"You can't always get what you want"

“But if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.”



Sorry about the delayed updates – yesterday was a busy day. As you’ve already learned, the over 40 guys had a disappointing first game, even with their trade acquisition. To elaborate, there was a midnight hour phone call made between the GM of the over 40 team and the GM of the over 30 team that resulted in an additional player being added to the over 40 guys. The move was an attempt to move the over 40 team into a prime position to make a run for the playoffs. The terms of the trade were not made public, but the morning game saw Kent suiting up for the over 40 team. (We figured it was okay – he is over 40, after all). Unfortunately, the trade didn’t have the full effect that was intended, but we reckoned the additional player may have saved some folks from suffering coronaries, or in the very least, a stroke on the ice.

As the over 40 team caught their breath, and tried to regroup for their afternoon stint, the over 30 guys took to the ice for their last shot at glory. Kent was a bit winded, but after plying him with some Gatorade and Powerbars, we felt like he might have another 30 minutes of ice time in him. The over 30 team’s final opponents of the day were Altanta St Pats. We figured, “hey, another team from the south – how good could they be?” We had actually met the guys the night before at the Dome, and found out that this was their fourth year coming. Not a good omen for us.

After my stellar performance in net on Friday, I resumed my role between the pipes. Unfortunately, I had either lost my mojo, the other team was much better than the teams on Friday, or we just gave up too many breakaways. Regardless of the reason, we fell behind early. Needless to say, I got pulled from the net, and Kent resumed his duties there, to a much better effect. We played a better game in the second half, and even outscored them, but couldn’t dig out of the Hole (ha ha) that we dug in the first half. Final score was 10-5. No wins for the over 30 team this year.

So all hope for a victory fell to the over 40 guys in their final game versus the Outlaws. Another last minute trade deal was executed. Kent was traded for Doogie. And yes, we know he’s not over 40, but the other team had a kid that looked like he wasn’t even shaving yet. At least Doogie has to shave his chin once a week. The boys got a jump on the other team right out of the gate, and even had a nice three-goal lead at halftime. Then the other team let their “Doogie” off the leash. His unchecked efforts in the second half allowed the other team to catch up and tie the game. With the final seconds closing, the other team scored to go one ahead. The boys fell 10-9.

I was a bit of a letdown for everyone, but we had a great time skating again, and, at least for myself, felt like we made a better showing than last year. There’s nothing like the cold-hearted tutor of experience to sharpen your skills. Should the Holes make another trip to the northwoods, perhaps the third time will be the charm.

And all was not for loss on the ice Saturday. We were introduced to a schnapps called, appropriately enough, “Ice Hole” by a charming wicken woman, who took a special interest in one of our party, who will remain nameless in order to protect the innocent. I hope she didn’t cast a spell on him. The liqueur we sampled was a mint variety, but we later discovered (as we stopped at the store on the way home to stock up on the stuff) that they also had a plum flavor and a butterscotch flavor. We, of course, had to get all three. Some of them might even make it back to North Carolina.

Mac got a little miffed at Phil when he made too many "old man" comments.  The good new is, Phil's okay, but it was touch and go there for a while.