The winter hockey season has finally come to a close. After finishing the regular season in first place, the Renegades battled through the playoffs. I took control of the team seven years ago. We played one summer season as the "Blues" an expansion team that was thrown together with a bunch of extra players. We went through that first summer season with players bailing out on us game after game, as a result of our dismal record. We lost our first 14 games, and then finally won the last game of the regular season. I decided that the team needed to carry on, so I took control of the team as the manager and 7 years and 14 seasons later I am still running things. I vowed to hang up my skates at age 50, but in light of recent success, and my desire to keep playing, I have now pushed out that deadline to 55. We've had our ups and downs, winning a few championships along the way. This past season was one of the most enjoyable and satisfying seasons that I've played. The group of guys that we have are so great and we get along so well that it is a pleasure to be involved. There is only myself and one other player left from that original "Blues" squad, but all the guys that are now on the roster are a great bunch.
This season we battled our way through the playoffs, defeating a couple of the better teams in our division; the Ice Hawks and the Wolf Pack. The Gators handed us our first defeat in the round robin, but we kept battling and eventually found ourselves in the final round, against the Gators. Being the typcial superstitious hockey player, I shaved before our first playoff game, and then grew a playoff beard through the playoffs. To shave during this time would have been bad luck, and by the time we worked our way into the final round, about 10 days later, I was looking pretty scruffy...
We split the first two games and it all came down to the final game last Friday night. At the end of the first period, the score was tied at 1-1. At the end of the second period it was tied 2-2. We scored the go ahead goal early in the third period, and tried to hang on for the victory. Late in the game, with less than 3 minutes left on the clock, I took a tripping penalty. One of the Gators best players tried to step around me and would have been in alone on our goaltender. I dove for the puck, knocking it off his stick, and tripping him in the process. All of our players agreed that it should not have been a penalty as I made contact with the puck, before knocking the opposing player off his feet. But, the referee didn't see it that way, and gave me a 2:00 minor penalty for tripping. The Gators pulled their goaltender for an extra skater and poured it on, trying to get the equalizing goal. Our guys put up a fierce battle and managed to keep them at bay. Just as my penalty ran out, I rushed back out onto the ice, trying to help defend our net. With just seconds left on the clock a brawl erupted down in our corner. Eventually the officials got everyone separated and started to assess all the penalties. A couple of their players were very upset and were yelling at the officials, complaining about the penalties that were about to be assessed. The officials had had enough and called for the time keeper to run off the four seconds that remained on the clock, and the victory was ours...
After the game we celebrated in our dressing room, drinking league provided champagne out of the championship trophy. Later the celebration spilled over to the pub down the road. When I left a little before midnight half of our roster was still there, running up one heck of a bar tab. I found it rather humorous that the league now does not allow the trophies to leave the arena. In the past when we won we were permitted to take the trophies with us for a week or two. The first time we won, we broke the trophy, and then the second time, a few years later, we put a big dent in it. Apparently some of the other teams had similar incidents, including some that lost it altogether. So, the trophy had to stay back in the lobby at the arena, to be engraved with our names at some point in the coming weeks.
We do not have a lot of time to bask in the championship glow. The summer hockey season gets underway almost right away. The captains meeting is this week, and the regular season gets underway at the beginning of May. So I now need to focus my attention on collecting league fees, assigning jerseys, and getting our roster together. I must like it because I have now done this four seven years; fourteen seasons, and it appears as though I will continue in this role for at least a few years to come.
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