Weekend Update - Knee deep With No Finish!

Friday Night and Saturday saw us Maritimers knee deep in an early season snowstorm. We usually do not get such large amounts of snow in November so my usual Saturday morning training was with a shovel and not at the the gym. The snow drifts in the driveway was substantial and required a good solid 3 hours of stoop labor to remove. The rail on the(sheltered) back step is a pretty good indicator of how much white stuff actually fell overnight.

While downtown to attend a Halifax Feast Christmas party I managed to check out these snowshoes at Mountain Coop Equipment(MEC). A neat modular concept that enables you to adapt the shoes to the type of snow and your weight, with or without extra gear by using optional tails. Hmmm.....snowshoes are now back on the front burner if these November snows are a portent of whats to come this winter.

" MSR Denali Classic Snowshoes

Weight: 1.65kg

Instead of traditional frame-and-decking, these snowshoes are made of a tough, snow-shedding, Profax polypropylene one-piece construction, providing good flotation and durability. The durable steel crampon has three rear teeth for braking control. Four aggressive front teeth provide positive traction while climbing and de-icing pads. The True Hinge rotation design keeps the shoe on the snow as you walk, without swinging it into your shin, or kicking snow onto your backside.

Brakes are moulded under the heel, and along the sides on the rear of the platform. This improves traction while climbing, and increases control on descent.
Multi-toothed, hardened steel traction bars provide unparalleled grip for traversing side slopes and ice.
Mitten-friendly binding is easy to put on and take off, and stays moisture-free and adjustable in freezing weather.
Fits any shoe or boot sized 4 to 14.
Dimensions are 20 x 56cm (8 x 22in.).
Made for loads up to 60kg (125lb.) without tails. From 60 to 100kg (125 to 225lb.) with 4in. tails. From 80 to 125kg (175 to 275lb.) with 8in. tails. Consider snow conditions, the weight of your pack, and winter clothing when sizing snowshoes.
4 and 8in. tail extensions are sold separately."

Sunday brought more shoveling after the snowplow widened the street and pushed another pile into the driveway(sigh).Headed off to hockey sporting a new(to me) trapper I picked up on Ebay. Bit by bit I`m getting my goalie gear up to speed. In the market for a matching blocker now.

I arrived early today to jump in with the group that has the gym booked before us...I had noticed they only had one goalie and one team shot on an empty net. That sucks! Turns out they play basketball for 30 minutes and then switch to ballhockey for 30 minutes which ends up being a perfect warmup for me. A win win....they get a goalie and I get a warmup.

Unfortunately the foam padding on the back of my goalie helmet fell off while I was getting ready and my helmet was too big for me today without it. I snugged up the straps as much as possible but the mask floated on me all day and was a definite distraction. I`m not sure if it was to blame but I had a terrible day between the pipes. Wasn`t seeing the ball well and didn`t move laterally very well. I`m sure the shoveling had something to do with that as I was pretty stiff today.

After a four goal lead in the first game we dropped the match 10-7. The second match was similar as we squandered a 7 -5 lead to lose 10-8. Fortunately we started the third match well and ran out of time sporting a 5-1 lead so I managed to salvage a win on a day I was not very good.

My season record now stands at 5-8-1.