I’ve been a goalie since before I could skate. Not necessarily the most auspicious start but the truth nonetheless. After my very first practice with Glen Stewart Park in Oshawa, Ontario it was very clear to me (and my dad) that I couldn’t skate. When the coach announced he needed someone to be the goalie my arm shot up like a hungry monkey reaching for a banana. The look on my dad’s face was asking the question “are you nuts?” so before he could actually call me nuts I explained that being the goalie meant I could stand up on skates by hanging on to the posts. That first year in net I once gave up 27 goals in a 30 minute game, and in another tilt was scored on from the far blue line. I eventually learned how to skate and even went on to be drafted by my hometown Generals, play NCAA Div I at Princeton and start a successful goalie school.
My British ancestry afforded me the opportunity to play for a UK national team!
All these years later I’m still a goalie in a San Francisco men’s league (yes, there is good hockey in California) and I still follow goalies first and the NHL second. My real job has me reading tech bloggers on sites like Mashable and TechCrunch on a daily basis and my pleasure reading takes me to John Buccigross‘ ESPN column on a regular basis. It occurred to me that Bucci’s passion for hockey and Michael Arrington’s passion for writing about startups could be combined and applied to the world of goalies. Tenders Lounge is a place where goalies can hang out, read about their favorite heroes, catch up on rumors and share their thoughts with the rest of the goalie community… kind of a Hot Stove lounge just for goalies. I hope you enjoy it and that it inspires you to contribute.
