Inside the Equipment Room: Enjoy the Off Days

Sorry to be so late in getting this new post out but things have been a little busy in the equipment room lately. Here's a quick update for those of you that care, and for everyone else skip a paragraph to get to some entertainment.
So far the Men's team is sitting at a record of 2-9-1 which is far from where we want to be at this point. The boys are working hard but pucks aren't bouncing our way. We only have 3 games left to finish out the first half and we certainly will be working to climb out of the hole. If any team can do it I know these guys can. The girls are have a current record 2-7-1 and as I write this they are prepping for a Thanksgiving game against the Russian Women's National Team. I have to admit I haven't been able to see as many practices and games for the girls as I would like but knowing their work ethic and skill things will turn around in no time. Both teams this season have rosters packed with young players and as any team with a lot of freshmen there are growing pains. Players need to adapt to speeds and skill levels they haven't been used to but both sets of first year players will most certainly adapt and improve. I wouldn't write either Black Bear team off in the second half.
So now that the update is over I thought I would take this time to share my thoughts on my favorite events in the hockey world. The rare day off mid season.
I love my job but even I need to sometimes take a break and get away from the rink. Since September and the start of classes I can count on one hand the number of days that I didn't work in at least some form. Combining working for both teams and their differing schedules I can pretty much bet that I will work 7 days a week. Taking the average most days I'm in around 8am and leave sometime around 6pm. Game days that's upped from an 9 hour day to a 14 hour day. But don't take only this as complaining, because it's far from it. I wouldn't ever want to work a normal desk job, I'd get bored, and I also don't know many jobs that let me wear shorts year round.
With Thanksgiving this week students were able to go home after Tuesday which allowed our teams to have morning practices. The girls play a rare Thanksgiving day game against the Russian Women's National team and the guys are actually off for a few days. This gives me the chance to catch my breath and relax. Neither team has a game this upcoming weekend so I'm going to turn on the lazy switch and spend some time on my couch. It's nice to get the chance to recharge the batteries and come back refreshed.
So to everyone out there I hope you enjoy any time off you get this holiday season, stuff your face with great food and spend time with friends and family. Also never forget to tip your equipment guys this time of year... we need our beer money so that when the players are away we can play.

No I'll leave you with some random pictures to make up for my lame post.