A Moosing

For those of you who don't know, my nickname among my hockey teammates is Moose. My Canadian friend says that all the hockey teams in Canada have a "Moose" on the team, and it's usually the biggest guy. Kind of ironic since I'm one of the smaller players on our team. I earned my nickname during a three-on-three tournament. I was playing defense on a guy carrying the puck into our zone. I poked the puck away, and stuck my hip out. The guy flipped over my hip head first. I was called for a checking penalty because we play in a non-checking league. Personally, I don't think I hit the guy that hard. I attribute it more to his lack of skating ability and his high center of gravity. All the same, I've been Moose ever since then.

Well, last night at our hockey game, I actually moosed someone for real. And I have to admit, it was quite satisfying. Throughout the game, the other team was excessively rough and reckless. My rage mounted as my teammates and I got knocked over repeatedly. Then in the second period, a guy from the other team skated toward me. I shoved him preemptively and he careened into the boards completely off balance. I couldn't help smirking a little. Even more satisfying than moosing him was seeing my teammate in the penalty box laughing about it.