It’s been a while since I posted here. Sorry about that, folks. A combination of sickness, work insanity, holidays, and a LiveBarn outage combined to make an extended dry spell for this particular blog. I hope to do better for the rest of the season.

January 28, 2023 10:30pm – Tacoma Twin Rinks – North Rink
Muscle Hamsters vs. Horned Broncos 4 – 6

Game Stats: https://stats.ttr.timetoscore.com//oss-scoresheet?game_id=24490&mode=display
Video Link: https://youtu.be/6XvqGJM5BZA
Goals at: 21:49, 30:13, 54:45 and 56:46

January 29, 2023 10:15pm – Tacoma Twin Rinks – North RInk
Muscle Hamsters vs. Bandits 3 – 6

Game Stats: https://stats.ttr.timetoscore.com//oss-scoresheet?game_id=24608&mode=display
Video Link: https://youtu.be/8jrikj6imw0 (warning: video quality and sound degrade at the end of the 1st)
Goals at: 2:49, 39:53 and 1:01:55

Another weekend of back-to-back games, and with a somewhat shortened bench for the second game. We faced a couple of defeats, one to the Horned Broncos (dang it!), but overall, we can see steady improvements in our team. We still have so much to work on, but there are flashes from time to time that make us believe we will someday be at the top of our division.

Shae continues to be awesome in net for us, and is the main reason we aren’t seeing double-digit scores for the opposing team. He’s consistently facing 30-40 shots a game, with a lot of those being quality chances, but he still finds a way to block most of them.

Our mid-season addition, Mason, has provided some much needed speed and a few highlight-reel moments (we would have actually had those highlight reels if LiveBarn didn’t go dark on us), leading to a couple MVP speeches in the locker room afterward. He’s also helping to bring down the average age of the team, having just turned 22 yesterday.

Chelsie has shown herself to be our “Iron Woman”, showing up at every game (the only team member with a perfect attendance record), even if she just got off a plane from South Carolina. She’s held the offensive zone for us more times than I can count, and can be counted on for critical blocks and steals in the defensive zone.

Overall, the skating, passing ans shooting have improved for all of us. The “passes to nowhere” haven’t disappeared, but as we get used to each other, and we all start covering our responsibilities better, we’re able to count on people to be in certain places, which makes breaking out of our end easier and holding the attack zone better. Good times are ahead for this team.