It wasn't pretty but...

We had our fourth game of the season in the DMHL, and even though we won, it was ugly, and at times a little embarrassing.  I really can't figure that team out over there, but my best guess is that we completely lack an "identity" (due to the lack of sponsorship/team jerseys = team unity maybe).  Well, that and the fact that we almost never have the same line up week to week, which made an attempt to correct by trying to get the Brothers playing for us.  I was voted down on that point for last week, but we'll see about this week coming up because we're going to be playing the Black Dog team, (defending league champs) and we can't be short for that game, because we won't be able to play and ugly game and pull out a win like we did this past Monday night.

We played Northern Lumber the other night, who have improved somewhat since the summer.  I think that a lot of us (all of us) looked at this game as a "bye," that we could just phone it in and we'd still be fine...  We jumped right out of the gate with two quick goals and then seemed to ease off a bit, and as soon as we did they turned up the heat on us.  At about the halfway point of the game, maybe a little past that, the score was tied two all.  

The first of their two goals really fucking pissed me off, it was a broken play coming out of the corner of the right wing boards that I was able to make a couple of decent saves on, well until my center, who is a fucking grinder and hustles the entire time he's out on the ice for every single shift he takes, back-checked the just barely loose, almost tied up by me, puck into the net.  He has two goals in two games against me.  Not cool.  I can't remember the second goal, which means it was a good goal on their part, that they earned it, otherwise it would have pissed me off and stuck out in my mind.

We turned the pressure back up immediately though and scored two quick ones.  We had a little defensive brain fart and gave up a breakaway where I found myself in no-mans-land...  I was caught in between charging out at the puck, which was about ten steps ahead of my opponent, and holding my ground.  Hindsight being 20/20, I should have buried the little fucker, because he ended up scoring stick side.  He made it look about as easy as taking a piss in the snow...  

From that point on, the game was pretty even, they pulled their goalie in the last minute, but couldn't win a face-off, which essentially gave us the win.

So in the DMHL, we are 2-1-1, with 13 goals for, and 10 against, giving me a GAA of  2.50, (with an overall record of 3-1-1 and a GAA of 2.60 including the OMHL).  I'm happy, but I feel like, at least in Dennis, we can do more, be a better team, but to do that, we need to be more consistent, and play hard for 50 minutes, not 40...

WInter Wonderland...

So the winter men's league season is underway, and between the two teams that I play for we are 2-1-1, and even though it's early, I can very happily say that in four games my GAA is a tidy 2.50.  Like I said though, it's early, so I'd better savor it now because there is a very good chance that it is not going to stay that low.

The two teams that I play on basically skate year round.  Most of us have no down time, giving us an early advantage when the winter leagues start back up again.  In our first four games, we haven't had any cupcakes, that's for sure.  We played the Tony Kent Men's League Champions our first game back, the runner up our second game, a solid Chapin's team our third game, and in the Orleans Men's League, our first game was against the Summer League Champions (that game turned out to be a bit of a laugher though, welcome to winter league).  So like I said, we've seen some very solid competition early, and if both teams keep playing the way that we have been early we could end up in a very good position at the end of the season.

The Orleans team has it's roster pretty well set, we lost two guys to retirement, but picked up three guys in their early/mid twenties, which adds to an already solid team that made it to both the winter and the summer league finals.  The Dennis team however is a bit of a work in progress...  There has been some talk about adding a pair of brothers (from the team that I play for in Orleans) to our Dennis team.  I am of the opinion that the addition of the pair will make that team very, very dangerous, and will help to cement our lines, bringing a familiarity and consistency to games.  

Also, we're looking for some serious sponsorship for the Dennis team, as I think that we're all tired of looking like a bunch of bums.  Only half of the guys have jerseys that match, no one has matching socks and most nights we have to wear those stupid fucking yellow pennies because we don't match to begin with, so why not make us look even more ridiculous?  Anyway, we've been working on a few different things sponsorship-wise.  Hopefully something will pan out soon.

Next week, it's a ten o'clock game against Northern Lumber on monday, and a nine o'clock game Wednesday against the Chiefs...  Both games should be good tilts.

Rest

Rest.

That's what I thought that I was going to be getting in these next few weeks, with the gap between the summer and winter leagues.  However, it looks like that won't be the case.  My phone started ringing yesterday with guys asking me to play for them in their leagues, in their playoff games.  I have a hard time saying "no" when it comes to hockey, I always have, and I always will.

I will manage to get some rest though.  I won't be playing five straight days anytime in the near future (or at least in the next two weeks).  I need the rest, desperately.  Yesterday morning everything hurt, everything ached...  Perhaps that's just my bodies way of reminding me that I really am not as young as I think I am.  I recognize that I can't do all of the things that I could do when I was younger and just expect to bounce back right away, "Five straight days of hockey, no fucking problem..."  I wish that was still the case.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not half dead over here, but I'm not sure if I am half alive either...

