Hockey Misfits (quote from Espo);

 

I know what you might be thinking, 'is this guy gonna talk hockey on this, the sacred day of football?'  The answer is 'if you have to ask then you don't know me very well.'  We all like football but let's face it, football players are wanna be hockey players that never learned how to skate.  Kinda like all cops secretly want to be firemen, all football players wanna be hockey players.  Be honest, the beers are colder, showers are warmer, the puck bunnies are hotter (ie our wives and girlfriends), the clothing's optional, and the best part is that when we die and go up to the pearly gates (some sooner that others eg. Kevin and Mikey) we'll have a head start on the official sport of Heaven.  Don't worry, I hear they have a sweet hockey shop up there.  They get their skate sharpeners from Canada where you don't have to tell them how concave you want your skates, they just kno w. 

 

One things for sure, we won't have to worry about #17 Borden from Seattle up there because Edmontonions  like that go the other way.  Please don't tell him I said that.  I am just kidding of course.  I actually really like his outlook on the game.  There's no doubt he has passion for the game and if we can mix it up a bit, push and shove, throw a few stinky palms in the face, maybe a few punches if we're lucky, then by all means, let's do it.  Guys like that bring the passion out of us and if during and after that scrum you didn't get fired up for the game then you probably shouldn't be playing with us.  It's a fairly simple equation:  When we're on the ice with Seattle we're enemies, when we're off the ice we're friends.  Let's take that mentality to our next meeting.  It will ignite our fire for the game.  Of course what went on was fine and t he fans loved it but it would have been different if someone got seriously injured because of rough housing.  Those cheap attacks from behind and hits into the boards with your head down should never happen and thankfully didn't happen in this game.  But to mix it up in the corner like we did and play a bit physical makes the game more fun and brings in the fans.  They are still talking about the game.  They loved it. 

And to top it all off, we WON!!  What a crowd pleaser that game was.  It had it all.  The players, fans, passion, come from behind clinch goals (thanks Tommy), O.T., Shoot Out, fights, and most of all a good charity to raise money for.  The list goes on and the word is that we may have recruited another hockey player because of this very game.  Tristan, the kid this whole charity game was for, can't stop talking about the game puck he got and that now he needs a new stick to go with it.  So if anyone has a junior stick for a 5 yr old let me know and we can get it to him.  That's the way to do it.  Start em young and then in a few years he'll be as good as Volly.  That's Volly on the ice not in the box.  No one can be as good as Volly at time logged in the sin bin.    Some were valid and some weren't but the ref was a bit whistle happy. 

Some positive feedback on our performance was:

-Great turnout of players

-goaltending was outstanding (good job Tom O)

-breakout plays and passes were effective

-puck control in the offensive zone was good

-great cooperation with ice time.  I know we played some of the better players more often but it was imperative in order for us to win. 

negatives:

-a lot of scrambling for loose pucks around our slot area and in our crease.  We need to be better at clearing loose pucks out of those dangerous areas.

-some give aways in our zone.  We need to watch those passes and if we aren't sure of a cross ice pass we should keep it along the boards.

-way too many penalties.   Some the refs fault but some ours as well.

 

Honourable Mention:

Tom O - Outstanding between the pipes once again.  It the shootout and in the game.  There were times you literally kept us in the game.

Pete - Good offensive defense.  passed the puck around and had a couple shots.  Looked nice and comfortable back there. 

Tommy - Beautiful tieing goal.  I have officially switched my man crush from The Chad to You.  Ah who am I kidding, there's enough man love in me for both of you. 

Ryan - Beautiful game winning shootout goal.  The only goal of the shootout.  way to deek and undress.

Tom D - good playmaking and heads up hockey out there.

 

Player of the Game:

The P.O.G. is Tristan. He is battling something far more intense than a hockey game but we know, like the PFHC, he will come out victorious.  He got the game puck and was pumped to be at our game.  We are behind him 100% as he regains his health.

 

Let's continue to get out there and administer the hurt.  We had confidence going into this game and it showed on the ice.  Pete had the utmost confidence in us to win as he didn't even bring the Golden Skate.  Minor detail, but good thing we won. 

 

The PFHC #1 vs. PFHC #2 game went well also.  Thanks to all that played in that game.  The turnout was great.  We are going to do an inter club scrimmage like that every 2 months.  We may keep the same teams or mix them up a bit.  I'll let you know.  The next interclub scrimmage will be in the beginning of April.  Pete's going to find a piece of hockey gear like maybe a stick that's cut off short or an old helmet or something and paint it gold and mount it to some wood for a trophy when we play these games.  In his words and I quote "I can mount just about anything".  So if any of you have an old helmet or a broken stick or any hockey gear you want to donate to the team let Pete and/or me know and we will get that trophy made.  We could use my cup but I don't know if Pete can find a piece of wood small enough to mount it on.