I've played shinny hockey for quite some time now, about 16 months. It's fun, and I play a lot of it, but I need more...competition. So in May, I added my name to the 'available players' list on the ERHL website. I was too late for the summer season, but would have a pretty high spot for the winter season.

I've been contacted several times, but for some reason they were all for a different league that plays at 4:30pm Friday afternoons. And it's not even a league, just more drop-in shinny that needs more goalies to attend. So I politely declined the several people that asked me to join.

I finally got an email last night, however, to join the Xtreme team in the ERHL. I called back this morning, we chatted for a bit, and things generally went well. I'm supposed to show up for tryouts sometime next week.

I haven't played for about five weeks now (when I hurt my knee). This may help, because the last time I took a break for a week, I came back and had the best game I'd ever played. I assume that in this tryout session, I'll be five times as better as I was in that awesome game.

I'm also hoping my goalie mask comes soon, as I'm not too comfortable playing with a dented mask (and I'm too cheap to spend, like, $30 for a new one). I've heard horror stories about weak, half-broken masks breaking completely and stabbing the wearer in the face, even in the eye.

On a side note, the Heckle V is tenatively scheduled for Saturday, Feb 10 @ 12:15 in the Centrium (Red Deer). You know, because the people who read this blog actually play hockey.