The funny part about trying to get a little rest is, well, I hate it.  Yeah.  I fucking hate not playing hockey.  When I don't play I feel like something is missing from my day.  I hate not being in a rink, going through all of my absurd pre-game rituals and superstitions...  I miss competing, I miss that camaraderie among the guys, giving each other shit endlessly...  I realize though, that I do in fact need the rest, my body is screaming at me to take a few extra days off.  I hear it, and I will, but there is a funny thing that happens when you get older, it takes longer to get back into the swing of things.  The more time I take off, the longer it will take for me to get back into that grove again...

Just the same though, I do need the rest, but I'll be honest, I can't fucking wait to get back into it once the winter league gets going again.  

You win some, you lose some...

Well, it was, hmmm, what was it exactly?  

A good game?  No.  A bad game?  No.

I was dirty, it was chippy, their mouths were non stop, and they proved that they are hands down, the team with the least amount of class in ANY league that I have ever played in.  The end of the game turned into a bench clear with about forty seconds to go, and in an effort to prove what little class they had, they started yelling at our fans in the stands.

Seriously.  Yelling at mothers, girlfriends, sisters...  Classless.  One of their players actually picked up the puck and threw it at one of our wingers.  Who the fuck does that?  Classless. They weren't even going to line up and shake hands, as has been the custom for decades in hockey.  They have one player on that team that I respect, I called him over to shake his hand, and it was then that they realized that they should in fact line up and shake hands.  When the goaltender from the losing team is the first guy, in the middle of a bench clearing tussle (because it wasn't a brawl) to extend his hand and say, "Good game," that's when you know that its time to man up, to stop being a bunch of little punks and return the afore mentioned sentiment.  

(For people who know me, for my teammates, for the players on the teams that I compete against, they know that I am fiercely competitive and may just be one of the biggest sore losers on the planet.  I accept that about myself, I hate to fucking lose, at anything, to anyone. Ever.  For me, when someone says, "It's just a game, and that I shouldn't care about losing" needs to fuck off.  There is only one kind of person in the world that is ok with losing.  A loser.)  

Just the same, I love the game of hockey, I respect the game of hockey and its traditions.  The line, the hand shake, it's one of hockey's greatest.  You spend an hour kicking the shit out of each other, and then, at the end, you line up, and shake hands, and say "good game" whether you want to or not.  At the end of a game like that I'd rather line up and tell them all to fuck off and punch them all in the teeth sure, but that's not our team, that's not the way that we play.  So we manned up, we shook the hand of the team that beat us, because when that final buzzer sounds, that's what you do.  And we did.

So we didn't win.  I wanted to sure, our team wanted to, but we didn't pull it out last night.  

Winter League starts in 3 weeks...   

Overtime

We won.

The first round of the playoffs are over, and they ended in a rather stunning fashion.

It might have been one of the best games played in that rink all summer.  It was a tight, hard fought contest from start to finish.  About thirty seconds, maybe a little more than that, forty five maybe, we scored the first goal.  Four minutes later they scored on a breakaway that I thought that I had, but it just skipped off my glove into the net.  They scored the second goal on a tipped shot, through a screen from the point on the right wing boards.  We tied it up a few minutes later, only to have the lead slip away again when they broke in on a two on one and scored on a bang-bang play, high on the stick side...  I know that it doesn't sound good at this point, but not to worry.  The first ended 3-2 for the bad guys.

We managed to tie the game on a brilliant singular effort that may have easily been one of the nicest goals that I witnessed all summer.  Jake, one of our centers, cut across the bottom of the right wing circle, turned two defense men inside out, and then leaning forward, shot across his body and over the shoulder of the opposing goaltender.  

The game ended tied 3-3, bring us to overtime.  Now, there is nothing better than sudden death, win or go home overtime.  While we were waiting for the overtime period to begin, I kept reminding the guys to stay loose, stay relaxed.  

Thirty seconds in to the overtime the game ended on an absolutely filthy wrap around goal.  Jubilation ensued.

So that's it, we won, and now we are in the finals, and will be playing my least favorite team, the Jailhouse.  The whinny little fuckers with their D1 players...  It will be a very difficult team to beat, but their goaltender and defense can be victimized if we pressure them as we should and isolate their key player.

So, Friday night, at 8 p.m. in Orleans, at the Charles Moore Arena, we'll be playing our second championship game of the year, as we we in the winter league championship game also.  We've been there, and yeah, it's just another men's league game, but for us, it does mean something, this is why you play organized sports, for the bragging rights, because that's all you'll come out of the season with.  That, and the camaraderie of your teammates, that bond, those friendships.  That's what getting this far, battling through the season, through single elimination playoff game that winds up in overtime, and coming out on top wins you, friendships that are unbreakable, almost like family...

Bearing down

In three days, the OMHL playoffs for the summer season begin.

We found out who our opponent will be last friday afternoon.  There was a bit of confusion as three teams tied for second place in terms of points. When we left the rink wednesday night after our win over the Jailhouse, we were under the impression that we would be playing them again this wednesday night in the first round of the playoffs.  With the three way tie however, that changed.  Now we'll be playing the team known as Top Gun.  They're a good young team, with a very solid goaltender.  

