Blackburn Falcons – Vs Widnes Wildcats (Preseason Match 2)

This time we were on home ice. Our ice is wider so we had the advantage of space. Generally there is more players in home games than away games.
This meant that they had a smaller bench and i also meant that I fully expected to have less time on the ice as more of the players could make this. I didn’t mind, i had expected to ride the bench for well even the full season.
As Period One started we came out strong again. Playing our game, our strategy. We got an early goal. Now one of the line 3 defencemen couldn’t make it, so the coach had options, rotate from lines 2 and 1, or play me on line 3.
For the first shift he took option 1, in the first 10 minutes we were 4 – 0 up.
So I got put on line 3. I hit a guy, bounced off and fell over. Then I stopped the puck, slipped and fell over. I came off genuinely thinking he would not be playing me again. But I was wrong. He sent me out again, I remained on line 3 for the rest of the match. Not only that, I had gotten rind of my stumbblings in those first 2 min. After that I was cool on the puck, made some great simple plays. I broke out well, fought for the puck and skated well. I had someone try to start a fight with me, but I held my own and didn’t take a penalty. I kept a good pace with the players and never let any obvious goals through.
The team itself was calm throughout, no going for the big hits like last time, we didn’t get distracted. 
They had a really great player with fast hands and great legs. He did flash through once, but in general he was contained well. 3 goals slipped past but we led with 8 goals and remained in the lead and in control the entire game.
At the end of the game all the played came up to me and spoke my hand and genuinely congratulated me on how well I played. I was so pleased with my performance and the approval I got from my team mate. I really appreciated them telling me how well I had done. I felt like part of the team in its entirety. Because of how I played and how I was treated at the end I will always remember this match as the one where it all came together for me.