Checked

I carried the puck into the offensive zone, breaking over to the right wing. I skated hard, and carried enough speed to outflank one defender, but another defender took a better angle, and forced me behind the net. I put on the brakes, and stopped behind the goal with my back towards the boards, looking to make a centering pass.

As soon as I stopped, the second defender threw himself into me, crunching me hard against the boards.

I’m 5’11”, about 175 lbs (one of the smaller people on my hockey team, believe it or not). The d-man was about 6’4” and easily 230 lbs.

Obviously, the laws of inertia dictate that wouldn’t end well for me…

Now, I play in a no-contact league. There is often some pushing and shoving- some leaning on each other… but usually no one tries to drive someone through the boards. I’d never been hit that hard- and I started playing when I was five.

The impact sent a jolt through my entire body- like the last car accident I was in. Dazed, I managed to stay on my skates and skate away.

I wasn’t used to getting hit like that. Not that hard. It felt…

It felt kind of good.

The guy who hit me was sent to the sin bin, and I stayed on the ice for the ensuing power play.

The puck came to me near the face-off circle. I stick-handled to buy a little time, and fired the puck towards the net.

It trickled between the goalie’s pads and found the back of the net.

Maybe that makes me a bit of a masochist. That sure would explain a lot…