Hockey

It is the first game of the season. It is also my first game ever playing high school hockey. In the locker room the captains are trying to get everybody pumped up, but I’m so nervous I think I’m going to vomit, my legs are shaking so much that I don’t even think that I will be able to skate. I have practiced with this team many times before, but you can’t compare that to a game. Everything is so much more important in a game. If you don’t play well than you don’t get to play at all. Everybody’s telling me not to be nervous but I can’t help it. I am terrified that I am going to make a mistake. Watching the other team in warm-up doesn’t make me feel much better either. I go sit on the bench and wait for my turn to go out. I can’t stop worrying. Finally it’s my turn. There are so many thoughts running through my head but as soon as the puck is dropped everything goes away. Im not nervous anymore, my ten years of hard work and practice have payed off, it just comes naturally now. My first shift is over in a flash. What seemed like ten seconds was actually a full minute and a half. I’m just glad that I have survived it without any major errors. Back on the bench I sit for a while, while other defensive pairs play. I’m not used to having more than two defensive pairs, so I usually don’t get that much of a break, and I like it that way. Get off, catch your breath, and go back on. But I’ve been sitting on the bench now for ten minutes, my heart rate has gone down, and my adrenaline has stopped pumping. I don’t feel like I’m in the game anymore. Finally it’s my turn go back out. I’m nervous again because I have had time on the bench to think. I’m fine thought, just like last time the shift flies by, and before I know it the coach is yelling for a change. This time I don’t have to wait as long though because one of the pairs of defense has been moved up to offense. I don’t have time to worry about anything, I start to play better and feel more comfortable. I’m in the zone and the game just seems to wiz by. It’s halfway through the third period and the game is tied, 1-1. We need to score soon otherwise we risk tying, or even loosing. I am very competitive and cannot stand to loose so that is not an option. We have had many chances to score but the puck just never quite bounced in our favor. Finally the other team gets a hooking penalty. This is our chance. We need to score. The center takes the face-off, and pulls it back to my defensive partner. She slides it across the blue line and I take a shot. It’s an awful shot. While its in the I’m thinking I can’t believe I just did that, I feel so bad that I’ve wasted the opportunity for my team, but to my amazement it bounces off the opposing defenders leg and into the net. I cannot believe that that just went in. We manage to hold them off for the remaining part of the period, and win. I scored the winning goal in my first ever high school hockey game. I am ecstatic but I wish I could have taken a better shot. Thought this might not have been my best game, it is one that I will remember forever.

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