Saturday Do-Over

 Okay, so we'll try this Saturday summary again, hoping the glitch monster doesn't raise it's ugly head.  I'll do my best to remember all the life-altering wisdom I shared the last time around before Blogger reduced my epiphanies to the blank screen of despair.

We arose Saturday morning with a mission. For FIH, it was to draw a team that wasn't bound for the finals.  For MFIH, it was to build on their momentous and historic Friday afternoon victory.  As we headed out tot he vans, bags in tow, we were met with the first obstacle of the day - the cold.  And I mean FREAKING cold!  Looking back, we were so foolish to think that Friday was cold.  Friday was a day at the beach.  Saturday was rough. I'll apologize ahead of time for the lack of pictures but I could not keep my hands exposed long enough to use the camera or iPhone.  In fact, I had to slap a Toasty Toes on the back of my iPhone to keep the battery working.

FIH hit the ice first against Irmo Dirty Olde Men (DOM on their jerseys). Going into their final game, the boys were hoping to draw a team of the same mettle that MFIH had on Friday. No such luck. DOM was finals bound, with a vengeance. They put up a valiant fight, but it was rough watching them from the sidelines. Mostly because it was FREAKING cold, but also because we felt for the guys. Did I mention it was freakin' cold? How cold was it? Well, Rob asked to use my helmet at halftime because his clear face shield was not only fogging up, but freezing up. Even with using my helmet with a cage, there was frozen condensation from his breath that did not thaw off the metal until we got back to the warming tent. The final score on their game probably doesn't need to be mentioned, but I have been accused of bribing the USA Hockey guys to give my team all the easier teams.

(Sunday morn update - DOM was playing in the semis this morning)

The MFIH team was up next. Our opponent was South Side Shirts, fro Chicago.  Now, in the past, drawing a team from Chicago has not been a good thing.  This year, our luck held out, as we played the only team from Chicago that we've ever beaten. We hit the ice with a little extra roster padding from Scotty, and rolled.  The game was fairly close for about five minutes, with the other team even scoring first, but then we started pulling away. As the goals racked up, I had a brief moment that I felt bad for the other team, but then I remembered two years of trips when we got our butts kicked, and I got over it fast. They were good sports about it, and it felt great to win two out of our three games.  Ice Holes Pond Hockey history was made!  There was a minuscule chance that we might make the quarterfinals that afternoon, so we planned on catching lunch at a local bar and grill, then check back on the results. If there wasn't some sort of miracle (like one or more of the other contenders falling through the ice or being crippled in a tragic snowmobile accident), we planned on playing the traditional Teal & White game.

Lunch was at The Penalty Box - a bar and grill that's typical for this area.  Good food, good atmosphere, very slow service. You don't ever need to be in a hurry if you go out to eat around here. After a selection of sandwiches and hamburgers met their maker, we packed up and it was back to the lake. Surprise, surprise, we did not advance, so it was on to planning the Teal & White.

We were hoping there would be an empty rink for us to use, but the quarterfinals had all the rinks occupied for the next two games (about an hour and a half). Faced with this dilemma, we improvised and decided to set up our own rink on the open ice at the end of the official rinks. Some hockey bags made up the goals, and if you missed a pass, you had to skate into snow to get it.  Although we got some looks from people trying to drive cars through our play area, and Mac nearly took out two young ladies trying to navigate along the sidelines, it worked out well.  We did agree that we wanted to finish on a regulation rink, so as soon as the quarters finished, we took the rink closest to the warming tent.  As in the past, it was a great way to cap off the trip.  To add a little drama, we chose two captains to pick and reshuffle the teams.  Team Mac consisted of Mac, Rob, Brett, Kent, Scotty, and Z.  Team Erik consisted of Erik, Buddha, Rich, Bryan, Pat, and Phil. The question of who won depends on which team you talk to, but it's generally accepted that Team Erik kicked butt.  The game did have its more colorful moments, including a beleaguered Kent accusing our team of putting a bounty on his head, and a needless and vicious check of Bryan into the snow behind the goal by Mac. All I can say about that is I hope Mac enjoyed the snow sandwich he got following that Hole on Hole violence.

We ate fresh at Subway for dinner, everyone having had their fill of heavier fare and relaxed dinner services, then made our way back to the Dome for another night of local hockey excitement. The game did not disappoint. It looked like the home team was going roll over the visitors, but they ended up coming back and making a game of it.  Very entertaining, complete with an ice-clearing gorilla, a goaltending pig, and an eagle referee.  Only in Eagle River.

Everyone pretty much crashed when we got back to the hotel.  I'm sure Mac fell asleep with visions of giant kielbasas in his head.