Everyone has a set of characteristics that they want other people to view them as having. For me, one of those defining characteristics is helpful. Which is how I found myself Sunday strapping on a set of goalie pads for the first time in five years.
When I was back in college many moons ago, my friend convinced a bunch of us that we wanted to start playing roller hockey. At first it was just games on the top of the parking garage. Then it was renting out a rink for a stick and puck session. Then it was joining a league and playing. At some point in all of this, I decided that since we needed a goalie (and I couldn't skate) that it would be helpful for me to grab some pads and jump in between the pipes. I wasn't good, but I enjoyed it and I was helpful. Over time I got better and got better pads. But after a while I wasn't enjoying it any more.
The problem with being a goalie is that no one really wants to play there, but it isn't as enjoyable of a game without them. In hockey, the highs of the game are when goals are scored. Consequently (especially in rec hockey), there is a lot of effort and energy expended in scoring goals and much less spent in preventing them from being scored. Unless you are the goalie, in which case your entire game is spent trying to deny goal scoring highs to the other team. Blocking shots and getting hit by the pack are what most people fear about being goalie, but they aren't actually bad. The padding absorbs most of the impact, so it rarely hurts when you get hit. Goalie pads start out heavy and become heavier as you get tired and sweaty. They generally possess a certain funkiness that comes from games upon games of accumulated sweat. The other factor in goalie life is that it takes so long to put on all of the pads and to take them off that once they are on, they aren't coming off until the game is over. As a skater, if I get bored on defense or offense, I can just switch positions with someone or take a rush when I get the puck. But a goalie can't just switch with somone. You'd end up killing 30 minutes of precious rink time making the switch.
For the skaters, the game is much more enjoyable with a goalie than without. Without a goalie, there are a couple of options, but generally what happens is that the nets are pushed over exposing the top netting and goals only count if they hit that top netting. For the better players, hitting the net is less of a challenge and closer to a basketball free throw, so the high of goal scoring is lowered. For the newer players, hitting that netting is very difficult as you have to lift the puck just a little bit and aim it precisely. For newer skaters, the sheer size of a full net and the possibility of scoring without having to be so precise makes the game more fun. And for better skaters, getting the puck past the goalie becomes a laudable goal. If you have hockey friends, no one ever talks about their open net goals, but they'll go on and on about the slapper that just had eyes for the glove side arm hole.
With all of this in mind, I listened as the captain of my new roller hockey team explained that the two primary goalies couldn't make it today. I watched as the backup goalie started to put on the pads backwards and in the wrong order. Finally I couldn't take it any more.
"I really didn't want to say this, but I've played goal before. I'm not very good, but I'll jump in this week."
And so I pulled on the goalie pants, still moist from the last poor sucker. I strapped on the oversized leg pads and tightened all of the straps. I wriggled into the body armor and pulled over my goalie jersey. I grabbed the helmet and plunked it on my head. I grabbed the blocker, the catcher and the stick. I skated out onto the rink just in time to start the game. So unwarmed, unstretched, wearing a borrowed set of pads, I played goal for the first time in five years. It was brutal. We lost 10-3. My save percentage hovered around .500. About the only saving grace was that I did a bit better in the second half of the game.
I hope that next week the real goalies show up. But if they don't I'll hop in net again, helpful as ever.
