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Showing posts from July, 2017

Chop wood, carry water - Inside edge, outside edge - the work of learning the game

To those that have been considering learning the sport, those that are learning or relearning the sport, and those that want to understand the process, I must tell you that it is not easy. By now you know a bit about me and know that I am picking up again after a long layoff. To say it has been humbling, would be an understatement. Also it has been a fantastically enjoyable process. In an earlier post I mentioned that I had played a bit of hockey, most of that time spent was as a child. I had great time, enjoyed play and never developed into the best skater. I was and still am in love with the sport. It truly is a magnificent spectacle, when played at the highest levels. Speed, grace, brutality, are all on display in the USA and Canada Women's World Championships, The Stanley Cup playoffs and countless other games at the college, professional, junior and international level showcase amazing talent. I belong in none of the above. I am what is referred to in the hockey world as

The girl with the flames on her skates and ladies that tap dance

How many of us dreamt of becoming sports heroes? I was going to be the next Wayne Gretzky, no really. For those of us that are of the male persuasion, our icons were and are everywhere. This was true even in the 1970's and 80's, a time when hockey had a much smaller market share in the US. It is only recently that female athletes have  professionals to emulate and idolize. Though the coverage can use a lot of work, it's growing and that is a story and discussion that I will delve into at a later date.   As adults, most of us have given up on our dreams of becoming sports stars and find inspiration in other places or people. As I begin my journey returning to a sport that I love I have found inspiration in so many places that I could not have dreamt of as kid. Two of those that inspired my return to hockey, are these. One is completely unrelated to hockey and one is a rank hockey beginner. I have found inspiration from them and they all exhibit "shoshin" in

It all began in a driveway, in Fresno at 100 degrees

   A bit of background. It was hot, the kind of heat that people refer to as a "dry heat" a euphemism that means as unbearable and heavy as the fires of hell. Yet there we stood, my first hockey mentor and best friend Jason. An unusual place to begin a life long love affair with a sport played on frozen water, yet there we were shooting rubber discs off of a sheet of Teflon into his splintered wood garage door, much to the chagrin of his parents.  Hooked from that moment, I bought the same Koho stick that only rink in town sold and a set of tube skates. I set up a fruit box in the entry of our small apartment dining area and made pucks out of crumpled up newspaper wrapped in stick tape, in the manner that Jason taught me. My poor single mother and her succession of friends and boyfriends suffered many an errant puck sailing over their wine glasses as I practiced my wrist shot. We were dirt poor, so my dreams of becoming the next Gretzky were place on hold indefinitel