So I feel like I should clarify my FB post from last night. I posted: "Mark my words. Before the end of this season, if I don't get thrown out pf a game, I will have a double minor." Clearly I was posting from my phone - hence "pf" in place of the obvious "of". But I digress, that's not what I wanted to clarify.
What I want to clarify is that I'm not going to turn dirty (a matter of opinion) or start heckling the refs any chance I get (another matter of opinion). Dating back a few games, there's been a rash of net-crashers on the other team that have frankly gotten away with too much dirt of their own. I've been bowled over, had my mask knocked off my head, and a puck thrown into the goal area (note: area, not the back of the net - this important for later), and dating back to our last playoff game, tripped and injured (technically injured. I bruised.)
Let's go back to that playoff game's incident. The other team started a rush, and one of their wingers was off to the races to try to get a dump-in pass behind our defense. However, our defense interecepted a pass and took the puck back to the other goalie (which eventually led to a goal on that play). In the meantime, Mr. Off-to-the-races (OTTR), kept skating hard and didn't look up until he was practically on top of me. But given his lack of skating ability, he took my feet out from underneath me, and my back landed on one of his skates. I'll tell you now that there is no padding on the back of a goalie's chest protecter - hence the name "chest protector". Goalies aren't supposed to expose their backs to the puck, so it was just deemed an unnecessary waste of materials (and cost) that got cut out sometime back in the, oh I don't know, forever.
No call. Sure, we got a goal, so no penalty would have been served even if it was called, but still. I'm pretty sure when someone gets run into by the opposition and the puck is no where in sight, it should be a penalty. The NHL calls it interference. But at Neville? It's a non-issue. In fact, the refs there obviously hate goalies. I got a nice bruise out of that play. And quite a sore back for a few days. That team (luckily for OTTR) isn't in our league this session, but if they were, I would have already gotten tossed from a game.
Next incident(s) of notice: a few weeks back we played a team called the Renegades. There's a d-bag on that team who apparently thinks the term "crash the net" is literal, because he ran into me 3 times during the game. No calls. It would have been interesting to see if they would have allowed a goal during one of those times that I was knocked over and tangled up. After one of those incidents, one of my d-men, Lucas, gave him a "friendly" shove off the faceoff.
Third incident: this is more of a failing of my d-men to cut off this guy (although were were short a few players), but a team called FDS has this hillbilly-looking guy who was fast and liked to cut across in front of the net in an effort to get me to commit on the near side while he continued to carry the puck to the far side for an empty-net. He was doing a good job of it, too. So I figured that I needed to pokecheck with a bit more aggression (innocent translation: quicker; not-so-innocent translation: take his feet out). The next time he got a breakaway, he started it off the same way. I went down to let him think he could do the same thing again and whipped my stick around, uh, toward the puck... but he shot high on the near side! Goal! But he was still skating, and my stick was still whipping. When I felt his skate touch the stick - YANK! He went flying and rolled a few feet. He had the goal, so I didn't have time to enjoy him lying on the ground. The next time he skated by (the next shift and without the puck), I gave him a nice hard tap to the side of his skate to let him know I knew he was there. He didn't like it. I played innocent to his grumblings. He really didn't like it. But he didn't retaliate, since his team was winning already.
Fourth incident: last night, against a rival (but who's not a rival in an 8-team league?), my opponent (a Mr. Goehring, if he's wearing the correct jersey) had a breakaway opportunity. I stopped it with a nifty little pad stack. The puck went up in the air, where he grabbed the puck (allowed), carried it 3 feet toward the middle of the net (shouldn't be allowed), threw it forward so that it landed in the crease (really shouldn't be allowed), and then tapped it in the open net with his stick (allowed, but not after what he just did... in my opinion). He instantly started yapping at the ref, so I had assumed it was waved off. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I learned they had awarded him the goal. I was steamed I didn't look. If I had looked, I would have been in the ref's face, and he would not have been hearing compliments about his ability to call plays or his looks. And then Goehring would have heard a few insults his way, too.
So.
I've had it. I told myself after that last playoff game that I was going to stop be Mr. Nice Guy. As a spectator, unless it's the NHL it's always a little embarrassing when a goalie starts a scrum, but I've learned the hard way that the league at Neville simply doesn't care about my safety or fair play. So I'm going to abandon fair play in the name of my own safety. If the refs give me a penalty, I'll give him a reason to give me two. And players crashing the net? They're going to come away bruised. I have a stick like they do, and their ankles won't be the only target. Screeners will start getting "friendly" taps between the legs and "friendly" pushes in their backs.
It's time for the opponent to pay the fee.
Thus, my FB post has been clarified. I'm sure I'll look back on this post later and think "Geez, what an idiot I was", but that's okay.
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