We hit the ice with a plethora of Kris's and Pat's (and a Matt... which sounds like Pat), and even though it had been 10 months since most of us last ran on ice, we kept quick and organized. Toddy stepped up early using all body parts, including his face, to keep an early barrage out of our net. Craig, Jessi and Matt controlled the center of the rink. Eiden and Bill ("the crazy one") continued to rip off shots. Hatti and Ann kept the offensive pressure up on the boards. Bic, with support from our super-subs Kris and Kristen, lead the defensive charge stopping a number of our opponent's fast break opportunities. And, through it all, Steph burned as much energy as any of us with her constant cheering and encouragement. Goals were by Jessi (she had two! One from Matt? The other a clean-up), Pat (from Craig) Bill (clean-up), and Ann (from Bill). At least that's what I remember. We may have got a late start to this season, but we made the most of it!

An early morning flurry of snow doomed us to a rink of slips, spills, and sore bums. Nonetheless, after a tight first half against a familiar foe, we came out in a flurry of our own, controlling the ball, playing tough D, and scoring some beautiful goals. Big props to stonewall Toddy, who in his first real test of the season, pitched a shutout and kept the game in our hands stopping everything that was thrown at him, including blast from the outside and point blank. Craig gave us the early lead hitting an impossible angle. Pat S. took a feed from Craig and finally hit the net. In a moment of matrimonial bliss, Steph finished off a beautiful run with her hubby. For the finale, Jessi handed a feed from Pat E. and put it home. Good, fun week in the park! And remember... "keep your stick on the ground!"

We've got a good team, don't you think? We win... which is nice. And, we have great plays... which is nice. But, I also think we play well together, and play with good spirit, and have a lot of fun together. Sure, we give people the "Big Truck" talk once in awhile and like to "discuss" with the ref how legal it is to sit on the goalie within the crease, but overall, I'm pretty psyched to be on this team. Ho Hum. And... on to the game. Todd, again, played big and kept us in the game early. We brought stifling, frustrating defense and awesome ball control both setting up the zone and running the rink on fast breaks. Brad cleaned-up (swept in?) our first goal. Pat S. got the second (although Hatti could have scored it too). Steph "Kicks A Lot"gave Pat S. a beautiful feed from the corner for the third goal (some would think that it would be impossible to miss such an open shot, but Pat S. would prove differently later in the game from Eiden). Craig added a goal with a sweet top corner blast. And, Matt and Jessi each got goals as the led a couple of beautiful give and go fast breaks. Good week everyone... baked potatoes, functioning cell phones, and face mask grills for everyone!

Official Recap

(Make-up game from Jan. 7) Yes, the opponent makes a difference, but this was one of our best games of the season. Everyone except our keeper got off a shot, our passing was as sharp and controlled as ever, and our defense was airtight. Toddy pitched a shutout (laying an egg on one and breaking the hearts of our opponents on what they thought was a sure goal). Craig scored on "the move". Pat S. got a garbage goal. Pat S. redirected a blast from super-sub Cathy. And Eiden finished off the scoring with prettiest goal of the year on a feed from Craig. Plus, it was over 10 degrees in temperature (i.e. we were stripping clothes at half-time). Fantastic regular season all! Off to the playoffs. Let's make another run!

Seasalt

(first round of the playoffs)

How fun was that? Seriously, how fun? This game had me a bit worried... our opponents have a good squad. Early on, they rushed our zone and peppered our net. Toddy was as tough as ever including the best save EPZ has seen batting a sure goal out of the air with his stick while falling to his back. BEAUTIFUL! And, a game changer. Although we spent much of the first half in our own zone, we did break the stalemate with a breakout goal and hit half-time two to zero. In the second half, we outran and wore down our opponents (they only had two subs... granted, we only had three subs) and piled the game away. Our opponents got a bit irrationally chippy at times (seriously, you put your hand on the ball, which is on the ice, and it might get hit by a stick), but we kept our composure. Matt controlled the entire middle of the ice. A combination of Bic, Kristen, Cathy and Ann played stifling D and ran our transition game. Scoring went as follows. Pat S. got the first goal on a gorgeous feed from Eiden. Craig powered the second goal on a feed from Matt on a coast to coast run through half their team. Eiden cleaned-up a goal of his own on a feed from Craig. Craig got another out scrambling their goalie. Billy blasted a one-timer that wasn't even seen until it hit the back of the net. And, Hatti ripped in two goals... including one at the final buzzer. I love games and nights like this. Let's have a few more!

5/8 Club

(playoff quarterfinals)

"Hi, I'm Ken". Obviously, Kenny "Two Step", our ref, did not remember our little incident a couple years back and actually started out quite friendly with me (he was also lighting a cigarette at the time), nonetheless, he still didn't know what he was doing. Kenny (now "half step") lost control of the game early, calling random penalties, high sticks, and basically promoted all out complaining and chippiness (which our opponents took full advantage of... even the 100 pound girls). Although the teams had very different styles, the were fairly evenly matched. Still, the overall tone made the game quite not fun (at least for me). And, I honestly would have felt the same way had we won. With that transition, we lost... in double, sudden-death, overtime. I don't believe there were too many memorable plays, and not a lot of quality shots out of either squad. A lot of bunching. Todd pitched another shutout, but we couldn't muster much offense.

It wasn't a great way to end the season, but I'm still thrilled with our season and awfully proud of our team and my teammates. We played some of our best ball to date, got so much better, had some beautiful moments on the ice... and I had an awful lot of fun. Big props to our super subs Kristen, Jen, and Kim. More big props to Toddy's wall (gave-up two goals all season!), Bic's D, Craig's motor, Bill's one arm, Eiden's hustle, Hatti's shot, Matt's control, Jessi's stick, Steph's determination, Ann's tenacity, and let's not forget, Pat S.'s Asian-ness (what?). Thanks for a great run! Granted, my gear is already in storage, but I look forward to seeing you again on the ice soon!