhand at a empty net and shoots. i dive again and save it with my stick down. i try to clear a gain and the guy that was screening me stops my clear and troughs it into a empty net. i was so mad. i made to great saves and then lost it.

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I don't play organized hockey because I only learned to skate 3 years ago, but every Wednesday iplay pick up hockey with the same bunch of guys , back in July of 2004 after three painful months of gaining confidence on my skates and trying to control the puck without keeping my head down, I finally had great shot on net with the goal pulled all the way to the left side and i missed it by a FOOT! I thought "DAMN, DAMN, DAMN I won't get another oppurtinity that easy again!!" Not 5 minutes later I was skating through the crease ( mostly trying to just get out of the way :lol: ) and BAM! The puck was on my stick, and I flipped it right over the goalie's leg! It's stupid because it's only pick up hockey, but I still have the puck! :P

Edited by Winged Scooter

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Well, I have about a million moments from my hown hockey playing years, but I think the moment that sticks out to me the most was my first Red Wings game. I live in BC and I finally saw them in 02' against the Canucks. I remember so vividly the Canucks took a penalty, and onto the ice came Yzerman at center, Shanny and Hull on the Wings, Lids and Fedorov on the point w/ Hasek in net. It was absolutly amazing to see. A handful of the all time great playing on the same line not in an All-Star competition or Olympics but all on the same team in the NHL.

If I recall correctly I don't think the Canucks cleared or even touched the puck for more than a second. If I could return to any moment to watch in a game ... that would be it.

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Mine came last season when I fullfilled my life long dream of being a Detroit Red Wing. Our team was simply amazing, the core of our team has been together since we were around 5 so we all know how we play and such. I had loads of points last year from the point. Anyways, we lost only once during the regular season and then we got knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.

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So mine was back at the end of the 2005 season. My team made it to the finals of the October to April beer league. My first child had been born on the day before. I didn't ask to go play, but my wife told me to get out of the house and go play. Long story short, I come down the wing on my off side, one on two, split the D, ring one glove high, top cheese. We won one nothing. I know its just beer league, but thats the great thing about our sport, doesn't matter what level you play, it's the best.

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Last year in Bantam my team lost 8-3 in one game :crazy: I had 1 goal, 2 assists. I scored by blasting by one player than dangled the next 3 going (due to a bad line change) in on a break away and I datsyukiandeked the goalie big time. This was a pretty good goal considering Im an average player who only got 10 goals in the 20 games for the season. That was one of my "highlight real goals" .

This season I even scored one from behind the net by rebounding it off the goalie's ass.

I guess your a real pain in the ass, LoL :P:yowza:

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I've got three that I'll share. I never played high school or youth hockey growing up. I mostly played street hockey and some occasional pond hockey in the winter (note, I grew up in MI, not TX). In college I did intramural floor hockey and roller hockey, that was the closest I ever came to organized hockey. When I was in law school, I decided to join the ice hockey club there. I was the worst player on the team by far, but it was fun.

#1. My favorite memory from hockey in law school was playing at Munn Ice Arena, where the Spartans play. I know it's not that big of a deal, lots of people get to. But it was just awsome to skate out there, where so many Spartan greats have played. Ryan Miller, Anson Carter, Shawn Horcoff, Rod Brind'Amour, etc. I went to just about every home MSU game when I was there too. Here's a picture from the Justice Cup. Every year all the law schools in Michigan hold a tournament and the money goes to some charity. The year I played, we beat Michigan in the first round and got smoked by UD-Mercy in for the championship. But they had 4 former D1 players on their team. I'm #25, in the green socks.

IPB Image

#2. In 2005 I was in Texas for the summer working. And right across the street from my apartment there was a brand new ice rink. I think it opened a week after I got down here. So of course I signed up for the men's league. There were four teams. It was a mix of Canadians and northerns that moved down here and knew how to play, a few Texans from bigger cities that had youth hockey programs, and a bunch of Texans that didn't know what they were doing. The league was expensive, but we did get some pretty nice jeresys, they were replica quality. My team has the very first game of the league. It was cool, they treated it like a real game. The national anthem was played, and the PA guy even introduced each player.

