Friday, August 11, 2017

Summer Hockey 2017

The Summer Hockey season came to an end this week for the Renegades.  We finished the regular season in 7th place out of 8 teams, with a less than stellar record.  We went into the playoffs facing the 2nd place team, the Edmonton Capitals.  The team really seemed to gel and we put together a solid effort in the first playoff round.  We swept the best of three series in two straight games and moved on to the semi-final.  In the semi-final we faced off against the first place team, the Itchy Beavers.  Our regular goalie and our backup goalie were both away on vacation when the first game of the semi final series was scheduled.  As a result we had to play with a second string backup, the only other eligible goalie that we had.  His usual position is as a forward and he only plays in goal on a very occasional basis.  We had no choice but to call him in as the only other option was to forfeit the game.  Needless to say the game was lop-sided and we lost by a score of 10-2.  Then earlier this week, on Tuesday evening, we played these guys again in the second game of the best of three series.  Even though we were missing a couple of our better players, this one was much closer.  The game was a hard fought physical battle and we just couldn't quite score the equalizer late in the game.  We lost a close one by a score of 2-1.  We felt the officials didn't do a very good job of calling this one but I suppose every losing team probably feels that way.  This saw our season come to an end.
We now have a long extended break before we will be able to play hockey again.  The final round of the playoffs will take place next week between the two remaining teams.  The winter season starts up at the beginning of September.  I don't know exactly when we will play our first game but likely in about 3-1/2 weeks.   Can't wait to get back on the ice.  Now that the season has ended I can wash my gear so it doesn't stink quite so badly.  I live by that old hockey superstition that it's unlucky to wash your gear during the season.

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