Introduction

Hey Everyone,

This might not be too constant for a little while still I don't head out to Puget Sound until the first of September. But I thought I'd first let you know all that happened. I signed up for this tryout for Puget Sound at the very beginning of the summer. I paid all my dues and they accepted me, not till later did I find out that I was the only goalie there that was allowed to try out with out being personally invited and called by the coaches. So that was quite a bit intimidating at first but I was able to talk to the coach prior to the camp and explain my situation and why he might not know my name at all. haha so he told me to just give it all I have and to just see how the weekend folded out. So that is exactly what I did. I gave it all that I had. After the first game that we played I went to ask when I needed to be back for the second session well the coach had me go and talk to the goalie coach that he had there to help him. The goalie coach had me explain to him a second time how much I had played previously and how much "goalie specific" training I had had in all my years playing hockey so I told him..... well probably around ten hours. He looked at me and after a couple seconds told me I played amazingly well for how little experience I had had. I went to that afternoon's goalie session very excited and pumped up, however on one of the very first drills I discovered that I had accidentally stepped on cement prior to the skate. I couldn't do what was being asked of me. I was so frustrated because that week I had gone to open ice sessions and truly worked so hard on the movements that he was asking me to do. But I simply couldn't I worked through it, in the end me working through this probably helped more than hurt, and we got through the goalie session even though my legs were exhausted. I went to play in the next game only twenty minutes after I stepped off from the goalie session, still with my dull skates. I played well, not my best but as long as I didn't try to do too much movement like he asked of me in the goalie session I was able to at least keep up. I went home rather discouraged, My lovely girlfriend helped calm and relax me that night with a marvelous back massage and just talking to me about it, she got me ready to play that next morning, the prospects game, a game that the coaches have to personally invite you back to. I was already quite surprised that they invited me back at all after my poor show at the goalie session. So I showed up ready to go with some newly sharpened skates.... Which turned out to have been sharpened way too much, I spent the entire first period trying to dull my skates against the rubber mat under my feet. I went out the third period ready to play... or so I thought. I didn't play my best, I was tired, preoccupied with my skates, and simply just not as ready as I should have been. I went off the ice pretty discouraged. The coaches wanted us to stop by and talk to them before we left so I waited in line patiently. I got into the room and the coach told me again that I played very well and that I surprised them very much. We talked for about five-ten minutes and they ended up promising me ten out of forty games with an incentive to work for more games. They promised a previous goalie, much like in my situation with little experience, three to five games and he ended up playing seventeen and is now playing D3 hockey. So they offered me the contract to their team with a deadline to let them know within three days. I was very very stressed, let alone surprised by this offer I couldn't believe it. I sat, thought, prayed, thought, prayed, prayed, thought, talked, prayed, thought and thought about it and eventually I came to the decision that it was an excellent offer that he presented me with. The head coach is a goalie himself and so he runs many goalie oriented drills as well as having a goalie session each and every week with his goalies. His main goal is to develop us to all go to the next level whether that is the next level of Juniors or if it is College hockey. So I took his offer gratefully and am very excited to see where the Lord takes me and how this journey goes. Thank you to all who follow me next year.