Kootenay doesn't suck

Another weekend in the books. Hardly seems fair the time should pass so quickly. Let's go for a quick run-down. I'll skip the FNM portion and go straight to karaoke at Bootleggers on Friday night. Good place, good vibe. It kinda reminded me of a much (MUCH) darker version of the ol' Boston Pizza on Upper James days. Of course, fewer schooners were consumed, but all in all it was a really good time. Saturday was the triumphant return of doing SFA. I barely made it out of my sweats, and it was pretty glorious, although the original Tubby Dog plan fell through. That was less awesome. Our newest floor hockey season started Sunday, and we lost. I think losing may be a recurring theme with this season's version of the team. But we have a pretty even number of guys and girls, meaning I can play defense more often this season. That was nice. I blocked a few shots and broke up some passes and even had an assist in the 4-1 loss. I followed that up by taking in the Hitmen game. It was the second game in the last 10 days against Kootenay, and while we all chanted "KOOTENAY SUCKS" at the right times, and often, for the second time in 10 days, the Ice proved they in fact, do no suck. One Kootenay defenseman really caught my eye in each game, Joey Leach. He played really smart hockey. He's not on Central Scouting's mid-term rankings, but he could turn into a late-round steal. One guy that won't turn into a steal of any sort if Giffen Nyren. The Hitmen traded for this overager earlier in the year to try to get a little more offense from the blue line. He's led to more offense alright. Just not for the Hitmen. At one point in the third period, he had a WIDE OPEN Rigby Burgart in position for a one-timer and elected to drill the puck into a defender's shin pads instead of passing. The whole arena could see the passing lane. Nyren was benched for a large portion of the period after that. While we're quite disappointed with this young man's play, BK had the best, and most level-headed idea: put Nyren on the bench and play both Jaynen Rissling and Peter Kosterman. It's the only way those two guys will learn how to play at this level, and while there may be some growing pains, at least they'll have a positive impact on the future. BK is reserving judgment of coach Mike Williamson, but I'm firmly entrenched in "I don't like the new coach" land.