We are the Champions

The Black Dragons (My roller hockey team) are now the Chapions of the Brass division at Rivertown Sports! With a playoff record of 2-0 and scores of 5-4 OT and 3-2 OT we finished off the best season that I have ever had. A season that we went 8-1-1. In the playoffs we were winning the first game 3-1 after the 1st half and we had a 4-3 lead going in to the final 5 minutes (of 17 min halfs) when I made a blind cross-ice pass in our own zone to my d-man. I made a bad pass and he couldn't handle it and it got picke up by one of the better players on the other team who walked in all alone on our goalie and tucked it in to tie it up. Fortunately for me we were able to win the game within the first few minutes of OT.

The second game we came out to a strong lead, but soon gave up the lead and we were down 2-1 going into the 2nd half. We were just unable to solve their defence and got relatively little going. Especially after one of our better defencemen was thown out of the game for fighting. So with 3:45 left and us still being down a goal, I slid one of our better offensive/defensive forwards back to defence and put out our 3 other best players and told them to stay out until they couldn't play anymore. Within 40 seconds we had tied the game up. The 2nd half ended in a tie and once again we went to overtime.

Knowing that we had to have our best out there, I heavily relied on the line that tied it up for us to win the game for us. Near the end of the first overtime period we had a chance to win it as the other team took a penalty. Unfortunately nothing came out of it. The 1st period of OT ended tied as well.

Then in the second OT, with about 6 minutes left one of our players had a penalty called on him as he tried to stop a scoring chance. I called upon our best players again to kill of the penalty. I could tell that they were getting exhausted, but we needed them out. 45 seconds into the penalty kill, our defenceman who scored our game tying goal skated up the left side of the rink with the puck, got around their first defenceman and took it straight at the net. I still don't know how he managed to do it, but he managed to chip the puck up and over the goalie as he got hit into the goalie by the other defenceman and the puck landed in the net! Thus ending the longest game ever played at Rivertown Sports.

This was my last season playing at Rivertown since I'm heading back to Canada soon and I couldn't think of any better way to end it all. Playing there was a great experience and a lot of fun and I will remember all the friends that I have made while playing there.



Dave