So I'm out there playing wing on the first shift of the game. Someone on my team shoots the puck in and it goes behind the net. I skate in and get control of it. Then I see one of my teammates skating towards the slot. I try to pass him the puck and set him up for a one timer..

Instead, I muff the pass. The puck bounces off the back of the goalie's skate and ends up in the net.

In the first game in this brand new rink, on the first shift of the game, I scored the first recorded goal in the building. Hey, ugly goals count the same as pretty ones, right?

#3. Same summer in the same league as above. I was skating up to rejoin the play in our zone. I had been hanging out in front of the opposing team's net, so I was a little behind the play. Suddenly, one of our skaters gets the puck in our zone and sends a long pass out to me, at center ice. I get the puck and take off toward their goal.

Then I realize. I've got no one in front of me.

I get the puck under control at the blue line. One of their skaters is trying to catch up, but I can tell he's not going to make it. One of my teammates has almost caught up and yells for me to pass the puck. Now, if this was NHL Hitz 20-03 on the Xbox, I would have done my favorite move, the fake shot to the one timer. When you have two guys skating up, at the top of the circles you hold down X so your skater winds up. Then while still holding X, press A then quickly press X again. This passes the puck for a one-timer.

But, this wasn't Xbox, I decided to take the shot. Right around the face off dots I fired wrister. I tried to go high stick side, but it didn't get as much loft as I wanted. The goalie made a pad save, but there was enough loft that it went over his pad. I couldn't see where it landed at first.

As I skated toward the goal to look for the puck, I can see the goalie hasn't found it either. Then I see its sitting behind the goalies pad, but not across the line yet. I quickly skate up and before their goalie and do anything, poke the puck in the net.

Breakaway goal, hell yeah :)

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Thanx for all your responses guys, this has been a cool thread. And as someone said earlier, a lot of us may just play beer league but we feel a lot of excitement no matter what the level.

It's all competition and I feel the same scoring for my team as I would scoring for the Wings, I just wish I got paid to play, lol.

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Thanx for all your responses guys, this has been a cool thread. And as someone said earlier, a lot of us may just play beer league but we feel a lot of excitement no matter what the level.

It's all competition and I feel the same scoring for my team as I would scoring for the Wings, I just wish I got paid to play, lol.

Everytime I score I feel like a superstar. It was even better when my 3.5 year old son watched me a few weeks ago. He got so excited each time I went on the ice. He'd wave at me and yell "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!". If I got the chance to wave back he'd go bananas. It was awesome! And it totally made me feel like an NHLer for a few minutes in my life.

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1. I played in my rink's house league during high school because my school didn't have a team. One game we were playing against this team that had a really cocky defenseman, probably converted from forward. He had great skills but was a total puckhog and would just try to go coast to coast on us each time. He never made clean defensive hits, but he'd run our guys when they weren't paying attention. Basically, he was an ass and was pissing off everyone on our team. At one point in the middle of the game I got sprung on a two on two. I blew by this jackass d-man, sliding the puck on the inside and speeding by him on the outside as he was trying to check me, picked up the puck again, now a 2 on 0 with my right wing. Freeze the goalie with a fake, send a perfect backhand pass to my wing who just misses the open net. We didn't score on the play, but it put that defenseman in his place for the rest of the night and we won the game. It was pretty sweet considering I had been playing for two years and this guy had probably been playing his whole life.

2. The year before that my team was in the playoff semifinals. We were up by one with just a few minutes to go. The other team had been pushing us hard all period and we were worried they'd cap off the comeback. My line is taking a defensive zone faceoff. The center wins it to me and takes off. I thread him a perfect pass through their D and he goes in alone on the goalie and scores. We won the game and I got to keep the puck, and we ended up winning the final too.

3. The year after that I scored the first goal of the semifinal game on the first shift of the game against the best goalie in our league. We dominated the rest of the way and won the game, but unfortunately lost in the final.

My favorite memories though are just the little inconsequential things that don't necessarily translate into sweet plays or timely goals. Stuff like great coaches and great linemates and team chemistry and whatever. It sounds sappy, but I've played sports all my life and those last two seasons of high school hockey were some of my favorite experiences.

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