To tell you the truth, I was very happy to hear that was who our first round opponent was going to be, because I honestly don't want to see that Jailhouse team again unless I absolutely have to, which would be in the Championship game, provided that we both make it that far.  I like the first round match-ups though, and with the experience on our team, I like our chances.  Our guys have all been there before, and a lot of them played in competitive college hockey programs...  So a few men's league playoff games won't phase them.  Now some of the younger teams might get a case of nerves pre-game, I've seen it myself a few times, and with a team with our experience, it works in our favor.  

So for the next few days I'll be thinking about how their guys play, where they like to shoot, what their moves are, their preferences in our zone.  It's like I said, they are a good young team, and they've got all the moves.  The thing about them is that they play like a team, they don't have any standout players and the stick together, and stick up for each other.  They'll be a tough team to beat, but we're all looking forward to the challenge of playing them.  If we play our game, play smart and hard, and bear down every shift of that game, we'll be fine.  If we don't bear down, we're fucked, plain and simple.

Tough vs Dirty

We had our last regular season game of the OMHL summer session last night.  It was interesting to say the least.  Now, I thought about giving an overview of the game, as I would regularly do, but there is a little something else that is on my mind about our opponent from last night...

The team that we played is full of punks and cry babies.  I have never heard a team bitch and gripe as much as they do. With every whistle from the ref came screeching and whining about the call, or non-call for that matter.  I honestly wish that they (the refs) use the zero tolerance policy as it is spelled out.  Which is basically, "Open your fucking mouth in my direction and sit down for a minute and a half."  Seriously.  These fucking clowns need to shut the fuck up.  I'm tired of it, my teammates are tired of it, all of the other teams in the league are tired of it.  

The part that really kills me about these clowns is that they are a one trick pony.  They've got a kid on the team that is currently a starting first line winger for Northeastern University.  The nights that he shows up, he controls the game, and the nights that he doesn't show up, forget it, those retards couldn't find the opposing teams goal with a fucking map and a sherpa to guide them there...  Like I said, one trick pony.  

Last night was our third time facing them, with our previous two games not only ending up in the loss column, (for us) but also ending in a may-lay both times, because not only do they whine like a three year old kid that just had his lollypop taken away, they are, hands down, the dirtiest team in the league.  Now, there is a difference between being dirty, and being tough.   A tough team will get into it with you face to face, a tough team plays hard, but clean, and always to the whistle. They'll play with honor and dignity, and they are not afraid to take their medicine when it's their turn to take it.  Now a dirty team, well, that is just a team full of spineless rats, a team full of shitheads that will hit you when you're not looking, spear you the minute the refs turn their heads, they'll try to kick your skates out from under you, and when it comes time for them to have to take a little of that very same medicine, they bitch and whine about it like a couple of girls from Kentucky fighting over the last prom dress at the local Wal-Mart. 

Now, we are a tough team, we play hard, but we don't take any shit, and if you feel the need to square up with one of us, be ready, because we won't be fucking playing around.  The team we played last night, dirty little fairies.  A bunch of rats and cock suckers.  I'm tired of it, our team was tired of it, and we let them know it last night with the beating that we handed them.  It was a big win for us in a lot of ways, first, they had their full compliment of players, which includes the one trick pony.  Second, they beat us the previous two times that we played them.  Third we were down 2-0, and 3-1 early, but came back to win 7-5. (Although we should have won 6-3, but with 2 minutes left they pulled their goalie and went for broke, they got it to within one, but we managed an empty netter to seal the deal.)  Was the game chippy, hell yeah it was, but that is how games like that, against teams like those tend to go.  We decided early on not to take any shit from them, and we didn't

I would have to say that about four minutes into the game, I may have, um, accidentally set the tone for the game from that point on.  I went behind the goal to play the puck, and in an attempt to fire it high off the glass and out of the zone I accidentally caught one of their wingers in the throat with my stick.  I have to say this, it was an unpleasant sound.  Hollow.  Anyway, he's a little guy, possibly a borderline "little person," and when he came down the on the forecheck, he came in low.  Honestly, I never even saw him, and when I went to clear the puck out my follow through hit him right in the throat.  Whatever.  Big fucking deal.  It's not like I killed him, and like I said, it was an accident.  I've been hit in the throat a few times myself, and let me tell you, it's not much fun.  That being said though, I had an awfully hard time mustering up any remorse or even the slightest bit of guilt for it, and if you're wondering why it's because it was an accident.  Yep, I slept like a baby last night.  It's not my fault the kid is 5'2", or whatever ridiculously pathetic height he actually is.  I thought it was cute though, when we were going through the handshake line, that he felt the need to call me a "winner," to which I could only respond, "Well, yeah actually, tonight I am..."  Little prick.

It felt good to beat them, and it felt even better knowing that they blew it.  

So next week playoffs for the OMHL start, and just like in Dennis, it will be a one and done format, so if we fuck up, we're out, and if we don't, we keep playing.