What a difference a season makes.
Our new and improved Bulldogs had our first game of the season against the dreaded Red Barons, the only team which we neither defeated nor tied last season. One of our players has moved on to Conference C, as have two of theirs. Some of our players can't afford the regular season, so they're back as substitutes; we filled our ranks with people who could afford it. And who were approved by the league officers.
Those of you with long memories, or a convenient reference such as a directory full of previous stories about hockey games, may remember an incident in which our team used players which were not approved by the league. That victory was thrown out because of it. If I were highly principled and more informed, I may have objected earlier to their presence on the team, but we simply didn't know they were as good as they were until the game started. We hope to avoid such an incident this season. At least this time the league knows all the names and numbers.
So with that giant disclaimer out of the way, I guess I can talk about how the game went.
The game was up-tempo, spirited, and even had a few physical moments. Perhaps even all the whining sports writers and fans out there would have even enjoyed it. There was skating, scoring, a collision here, a dogpile there, an amazing save or two, and even a couple of penalties. The end result was a legitimate win for our Bulldogs, by a final margin of 10-7. With that many goals, I would have been very cranky if I had been playing forward and hadn't registered a single point. As it was, I was playing defenseman as I have grown accustomed to doing -- I volunteer for the position, in fact -- and my lack of scoring doesn't bother me as much.
I had a good game. I earned compliments from teammates on my play. I hustled well, didn't run out of energy, and wasn't afraid of the more physical aspects of the game. In the defensive zone, I blocked a handful of shots. In the offensive zone, I was able to fairly reliably keep the puck in the zone. While I did not have a perfect game -- the Barons' score would have been much lower, I imagine -- I did do pretty well. I may even have contributed on offense, even if the score sheet didn't show it.
Now I just need some time to recover from the board collision, the bruised hip, and bruised bum. But I'm a glutton for punishment, so I'll be at practice on Wednesday. :-)
The usual plug: If you feel like following the team, look for the Bay Area Bulldogs in Conference D of the Pacific Hockey Association.