Shin Splints. No Fun for Hockey

As you will soon learn, I love hockey.  I love watching it (Go Blackhawks), playing video games of it, and most of all, actually playing out on the ice.  So to help me improve my skills instead of just stick handling in my basement and shooting against the wall, I decided to take a hockey class.  This meant that now I would no longer just be skating on weekends, but four out of five school days too.  I quickly learned that we wouldn't just be skating leisurely, but we would be skating hard.  I have finally acquired the ability to hockey stop...well actually just stop in general, and skate backwards.  Now that I can skate better and feel more confident on the ice, I am able to use better hockey vision, especially involving the boards and glass.  To go off on a quick tangent, this has also helped improve my safety when I play in leagues.  Last year, I suffered a minor concussion when I was boarded during an intramural game.  For those of you that don't know, boarding is when a player is checked or pushed violently into the boards in a way that may cause injury   It was very similar to Niklas Kronwall being hit into the boards a while ago.

Even as a Blackhawks fan, I hate watching anything like this, no matter whether the team is a rival or not.  This is so similar to what happened to me, I saw the puck back in my zone, skated over to posses it, looked but did not notice the defender behind me and boom....out.  Woke up with my helmet off and my face on the ice.  For some reason, the linesman was telling me to put my helmet back on, but I wasn't really sure what was happening to begin with.  Looking back on it, it was my fault that I fell straight into the boards because of the choice I made on stopping.  If I had hockey stopped, I would not have hit the boards directly with my head.  Thankfully, both Kronwall and myself are fine and back on the ice.

Back to my latest issue, my sudden increase in skating has caused great pain in my legs as I try to rush back and forth to and from classes.  I visited my local physical therapist, and they determined that I am suffering from mild shin splints.  *sigh*  I just want to be on the ice, I don't want to take a break!  But this weekend, I will sit in the stands for two games and stay away from the ice.  All for my hockey future.

In other news, go Hawks! (Both Black and Red!)

PS - We worked on celebrations this Wednesday and it was glorious.  If you are playing NHL 13 anytime soon, make sure to score a goal and use the left trigger to celebrate.  My favorite one!