Lots of drama with the Renegades over the past couple of weeks... On June 22nd we played a game at KofC Arena against the Vikings. These guys are in last place and have not done well, since getting moved down from a higher division. Except against the Renegades that is... they beat us handily by a score of 7-3.
Our team has been growing increasingly frustrated with the play of our goaltender. There has been ongoing discussions as to whether to keep him on our roster next season, or look to make a goaltending change. As team captain and manager I have been giving this some consideration for well over a year. The team has got younger and faster, and now plays in a higher division than we have in the past. Kris our goaltender just does not have the skill and the dedication to keep up. He is very nonchalant about his play... constantly making jokes about how crappy he is and the fact that he can't stop anything. There were opportunities for him to get out for extra ice time and work on his game, and he declined. He also bailed out on the team on short notice for several games in recent months. The players are growing tired of this. I am the oldest guy on the team, and one of the weakest players on the team. I fully recognize that my days are numbered, and that I will not be able to continue to play at this level for much longer. But, I make it out to virtually all the games, give it my best effort, and most importantly I have not chosen to play in the most critically important position, When I play out as a skater I can fall back on my defence partner and the forwards to bail me out but a goaltender is the last line of defence.
I know that this is just recreational hockey and that it is supposed to be for fun and exercise. But it costs full time players about $1000 per year in league fees to play the summer and winter seasons. We don't want to continually get knocked out of playoff contention because we can not keep the puck out of our net. This is not solely our goaltenders fault, but a large portion of the responsibility for this rests on his shoulders.
After the game against the Vikings I made the difficult decision to cut our goaltender Kris. I let him know that for next winter, the team would be looking for a new goaltender. I thought this would give him ample time to find another team to play for next winter. I offered him the opportunity to play out the rest of the summer season and the playoffs for us. But, not surprisingly, he immediately resigned from the team. He didn't take it particularly well, and is very angry with me, and many of the players on the team. Hopefully he will come to terms with this in time.
We have played two games with our new goaltender... The first one didn't go all that well. We played against the first place Reapers back at KofC Arena on June 26th. Our new goalie was a little shaky to start, and the team didn't play that great in front of him. We settled down in the second half but it was "too little, too late" and we ended up losing the game 7-6.
Then we played again on Thursday July 2nd at Terwillegar Arena against the Biohazard. The team was much better prepared for this one. Our new goaltender Paul played a really solid game and only let in one goal. The team as a whole played a lot better as well. We were ahead by a score of 2-1, with three minutes remaining in the game, when I took a double minor penalty for a hit to the head. While I was in the penalty box the team rallied and scored two short handed goals. Then, as I returned to the ice for the last minute, we added one more at even strength for a 5-1 victory.
There are three games remaining in the regular season between now and July 18th. After that we will roll into the playoffs, which run well into August. Maybe the timing is right to strengthen our chances and push forward with a fresh start...
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